NBA Street is an arcade style basketball game in the tradition of NBA Jam (one of
my all time favourite games) as opposed to a simulation.

The game is 3 on 3, 1 point for a basket, 2 if you sink it from outside the arc. First to 21 wins, must win by 2. There's no travelling or fouls to worry about and the controls are simple, so even if you don't know the rules of basketball, you can still get the hang of this in five minutes. The game features five players from each NBA team, as well as Michael Jordan and loads of fictional players.

The thing that makes this game different, is that it pays to play like the Harlem Globetrotters. By using flashy dribbles and spectacular dunks or linking moves together you earn trick points that fill up your “Gamebreaker” bar. When this bar is full you can use an extremely accurate dunk or shot called a Gamebreaker that costs your opponent the same amount of points as it gets you. For example, if you and your opponent are scoring at the same rate, but you use dunks and alley-oops while your opponent uses regular jump shots, then you get your Gamebreaker first. You then use your Gamebreaker from outside the arc and go 4 points ahead. This adds a whole new dimension to the games and makes them even more tense and exciting.

There are two game modes, City Circuit and Hold the Court. In City Circuit you go on tour around the famous streetball courts of North America and try to beat the local NBA teams at each one. In Hold the Court you have to beat the winning streak and trick point total records for each court to earn new outfits for your created player. This mode also incorporates the two-player mode. Both modes are quite challenging and give you incentives to keep winning. You can earn development points to improve your created player, or take players from the teams you defeat. There are plenty of teams and cheats to unlock.

I think the graphics are very good. The courts hav
e lots of background details that passed me by at first as I was so engrossed by the on-court action. The sounds are good too, especially the way in which the mood of the music changes to reflect the state of the game. This really helps build the atmosphere of the matches.

The action is fast and furious but most importantly, fun. There’s enough challenge and incentive to keep me playing for a long time, as well as two-player mode to fall back on. I reckon this would make a good “party” game so long as you and your friends don’t mind a bit of trash talk during matches.

I don’t have many negative points to add. The “call for pick” action is a little hard to use properly but this doesn’t detract from the games at all. There can sometimes be a bit of slowdown caused by disc activity on some of the create player screens. I suppose every game could have a few more options and this one is no exception. The only thing this game really lacks is a two-player co-operative mode. However none of these points should discourage you from buying this excellent game.

To conclude, I played this game so much that my fingers became calloused and bruised. It’s high quality and I would definitely recommend it.