Wednesday, February 28, 2007
QuickView
Good: New gamebreaker system, online play, animations, graphics, soundtrack
Bad: No legends, occasional glitches, limited career mode, annoying lighting
Bully: Ben Wallace
The original NBA Street took the arcade basketball crown from the previous king, Midway's immortal NBA Jam. Its two sequels weren't afraid to change things up a bit, as the Gamebreaker and trick systems have changed regularly. Each had their pros and cons, but NBA Street Homecourt is arguably the best of the bunch.
Street 3 was perhaps the weakest, mainly thanks to the annoying Gamebreaker dunks (and the similar dunk contest mode). Instead of adding more and more, Homecourt brings the series back to the basics. Rather than making you choose from dozens of tricks, this title presents you with just two trick buttons. X controls your dribbling rate and crossovers, and Y does the more fancy tricks (faking out opponents, etc). It's also worth noting that the four modifiers from the previous games have been reduced to two.
Dunks are similarly toned down. Rather than having four modifiers to make tons of combinations with, Homecourt gives you two. The catch is, you can easily change them into a "double dunk" by releasing the B button right before reaching the rim. This is when you'll see the most ridiculous and hilarious animations in the series' history. I couldn't help but laugh the first time I saw Ben Wallace perform a gigantic dunk, only to pull himself back up by the rim and run across the backboard, ending with a flip and another dunk.
One of the greatest improvements seen in Homecourt is definitely the new Gamebreaker system. Instead of becoming nearly invincible and performing unblockable dunks and shots, there's a clear element of danger and risk involved. Once you activate it, you perform as many tricks as you possibly can to fill up a meter. Do a ton of tricks, and you'll get three points, while you'll only get one if you don't bother. On top of this, you can get three points if you perform a "trifecta" dunk by jumping off a teammate's back from the three-point line. All of this can be extremely risky, as your opponent can steal the ball at any time, transferring control of the gamebreaker. This adds an entirely new element of danger to the game, as prior gamebreaker points were sure shots.
Despite how fun the game is to play (especially two-player), the single-player is pretty limited. The Homecourt Challenge mode is pretty bare-bones, allowing you to level up your character, recruit new teammates, get new gear, and choose from a few different challenges. That's about it. No real story, and nothing too deep to keep your attention for too long. It's certainly useful if you want to prepare a created character for some online action, however.
Online play is almost completely lag free, and it's a blast most of the time. It gets to be significantly less fun if you're playing against certain people. Namely those that just run to the corner and build their gamebreaker meter thanks to a glitch that makes it impossible to steal the ball. It doesn't happen that often now, but it sure will once people find out about this and want an easy way to get the "10 online wins in a row" achievement.
Occasional annoyances pop up offline as well. Sometimes it's hard to pick up loose balls, and there are other times in which the ball won't even be taken out of play after a point is scored. For every glitch, however, there's something they did right. Take the way it loads, for example. Instead of fully loading each challenge individually, it simply loads the entire court. That way, you can go through several challenges in a row without to load even once.
Homecourt features some of the best animations I've seen yet on the 360, especially when it comes to dunks and tricks. Players look great, and the environments are excellent. The only visual aspect that I have a problem with is the distracting lighting that's used in many of the courts. I wish there were a way to turn this off, but there's none to be found.
Sound effects and voice samples are excellent, but you should prepare to hear the same phrases over and over (I'm gonna go nuts if I hear someone yell "OFF YOUR EYEBALLS!" again). The soundtrack is one of the most fitting I've ever seen, and is absolutely perfect in every way. From Jackson 5 remixes to funky Quincy Jones tracks, every second of Homecourt is accompanied by a fantastic soundtrack.
If you haven't tired of the series by now, Homecourt won't be the one to set you over the edge. It introduces a great new gamebreaker system and a simplified trick/dunk scheme that breathe new life into the franchise. Worth picking up for anyone who has ever enjoyed an arcade basketball game.
Graphics: 9.0
Sound: 9.5
First Play: 9.0
Replay Value: 8.0
Gameplay: 9.0
Overall: 8.8
lawrence.comrade
