NBA Street Vol. 2

The first NBA Street filled the court with fans by rejuvenating a badly stale genre, and Vol. 2?s sleekly restyled arcade hoops will pack the sidelines once again with ballers waiting to take their turn.

Dinner?s Served
If you like your hoops on the high-flying side, the return of NBA Street is probably a moment you?ve been waiting for, and Vol. 2 won?t let you down. EA Sports Big is adding some sharp new ways to play, most notably four-player matches and two-player cooperative play (no online action, though). Along with pick-up games and the familiar ladder tournament, there will also be a career-style mode where you create a player and tour the country?s street courts with the ultimate goal of becoming a boss character. Speaking of whom, Bona Fide and Stretch will be back alongside four new ballers, but the big news is the addition of 25 legendary players ranging from Wilt Chamberlain to Larry Bird. Taking the greats of NBA past out against current starts like Carter and Iverson will definitely be a blast.

You'll also be able to set your own rules, playing games that are won by dunks or trick points, or spotting points to newbies instead of fiddling with difficulty levels. New moves like using the right analog stick to trigger a give-n-go so that you can slam home an alley-oop will be joined by fun flairs like passing off the backboard or even an opponent?s melon, along with turbo blocking and stealing. EA also says it?s tuning up the performance of rebounding and smoothing out the first game?s painfully obvious catch-up logic, which are great tweaks.

Mamma Jamma
In hands-on time with preview versions of the Xbox and PS2 games (the GameCube version wasn?t available), Street jammed. The first game had great playability, and this sequel looks like it will amp up the fun and excitement?especially in the tight multiplayer modes. A new announcer paced the action with authentic and occasionally hilarious remarks, and original beats by Just Blaze delivered the right vibe.

The environments and courts looked highly realistic and very colorful, but the player models had an unusual look. They were very high contrast and shiny, almost in a cel-shaded way. EA says the intention is to make them look larger than life, but for gamers, it will be a matter of taste?if you like the style, cool; if not, after a few minutes, you?ll be too caught up in the game to care. Bottom line: Street looks like another slam dunk.

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