Street Hoops
Activision and Black Ops Entertainment have kicked out a street ball game to go toe to toe with the reigning champ, NBA Street, but does it have what it takes to take the street ball crown?
Published: August 26, 2002
You know, as much as I adore EA Big's NBA Street for its sheer brilliance, there are times when I wish the game was just a little deeper. Lo and behold it looked like my prayers were answered when I got a little play time with Street Hoops at Activision's booth at E3. The game had plenty of potential, and seemed to offer something a little more sim-like to counter Street's decidedly arcade slant, but the din and clamor of E3 was hardly a place to get to know a game, so when Activision offered to toss me a boxed copy, I jumped at the chance. Unfortunately, after spending the waking part of the weekend with Street Hoops, I've found the game is far more Street than Hoops.
Not content to simply reproduce the real-life game's on-court action, Black Ops decided to invest a heavy amount of time in fleshing out all the other areas of the game, dipping into the culture and building up everything surrounding the game, from the tats, hair and clothes players wear to the stars of the street courts. The problem is, while they were spending all this time building up the game off the court, throwing in pawn shops and underground side bets on games, they forgot to concentrate on the actual game of street ball itself. It's as if they spent all their time duplicating everything surrounding the game without getting the whole point in the first place. Sure, street ball is flashy and full of showmanship, but the reason why certain rules are stripped out, why you win by two, why the game is faster than a pro game, why there is no foul if there is no blood: to make the game more fun. Fun is something that Street Hoops just seems to be lacking.
The game isn't without its merits, of course. The same attention to detail and depth that I saw at E3 is there, it's just the core game that annoys the hell out of me. It was really a constant struggle; there's more depth here in how you get the ball into the hoop than I ever thought possible in a street ball game. Black Ops' time spent crafting March Madness games for EA is apparent. For instance, when you coming down the court, you're encouraged (as many street balers do) to show off a little bit, flexing dribbles with a press of the Mad Skillz toggle (hold R2), turning all your face buttons into different ankle-breaking show-off moves. Once you arrive near the three point arc (or even before hand if you'd like), you can back down and slowly work your way into the key with the triangle button. Once you've neared the rim, you can spin off a defender, throw up a hook shot or pull a turnaround jumper. Should you find yourself driving towards the basket, a press and hold of the L2 button turns the O, X and square buttons into custom dunks. For many long-time basketball players, this may seem like the norm, and it is, but with a whole two street basketball games available, it's refreshing to see such a diverse move set thrown into a game. Now if it were only possible to sink shots.
That's really the key to Street Hoops lack of fun. Even wide open shots with players with maxed out stat points will miss astonishingly often, while the players on the other team will kiss cotton or chain all day with your hand in their face. Out of frustration, I created a team that was completely maxed out with 99's in every stat. They still would miss shots on a regular basis, even wide open ones. If a player is essentially perfect, wouldn't it stand to reason that he'd be able to hit 99% of his wide open shots from three feet away? Or worse, when pulling a layup? What's more, when an opponent decides it's time to drive to the basket, and you feel you're right on target for a nice, tasty stuff or swat, 99% of the time you're way off. Street Hoops feels more like a basketball sim in the guise of a street ball game. The physics seem attuned to a much slower, deliberate game rather than something that's as combo-heavy and reliant on flashy moves. Street Hoops is anything but slow, and it's fast to the point of looking ridiculous when you use some players. The game pace is nice, and I dig how quickly you can get up and down the court, but the entire game looks like a sim in fast-forward rather than being just plain fast. The animations are done incredibly well, but the speed at which they're played out won't really let you appreciate their grace and detail.
It's sad, too, because most of the detail in Street Hoops is in the animations, which are a motion-capture smorgasbord. Dunks are varied to the point of only a bit of repetition from game to game (unless you specify the same dunk over and over again, of course), passes are mixed up well and the tweening from a dribble to pass is done seamlessly. The players move with plenty of style in grace, although replays show just how off the models usually are from being locked onto the ball. The models themselves seem rather low-poly and low detail in comparison to other basketball games on the system, even with all the options you can trick them out with (clothing, hair, glasses, shoes, etc.). There's a bit of attention to detail in things like the courts, which feature some startlingly realistic additions (I swear the trees in the Venice Beach court are EXACTLY as they appear in real life down to perfect scale), but the overall texture work and variety isn't too apparent. Often players on both teams will be wearing the same basic color scheme, making it tough to differentiate who's on your team and who isn't.
Likewise, the audio has plenty of subtle touches. Somehow Black Ops managed to balance all the aural elements so that no one sound option crowded out all the others. It's an impressive feat considering you have an announcer, crowd noise, trash talk, ambience and the usual squeaks and rattles of the on-court sounds. Street Hoops supports a bevy of different sound options, from the ususal mono and stereo options to Dolby Pro Logic II and DTS. The same balance of all the different effects channels holds true with each sound option. Big Boy's commentary is solid, but incredibly repetitive, as is the trash talk, which quickly recycles comments after a dozen or so clips. After about 10-15 minutes or so, you'll be more than ready to turn them down. The music is a hip-hop-heavy mix of big name rappers like Master P, Ludacris, Xzibit and DMX. For those that can't stomach the new wave of rap (read: me), there are a dozen or so ambient music tracks that you can turn on that do a better job of tickling the eardrums of those playing.
Street Hoops isn't a terrible game exactly, it just seems like it's a game that isn't really sure of itself. The speed is there, but the physics don't mesh. The culture is there, but not the core game. The lifestyle and attitude surrounding the game is completely present here, but I can't help but feel like the soul didn't quite punch through. Of course, I'm not a basketball sim fan, and the game may appeal more to those who dig the more detailed approach to moves. The game is certainly worth renting to at least experience the general feel of the game, but more than likely you'll come to the same conclusion as I did before you have to return the game: Street Hoops needs more hoops and less street.
Not content to simply reproduce the real-life game's on-court action, Black Ops decided to invest a heavy amount of time in fleshing out all the other areas of the game, dipping into the culture and building up everything surrounding the game, from the tats, hair and clothes players wear to the stars of the street courts. The problem is, while they were spending all this time building up the game off the court, throwing in pawn shops and underground side bets on games, they forgot to concentrate on the actual game of street ball itself. It's as if they spent all their time duplicating everything surrounding the game without getting the whole point in the first place. Sure, street ball is flashy and full of showmanship, but the reason why certain rules are stripped out, why you win by two, why the game is faster than a pro game, why there is no foul if there is no blood: to make the game more fun. Fun is something that Street Hoops just seems to be lacking.
The game isn't without its merits, of course. The same attention to detail and depth that I saw at E3 is there, it's just the core game that annoys the hell out of me. It was really a constant struggle; there's more depth here in how you get the ball into the hoop than I ever thought possible in a street ball game. Black Ops' time spent crafting March Madness games for EA is apparent. For instance, when you coming down the court, you're encouraged (as many street balers do) to show off a little bit, flexing dribbles with a press of the Mad Skillz toggle (hold R2), turning all your face buttons into different ankle-breaking show-off moves. Once you arrive near the three point arc (or even before hand if you'd like), you can back down and slowly work your way into the key with the triangle button. Once you've neared the rim, you can spin off a defender, throw up a hook shot or pull a turnaround jumper. Should you find yourself driving towards the basket, a press and hold of the L2 button turns the O, X and square buttons into custom dunks. For many long-time basketball players, this may seem like the norm, and it is, but with a whole two street basketball games available, it's refreshing to see such a diverse move set thrown into a game. Now if it were only possible to sink shots.
That's really the key to Street Hoops lack of fun. Even wide open shots with players with maxed out stat points will miss astonishingly often, while the players on the other team will kiss cotton or chain all day with your hand in their face. Out of frustration, I created a team that was completely maxed out with 99's in every stat. They still would miss shots on a regular basis, even wide open ones. If a player is essentially perfect, wouldn't it stand to reason that he'd be able to hit 99% of his wide open shots from three feet away? Or worse, when pulling a layup? What's more, when an opponent decides it's time to drive to the basket, and you feel you're right on target for a nice, tasty stuff or swat, 99% of the time you're way off. Street Hoops feels more like a basketball sim in the guise of a street ball game. The physics seem attuned to a much slower, deliberate game rather than something that's as combo-heavy and reliant on flashy moves. Street Hoops is anything but slow, and it's fast to the point of looking ridiculous when you use some players. The game pace is nice, and I dig how quickly you can get up and down the court, but the entire game looks like a sim in fast-forward rather than being just plain fast. The animations are done incredibly well, but the speed at which they're played out won't really let you appreciate their grace and detail.
It's sad, too, because most of the detail in Street Hoops is in the animations, which are a motion-capture smorgasbord. Dunks are varied to the point of only a bit of repetition from game to game (unless you specify the same dunk over and over again, of course), passes are mixed up well and the tweening from a dribble to pass is done seamlessly. The players move with plenty of style in grace, although replays show just how off the models usually are from being locked onto the ball. The models themselves seem rather low-poly and low detail in comparison to other basketball games on the system, even with all the options you can trick them out with (clothing, hair, glasses, shoes, etc.). There's a bit of attention to detail in things like the courts, which feature some startlingly realistic additions (I swear the trees in the Venice Beach court are EXACTLY as they appear in real life down to perfect scale), but the overall texture work and variety isn't too apparent. Often players on both teams will be wearing the same basic color scheme, making it tough to differentiate who's on your team and who isn't.
Likewise, the audio has plenty of subtle touches. Somehow Black Ops managed to balance all the aural elements so that no one sound option crowded out all the others. It's an impressive feat considering you have an announcer, crowd noise, trash talk, ambience and the usual squeaks and rattles of the on-court sounds. Street Hoops supports a bevy of different sound options, from the ususal mono and stereo options to Dolby Pro Logic II and DTS. The same balance of all the different effects channels holds true with each sound option. Big Boy's commentary is solid, but incredibly repetitive, as is the trash talk, which quickly recycles comments after a dozen or so clips. After about 10-15 minutes or so, you'll be more than ready to turn them down. The music is a hip-hop-heavy mix of big name rappers like Master P, Ludacris, Xzibit and DMX. For those that can't stomach the new wave of rap (read: me), there are a dozen or so ambient music tracks that you can turn on that do a better job of tickling the eardrums of those playing.
Street Hoops isn't a terrible game exactly, it just seems like it's a game that isn't really sure of itself. The speed is there, but the physics don't mesh. The culture is there, but not the core game. The lifestyle and attitude surrounding the game is completely present here, but I can't help but feel like the soul didn't quite punch through. Of course, I'm not a basketball sim fan, and the game may appeal more to those who dig the more detailed approach to moves. The game is certainly worth renting to at least experience the general feel of the game, but more than likely you'll come to the same conclusion as I did before you have to return the game: Street Hoops needs more hoops and less street.
