Electronic Arts has done the impossible. They have made a sequel to an arcade sports game that is worthy of your money even if you bought the first one. Where other arcade sport games sequels offer you pretty much the same game with a new roster, slightly improved graphics, and gameplay in their sequels; Electronic Arts comes along and makes a sequel to their hit arcade style basketball game that is better then the first in every way.
Graphics
The courts in the game are nicely detailed. They’re crisp and clear. Sometimes when you play on a court for the first time your eyes will wander off to look at your surroundings. Some of the backgrounds are full of life with cars driving by or people cheering. However, you’ll notice that the cheering people are one of the main faults to the graphics. They are just poorly drawn and animated models that aren’t even close to being on par with the rest of the game’s visuals.
The player models are very well done, though. Animations are great but the transitions between them are pretty bad. Going from a move to shake off your defenders to a dunk often looks weird and choppy due the lack of good transitions. But overall the graphics are really good and shouldn’t fail to please anyone.
Gameplay
Within NBA Street Vol. 2 you’ll find 3 different types of game modes plus a training mode called Street School where you can learn the basics of the game. The first mode, Pick Up Game, is basically what it’s called. With it you can just play single games without going too deep into the game. There’s a My Rules option, which can really add to a lot of fun with the Pick Up Game mode. You can choose between many different things to alter the gameplay, this can be quite a bit of fun when you have friends over and are playing multiplayer.
In the games second mode, NBA Challenge Mode, you take control of an NBA team or one that you have created and take on other NBA teams. You go through and select which conference you want to play and then play the teams within that conference. Once you have beaten all of the teams in that conference, you open up a “boss” match. In this match you play against three all time greats from that conference, and if you win those players are then unlocked for you to use.
The third and main mode in the game, Be A Legend, is huge. In it you first create a player and pick some players to join your team. Naturally, at first, your player and teammates will play and look like junk. As you go about the game, however, you will earn points and will be able to use them towards leveling up your main guy or buying him new moves or clothes.
You start out in New York City, and as you continue to play and win, you get more reputation points and can unlock new cities and events. Along the way you can participate in tournaments, and special pick up games that will unlock more stuff in the game. As the game draws on, you’ll eventually earn a nickname based on the way you play. Also, when you beat teams, you have the option of taking a player from the opponent’s team and adding him/her to your roster, just like the original NBA Street.
The gameplay is great. It’s insanely addictive and is simple enough to pick up yet complex enough to keep you coming back for more. The controls are simple and easy, and the moves and tricks are really fun to pull off. Gamebreakers are back, only now you can have a level 2 Gamebreaker where you pocket your Gamebreaker when you have it and get another, then boom twice the points, twice the damage for the other team. The game also feels a lot more balanced between offense and defense so that it’s not just a shoot out the whole time.
Sound
The color commentator from the last game is gone, but that’s for the better. The new commentator has some funny comments and they never really get repetitive. The soundtrack is full of a lot of rap instrumentals that all fit together with the game well. The only problem, though, is that they are instrumentals, and it would have been nice to have the real songs instead of these beats that sometimes are the same thing played over and over again.
Replayability
Be A Legend will take about 20 hours to complete even if you rush through it. That’s a pretty lengthy single player experience not including the hours it will take you to complete the NBA Challenge. With the game’s multiplayer you can play against your friends in Pick Up Game, or play with one of them cooperatively in NBA Challenge. The more you play, the more you will unlock, and there is a lot of stuff that you can unlock spanning from jerseys, players, courts, and moves. But the main thing that will keep you coming back for more is very addictive and very fun gameplay that hasn’t been seen in an arcade basketball title yet.
Overall
I have to be honest, I did not see the quality of this game coming. I thought it would just be another lazy sequel that we all see with every arcade sports title sequel. Then I played this game and it completely knocked me off my feet. I had not anticipated the hours I would be glued to the screen playing this game and how I would miss playing it when I had to do other things. It is just an extremely fun and addicting experience, and it is a must buy to anyone except those who despise basketball or its arcade style gameplay. NBA Street Vol. 2 is unparalleled in its genre.