Yes, it's always great to slam dunk on somebody, like Vince Carter dunked over that 7"2 Frenchmen on the 2000 Olympics. You can now (again) do the same thing with the latest version (V3) of the NBA Street series. And whether it be the exaggerated moves, the exaggerated commentary or the exaggerated special graphic effects, this franchise is one of the best sports arcade games out there, today. Almost two years has passed since its predecessor, so this game cannot be anything less than great, right?

Nintendo All Stars

Loaded with a new graphical engine, V3 shows off to its predecessors. More details and textures in the characters, playgrounds and clothes. But that's what you should expect of EA follow up games. You can see this every time in their Fifa, Madden and NBA Live series.

In Volume 2 the visual theme had a 70's style, bold and with lots of colours. Now the artwork looks a bit more grungy and has a graffiti style to it. Just look at the loading screens and you'll know what I'm talking about.

The game has pretty much the same attitude that you expect from a NBA 'street' game, although the GC version goes Mario with the NBA Nintendo All Star team. The team feels a little out of place against the rough street players and it certainly doesn't help Nintendo getting rid of the kiddie image of which they suffer so deeply. On the other hand it could be a change of pace playing with sweet Ninty characters and it's fun for the youngsters.

Incongruity, thy name is NBA Street

Gamebreakers

The heart of the game has always been the gamebreakers, which allowed you to score points and decrease the score of your opponent at the same time. This all accompanied with an insane action cut scene. The gamebreaker has a meter that increase by creating tricks and performing amazing dunks. When the meter is full, it's show time.

In V3 this has changed a bit; gone is the level two gamebreaker that was present in volume 2, instead you now have control while the gamebreaker action scene takes place. You can create air moves with the C-stick and even pass to one of your teammates, all to increase the score of the gamebreaker trick. If you executed the gamebreaker perfectly, your score will increase with four while the opposite team losing one point. The score depends on how well you performed the gamebreaker.

The same control system has been implemented in a new gameplay element called the 'dunk contest'. Every year the top dunkers of the NBA give away a show at the All Star game where a jury judges the dunks the athletes perform. That is the idea of the dunk contest, perform a dunk in which you can use props, give a pass to yourself and perform as many moves as possible while in mid-air. This feature is fun while it lasts because it is a bit too basic and easy. It does suits the whole 'street' attitude perfectly, but the dunk contest in the NBA Live 2005, for instance, has more challenge and possibilities.

Anywhere I don't care

Something that is not new, but certainly comes with lots of new features, is the career street challenge, where one plays street games throughout the country with his created player and team. The goal is to earn a reputation as a real street baller. Catchy nicknames will be given to you depending on what type of ball you play. After every game your reputation will change, the more you win, the higher your rep grows and the more playgrounds you will be allowed to play on.

Unlike the previous versions, this time the street challenge is time based in which you have a certain amount of days to become a street champion. And to become a champ you don't do this alone, you have at least two other teammates that you have to keep in mind. If you keep losing games, your mates will start to complain and start fights, threatening they want out of the team. The morale of the team plays a small, but important, part of the career mode now. Although this 'morale' feature is still limited, it could be promising for future releases.

Also new is that you can create your own courts, varying from location, backgrounds, logos on the court and a whole other range of possibilities. The create-a-player mode is enhanced and it isn't disappointing either as you can adjust just about anything from your nose to the width of your eyes to the distance of your ears to your head.

It seems EA can do some good then

Trick Stick

Different from the previous versions is that V3 has basically the same freestyle scheme controls as in the NBA Live series, in which the yellow analogue stick stands central. Creating tricks are now executed with the C-stick instead with of executing those awkward button combo's. The stick is a more intuitive type of control system, which can only benefit to the flow of the game. It improves the possibilities of your character considerably. Combining them with the turbo buttons and you can perform a grand total of 40 dribbling moves.

Should you still prefer the control settings as they were in the previous versions, this is also possible. And if you're new to the game there are tutorials course you can follow, which explains most available moves. After that it becomes a good reference of how you execute certain tricks.

Final Say

2 years has passed since Volume 2 and it was worth waiting; NBA Street V3 comes with a lot of new features and improvements to the previous games. The biggest change has to be the control system with the 'trick stick'. The introduction of the slam dunk contest and the enhanced career mode injects new life into this franchise and is far from bleeding to dead. So wear your favourite NBA tanktop, grab the controller and create art on the playgrounds.