NBA Street V3 Review

EA Big hits the street again and produces yet another winner. The Street series has been at the top of the arcade-style basketball genre for a few years now, but NBA Street V3 takes it to completely new and amazing heights. Gorgeous graphics and tons of customization options all wrapped around the already fantastic gameplay is a surefire winner. Add in Xbox Live play and you’ve got something special on your hands. NBA Street V3 is a great basketball game that is sure to please sports fans.

Street Cred

The basic idea behind NBA Street V3 is that it is full-court, 3 vs 3, arcade-style street basketball. The emphasis is on thunderous dunks and supreme ball handling skills that humiliate your opponent as you shake them out of their shoes and leave them on the ground as you head for the basket. Each NBA team is represented by partial rosters – basically all of the big name NBA stars are included. Of course, since this is a game that is supposed to take place out in the streets there are also a huge number of street ballers who are dying for a chance to show off their skittles and make a name for themselves. The game does an excellent job of representing real street basketball culture. You play most of your games on outdoor courts that aren’t always in the best condition, but you play for the thrill of proving who is best and for the love of the game. I’m not a fan of sticking, say, football players into the street formula, but the hip-hop influenced, tough, urban style is a perfect match with basketball and the NBA.

Gameplay

Gameplay in NBA Street V3 isn’t exactly what you normally find in an NBA game. This is arcade basketball, so things like fouls, traveling, or out of bounds are nowhere to be found. This is a straightforward “score any way you can, but make sure you look good doing it” type of basketball. The controls are easy to learn as you have turbo buttons, a shot button, and a pass button like you would expect. What makes V3 different is that you can use the right analog stick to perform jukes and fakes that will help you get around defenders. You can also make special passes off of the backboard or bounce the ball off of your opponent to add to the humiliation even more. All of your fancy moves build up points that fill up your gamebreaker meter. When your gamebreaker is full, you can then attempt to pull off special dunks with one, two, or all three of your players. Just when your first player is about to dunk, you pass it to the next player and so on. The crazier the dunk you perform with the gamebreaker, the more points you get (up to 4) and you will also take points away from the other team. This game is easy to learn, difficult to master, and very satisfying thanks to the huge amount of moves you have at your disposal.

Street Challenge Mode

The main single player gameplay mode is the street challenge mode. In street challenge mode you take a created player through the ranks of being a complete unknown to the top of the street ball world. As you build your reputation by proving your skills on the court, you will be allowed to recruit better players for your team and you’ll be able to face better teams. You’ll enter standard games, dunks only games, gamebreaker challenges where the first team to successfully execute a game breaker wins, tournaments, and even slam dunk contests among a bunch of other things. Eventually you’ll enter the NBA Street league where you’ll play with and against the very best of the best. When you start you play against no name ballers, but by the end you’ll be playing with NBA stars which is pretty cool because it is a sure sign that your character has made it to the big time. As you win games, you’ll earn points that you can use to improve your character’s skills. So as you progress through the street challenge you are constantly switching people in and out of your roster as well as upgrading your own player. There is a lot to do and that makes working your way up through the ranks and making a great team extremely satisfying.