NBA Street Homecourt
Next-gen arcade roundball is coming, and it's nothing like what you saw on the PS2.
Published: January 19, 2007
For many developers, a transition to the next generation of hardware offers a chance to take existing franchises and give them an overhaul. It's not just that the increase in power allows for better graphics or sound (though in the case of the PS3 over the PS2, that's certainly a factor), moving to next-gen represents an opportunity to analyze what worked with the previous games and what could be changed. With Homecourt, though, EA Canada is stripping everything down to basics, effectively starting over from scratch.
For long-time fans of the series, that might sound a little scary, but the Vancouver-based dev house wants to set minds at ease. Though the controls have been completely changed and much of the core gameplay is new, this is still the brand of arcade basketball that has supplanted NBA Jam as the go-to roundball experience for those of us not quite ready to dive into the simulation pool. It's just that now... well, things are different.
How different? We'll start with the controls. Gone are the days when mashing combinations of the four shoulder buttons would yield different ankle-breaking moves. Instead, EA opted to move the entire trick system to just two main buttons. The difference here, though, is that timing is everything. You can hammer on the Square or Triangle button for a series of quick dribbles or tricks, or hold them for a quick stall before dropping back into things, and the game's animation system branches relatively seamlessly to adapt instantly to your moves.
The idea is that you have more control over how you rack up points. If you want to spam the crossover with a bunch of lighting-fast dunks, you're more than welcome, but mixing things up, as always, is the key building the new and improved GameBreaker Meter (more on that in a second). By using the L1 and R1 buttons, you can effectively tweak an existing move by changing to a behind-the-back or through-the-legs dribble -- important if you want to avoid a steal from swipe-happy defenders. Because the game creates a string of combos as fast as you can hit the buttons (there are some animations that are as small as 6 frames -- that's 1/10th of a second), the adaptability of the combo system from the old games is still present, it's just made a little more intuitive for newcomers.
Tricks are one thing, but EA Canada also decided to play around with your teammates too; you can now call for screens, set up alley-oops and, in perhaps the game's most extravagant addition, ask for a teammate to kneel while you run at them and tap the Circle button to propel yourself to stupid heights as you sail over any would-be defenders on a one-way trip to the rim. All of these things are pulled off with the d-pad (or by clicking down on the analog sticks), and work as well as you'd hope. The rest of the gameplay -- which still to this day includes one of the most intuitive shooting mechanics (if you fire and release at the top of your arc, you're probably going to nail the shot), block systems (just time the block with the player's shot to stick a hand in their face) and simple rock/paper/scissors systems for steals and defense -- are all here and all feel just as solid as ever.
Though the ultimate goal is still to outscore the other guys, it's all of these retooled moves that have made the whole GameBreaker moves that much more important. The multi-tiered system from previous games is gone, replaced with a single ever-building twisty line that fills just as it always has, by nailing shots, busting tricks and rocking the occasional block or steal. The difference now, though, is that when you do finally kick on the GameBreaker, nearly everything changes. The little slowly rotating multi-colored ball tucked into the middle of the HUD at the top of the screen comes flying out and into the hands of your player that tapped Triangle at mid-court, and then things get really interesting.
The basic functionality of the GameBreaker hasn't changed all that much; you still get a massive boost to your tricks (now, what were basic moves become insane breakdance-like twists and spins that can actually be used to "attack" defenders and knock them out of commission for a few seconds), and nailing a shot will drain your opponent's score (in fact, just kicking the GameBreaker on knocks a point off their score), but now, as you continue to trick your way up and down the court, you'll add multipliers to how much the ball is worth to both scores. The catch, here, is that if the ball is stolen, the other team has a full GameBreaker. Passes and alley-oops are more flamboyant while in GB mode, shots are laser precise and remember that teammate catapult? Yeah, it gets even more nuts as your player rolls onto the back of the kneeling teammate and is turned into a human projectile screaming for the basket.
For long-time fans of the series, that might sound a little scary, but the Vancouver-based dev house wants to set minds at ease. Though the controls have been completely changed and much of the core gameplay is new, this is still the brand of arcade basketball that has supplanted NBA Jam as the go-to roundball experience for those of us not quite ready to dive into the simulation pool. It's just that now... well, things are different.
How different? We'll start with the controls. Gone are the days when mashing combinations of the four shoulder buttons would yield different ankle-breaking moves. Instead, EA opted to move the entire trick system to just two main buttons. The difference here, though, is that timing is everything. You can hammer on the Square or Triangle button for a series of quick dribbles or tricks, or hold them for a quick stall before dropping back into things, and the game's animation system branches relatively seamlessly to adapt instantly to your moves.
The idea is that you have more control over how you rack up points. If you want to spam the crossover with a bunch of lighting-fast dunks, you're more than welcome, but mixing things up, as always, is the key building the new and improved GameBreaker Meter (more on that in a second). By using the L1 and R1 buttons, you can effectively tweak an existing move by changing to a behind-the-back or through-the-legs dribble -- important if you want to avoid a steal from swipe-happy defenders. Because the game creates a string of combos as fast as you can hit the buttons (there are some animations that are as small as 6 frames -- that's 1/10th of a second), the adaptability of the combo system from the old games is still present, it's just made a little more intuitive for newcomers.
Tricks are one thing, but EA Canada also decided to play around with your teammates too; you can now call for screens, set up alley-oops and, in perhaps the game's most extravagant addition, ask for a teammate to kneel while you run at them and tap the Circle button to propel yourself to stupid heights as you sail over any would-be defenders on a one-way trip to the rim. All of these things are pulled off with the d-pad (or by clicking down on the analog sticks), and work as well as you'd hope. The rest of the gameplay -- which still to this day includes one of the most intuitive shooting mechanics (if you fire and release at the top of your arc, you're probably going to nail the shot), block systems (just time the block with the player's shot to stick a hand in their face) and simple rock/paper/scissors systems for steals and defense -- are all here and all feel just as solid as ever.
Though the ultimate goal is still to outscore the other guys, it's all of these retooled moves that have made the whole GameBreaker moves that much more important. The multi-tiered system from previous games is gone, replaced with a single ever-building twisty line that fills just as it always has, by nailing shots, busting tricks and rocking the occasional block or steal. The difference now, though, is that when you do finally kick on the GameBreaker, nearly everything changes. The little slowly rotating multi-colored ball tucked into the middle of the HUD at the top of the screen comes flying out and into the hands of your player that tapped Triangle at mid-court, and then things get really interesting.
The basic functionality of the GameBreaker hasn't changed all that much; you still get a massive boost to your tricks (now, what were basic moves become insane breakdance-like twists and spins that can actually be used to "attack" defenders and knock them out of commission for a few seconds), and nailing a shot will drain your opponent's score (in fact, just kicking the GameBreaker on knocks a point off their score), but now, as you continue to trick your way up and down the court, you'll add multipliers to how much the ball is worth to both scores. The catch, here, is that if the ball is stolen, the other team has a full GameBreaker. Passes and alley-oops are more flamboyant while in GB mode, shots are laser precise and remember that teammate catapult? Yeah, it gets even more nuts as your player rolls onto the back of the kneeling teammate and is turned into a human projectile screaming for the basket.
