NBA Street V3

Gameplay

Gameplay consists of standard three-on-three streetball games as well as alternates such as a competition to be the first to a certain score or other objective. Players can try to collect trick points, which are scored through the use of excellent ballhandling and execution.

In NBA Street V3, Gamebreakers return to their original format from NBA Street, becoming once again unpocketable. This time, while in the air just before landing a dunk, the person controlling the Gamebreaker can do tricks with the right analog stick or pass the ball to teammates. Depending on how well these tricks are executed, and how long the ball is passed (each player may only have the ball once during a Gamebreaker), a dunk could be worth two to four points, and the opposing player's score would be subtracted by one, causing a three-to-five point swing. In an NBA game, the score changes become three to five points for the offense and a loss of two for the defense, amounting to a five-to-seven point swing. The risks added by this mechanic are the possibility of overdoing the tricks and therefore missing the basket, or (due to the variance in offensive points) allowing an opponent to take advantage of a poor or failed Gamebreaker to entirely reverse the momentum of the game. The same controls for the Gamebreaker apply in the new Dunk Contest feature. The "trick stick" is also used on the ground for specific tricks, while the trick button now performs a random trick.

Aside from customization of National Basketball Association players, it includes detailed character creators. It is also possible for a player to customize his own court; starting with a street court and eventually obtaining the top priced NBA courts.

Development

NBA Street V3 was developed by EA Canada, and was released under the EA Sports BIG franchise. Its developing team largely consisted of the same people who developed SSX 3 and NBA Street Vol. 2. The game was first unveiled in July 2004 and was intended to be, according to the game's executive producer William Mozell, "[a] celebration of the culture and inventive style of street basketball".

Reception

The game was met with very positive reception upon release. GameRankings and Metacritic gave it a score of 88% and 89 out of 100 for the PlayStation 2 and Xbox versions, and 88% and 88 out of 100 for the GameCube version.

Detroit Free Press gave the PS2 version all four stars and called it "deceptively deep, graphically sharp and a beauty to behold in the hands of two skilled players." USA Today gave the game three-and-a-half stars out of four, saying, "Style, style and more style sums up the presentation of EA's hallmark street franchise. The courts look authentic and D.J. Bobbito Garcia returns with more colorful play-by-play. The music is mostly classic hip-hop and rap artists like House of Pain and the Beastie Boys that fit nicely within the action." The Sydney Morning Herald gave it four stars out of five, saying, "The game has never looked better with easily recognisable pro players and vividly detailed courts. But where this latest installment excels is in enhanced options and customisation for serious fans, while still offering pick-up-and-play access for those after a quick sporting fix."