Street Hoops: King of the Court
Score: 80% ESRB: Teen Publisher: Activision Developer: Black Ops Entertainment Media: CD/1 Players: 1 - 2 Genre: Sports
Graphics & Sound: After witnessing some of what this generation of PS2 graphics has produced, it's a disappointment to see how poor Street Hoops looks. The characters and environments are very bland and lack in both style and substance. I understand that the game is supposed to give off an urban feel, but even the darkest alleys in the darkest corners of the ghetto show more flair. Player models are angular and feature animations that would make the PSX cringe in fear. I can definitely see where the developers are going with the animations - but they skip around so much that players are never in sync with anything else on the screen. For example, I could fake to one side and then go under leg but the defender would still be in the middle of reacting to the fake. Court sounds are good - really good. The licensed music from DMX, Master P, and other hip-hop stars really help push the games presentation beyond what the graphics show. In fact, all of the ambient sounds do an incredibly good job of blending together making sound the best part of the game.
Gameplay: One of the main complaints I've heard about Street Hoops from other gamers is that it doesn't feature real basketball players (such as EA's NBA Street). The truth of the matter is that this game DOES feature real players - but just not the ones who you're used to seeing on TV. Street Hoops features real life street legends such as The Future, Main Event, and Booger Smith (obviously those aren't their real names). These guys have the stuff to make it in the NBA, but due to circumstances aren't there. Since the game doesn't have to stick to the rigid confines of the NBA, the developers were able to offer up a purely genuine game of basketball. Go down to your local playground, and this is how they're playing the game. However, the basketball engine suffers - especially when it comes to game pacing and physics of the game. The physics are way off, giving the game an unrealistic feel. I acknowledge that some messed up stuff happens in the hood, but I'm certain that the laws of physics still apply. The game modes in Street Hoops are very straightforward and easy to get into. World Tournament is the equivalent of a season mode where you travel with your team to different real world courts such as Oakland Mosswood Park, Venice Beach, or New Orleans' Shakespeare Park. Lord of the Court and Half Court Pick Up are your standard exhibition games and can be played with less than five players with the only difference being that Half Court only allows you to play on half of the court (obviously). As you play through the game, you can place bets on the game in order to purchase items for your team. There's the Barber shop where you can get new dos, the Footaction store where you can buy new shoes and outfits, and the pawnshop where you can buy all the bling you'll ever need. As trivial as these things may seem, I really enjoyed that you could spend money on things since it gave the game that extra flair it needed.
Difficulty: I am relatively new to basketball games. In the past, my only experience came from games like Double Dribble, Jordan vs. Bird and NBA Jam. I enjoyed the games, but basketball never interested me enough to play the games with the frequency I would Madden. But considering that my hometown recently acquired a team (sorry Charlotte), I've become more and more interested in the game. Anyway, given my infancy in the genre, I found Street Hoops very easy to pick up and learn after only a few games. The only noticeable problems again come with the game's physics engine. Trying to pull off real world moves like steals, rebounds, and lay ups don't work quite the way you expect and take some time getting used to. From what I could tell, most of these problems stem from the fact that the game is built more for dunks and not 'traditional' play mechanics. It's easy to drive the ball up the court and jam the ball. But trying to get a rebound or steal doesn't come off the way it should. Most of the time, my rebounds came strictly out of pure luck than skill. This bleeds into the game's difficulty since games become more-or-less a challenge to see who can get the ball in the basket more times before time runs out rather than who has the most skill.
Game Mechanics: Street Hoops still allows for the 'normal' basketball moves found in other games, but everything takes on a more stylish approach. The standard moves are set to your controller in the default setting, however with the press of the R1 buttons, the entire configuration changes to a Mad Skillz mode. While in the default mode, players perform the usual passes and crossovers, but once Mad Skillz is activated, normal moves become super-charged fake-outs and slides, which play hell on those trying to defend against you. This constant switching took some time to get used to, but is something that is easily mastered. The hardest part is remembering which button does what in which mode. On the defensive side of the ball, things don't show quite as much flair. This is mostly due to the lack of Mad Skillz for defense; again leading defensives plays more to luck than skill. Although it has its fair share of problems, I really enjoyed Street Hoops. It lacks the mechanics and graphical flair of other games, but still manages to remain a fun game - which is, after all, the reason we game in the first place.
-Starscream, GameVortex Communications AKA Ricky Tucker
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