E-Mail This Article to a Friend Above the rim NBA Street V3 is a slam-dunk BY MITCH KRPATA
	NBA Street V3 Published by Electronic Arts. Developed by Electronic Arts Canada. For PlayStation 2, Xbox, and Nintendo GameCube. Rated E for Everyone.

The NBA Street franchise has been so critically and commercially successful that it's tempting to say that all EA had to do with the third installment was not mess up. But to do so would belie how rare it is to find games as fun as NBA Street V3.

This is not to suggest that V3 represents a radical departure from its predecessors. Games are still three-on-three street ball featuring real NBA players, with a premium on trick plays and nasty dunks. As this is an EA Sports game (under the BIG imprint) released during the current development cycle, one of the most highly-touted changes is – wait for it – a Trick Stick. Yep, the formerly useless right analog stick has been incorporated into the gameplay! Amazing!

All sarcasm aside, the Trick Stick in NBA Street V3 is probably the best use of the concept since Madden 2005 debuted the Hit Stick and sent us tumbling down this slope. Whereas before your trick options were limited to simply one button, the stick allows you eight more choices. The trick system is now much deeper than it was in NBA Streets past, particularly because you can edit your trick list as you progress through the game, leading to untold numbers of trick-point-building combos.

Earning trick points still builds up the Gamebreaker meter, another aspect that shows a significant improvement: Now when you begin a Gamebreaker dunk, you can actually manipulate the Trick Stick in mid-air to pull off even sweeter moves. However, if you get too greedy and over-extend your character's ability to flip, fly, and funkify, he may wind up missing the basket altogether.

The Gamebreakers come with all the graphical bells and whistles you've come to expect, with one addition. After a monster slow-mo dunk, an ethereal script traces the outline of a royal crown on the screen – unless the player is a superstar, in which case his nickname is written across the screen. This leads to hilarity when a superstar has no nickname (such as Steve Nash – it says "STEVE"), and I imagine Chris Webber's PR people are berating EA for not including his "C-WEBB" handle (but as a friend of mine put it, "During his Gamebreaker, he should try to call a time-out").

The single-player campaign also follows the way the EA winds have been blowing lately. You create a custom baller, pick up two anonymous teammates, and work your way up the ladder until you're finally playing real NBA players. All along I've opposed this style of one-player games, and that hasn't changed here; I'd much rather pick a real team and play a season with them (though you can always play a single game as any NBA team). Nevertheless, it's hard to fault the execution of V3's solo mode. There are numerous types of games in which to compete (traditional, no Gamebreakers, slam-dunk contests, dunks-only games, and more), all of which give you more points to improve the skills and appearance of your custom character, as well as unlock new courts and players.

One of the big draws again is the ability to unlock NBA legends, and this time you can do so by spending your hard-earned customization points. For example, Bob Cousy costs only 500 points, but Larry Legend costs 4000 (and worth every penny!). As always, there are gag characters – this time you can unlock the Beastie Boys. Exclusive to the GameCube version are the Nintendo All-Stars, a team consisting of Mario, Luigi, and Princess Peach. This is a cute addition, and though it's not reason enough to recommend the GC version above all others (particularly because the PS2 and Xbox offer online play), it's worth it just to see Mario dunk on Shaq's head even once.

It's also worth mentioning the presentation. The graphics seem to be an order of magnitude clearer this time around; every player is instantly recognizable at all times, and the animation is butter-smooth. Frankly, this is one of the better-looking sports games I've seen. Most of the courts are based on real-life locations, and though I can't say how accurately they depict their sources, I can say that they're highly-detailed and impressively-rendered, whether your game is taking place at high noon or in the dead of night.

The audio is the game's one glaring flaw. Besides the expected barrage of rap songs (all diligently identified at the bottom of the screen – thanks, cross-promotion!), there's an obnoxious, motor-mouthed announcer. I suppose it's an impressive technical achievement to have such constant relevant commentary spooling during gameplay, but holy crap, this guy makes ESPN's Sunday Night Football team sound measured and erudite. Plus, I don't enjoy being openly mocked for shooting lay-ups.

For my money, the most fun way to play NBA Street V3 is against a friend (or friends). There's just something about basketball that lends itself not only to this kind of hyper-stylized play, but also to trash-talking your buddies and shouting, "Daaamn!" at opportune moments. You can do those things in NFL Street, for example, but do you really want to?

Fans of the series will not be disappointed with V3, and those who have never played an NBA Street title before should start here (especially since this is the first time LeBron's been in the game!). This one's a big winner.

Score: 9.0 (out of 10)