NBA Street V3

Written by Kyle Williams  on December 29, 2004

Final Glimpse: "I wish I was a little bit taller, I wish I was a baller..."

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Electronic Arts knows sports games. Their games fly off of the shelf. Their franchises are like money in the bank. What makes them so darn good? Sure, Madden and NBA Live fans might say it is the level of authenticity that they bring to the table but us street ballers know that EA just seems to know when to change gears. That is why the NFL and NBA Street titles have taken off over the last couple of years and is why they are tossing FIFA Street into the foray early next year. What was that? You haven't played any of these games yet? Shame on you. You should have already preordered NBA Street v3 so you can sleep at night knowing that you'll get your copy on February 8th.

Like it's name implies, NBA Street v3 takes professional basketball players off of the hardwood and puts them into action on street courts from around the world. The action in Street v3 will be more reminiscent of the venerable NBA Jam series then it is of EA's own NBA Live series. The previous chapters in the series have established a very accessible control scheme that will anyone to pick up the controller and be a contender. However, not just any rookie will be able to take full advantage of NBA Street v3 as the game goes beyond putting the ball through the hoop.

There is a certain amount of style that NBA Street v3 is bringing to the table. First up is an insane dunk combo system that, with more than 500,000 dunk combinations, will make your above-the-rim game a spectacle in and of itself. You will also be able to polish up your jams in NBA Street's slam dunk contest where you will have to drop it over cars and dumpsters to rack up the high score. Is your game more of making your opponent look bad? Then you will be all over the new advance tricks the v3 will be sporting. Throw the ball under your opponents arm, under his legs, or off your own butt to throw off their game and bring home the win. You will also be able to taunt them, run some trick dribbles, and celebrate after the biggest of your big plays. Anything to make them feel just a little bit worse, right? You will also be able to show off your flair with court and player customization. A must for all of the bling-loving-playas that plan to bring their skills to the street.

GameCube owners look to be in for an extra special treat, too. EBGames.com has the boxart for the game posted on their website and take a look at the top left corner of the image. See Mario and his friends with the "All Star" label? A little bit of assumption jumping and we can conclude that Mario and his friends will be a playable team in the game. While there does not appear to be any "official" word from EA directly, this could be an exciting opportunity for GameCube fans. Will this boost GC sales of the title in the same way that Namco's use of Link in the GC version of Soul Calibur II did? If this rumor proves to be true, I'd put money on the GameCube version selling better than any of the others. You willing to put $50 down? In my opinion, this outweighs the online play boasted by the Xbox and PS2 versions.