Review

NBA Street

By Air Hendrix
February 19, 2002 16:25 PM PST
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One of last summer?s smash PS2 hits, NBA Street is strutting back onto the asphalt, this time on the GameCube.

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For the uninitiated, NBA Street?s three-on-three b-ball reinvents the stale NBA Jam formula, delivering over-the-top hoops with a streetball flair. There are no rules and no fouls as you battle to be the first to score 21, blocking shots and busting off huge dunks, alley-oops, fakes, and a slew of other special moves. The action goes down in either City Circuit mode, which employs a ladder tournament to pit you against all the NBA teams and some street-player squads, or Hold the Court mode, where winning streaks unlock new courts and other goodies.

In porting Street over from the PS2, EA did some minor tinkering. The rosters are updated, and since Jordan?s on the Wizards, the final boss is now a street player named Stretch. There?s an awesome new court in D.C., and the animations and graphics look slightly better, but that?s pretty much it.

Street?s sensational gameplay deftly combines competitive hoops and slick moves and dunks without delving into the realm of Jam?s absurd acrobatics. Occasionally, though, the A.I. in one-player games can be cheap about overtaking your lead, but it?s nothing too critical.

Although the controls are generally fine, they don?t perform as smoothly as the PS2 version?s?largely because the GameCube controller?s cramped button layout makes it too easy to trample on the wrong button. Nintendo deserves much of the blame there, but EA also dropped the ball by not allowing players to map their own button layout.

Street is sure to be one of this young system?s early stars. If you?ve already conquered the PS2 version, there?s no compelling reason to pound this pavement. But if ?GameCube? is your middle name, Street should be your next game.