NBA '07
Sony's pint-sized b-ball offering is fun, but hardly flawless.
Published: September 25, 2006
For years now, Sony has struggled to provide a basketball sim that can hang with the efforts from 2K or EA's Sports divisions. Up until a couple years ago, though, that was seen as something of a nigh-fruitless, uphill battle; the former 989 Sports' engines, weren't up to par with the big guys, and they didn't really offer anything that wasn't done better in other basketball games.
And then NBA '06 hit. It wasn't so much that the replication of the game was different -- though it was better -- it was that they managed to add a cinematic approach to what it was like to see an aspiring player go from rookie to pro and balance the need for teamwork and sportsmanship with the desire to be a human highlight reel. Combined with some simple but addictive mini-games and a shooting mechanic that was instantly understandable, the rebranded sports developer had a genuine hit in the making.
The PSP version, on the other hand, was a pared down version of that. It lacked the whole "The Life" storyline bit, but it was, if nothing else, a fairly technically advanced attempt at basketball on a portable. It scratched the surface of what the system was capable of, and as an early sports title, it offered real, portable 3D basketball. It wasn't the console experience on the go, but it was... well, it was something.
By contrast, NBA 07 is a fairly respectable suite of portable basketball options. It still lacks any over-arching storyline like the console versions, but at least it handles the basics. It's the WNBA of basketball; little flash, but solid fundamentals. Actually, that's not terribly fair. No, this still isn't a pint-sized version of the PS2 games, but it is very much its own game, and it runs beautifully; 60 fps, nicely detailed player models, and a very quick game of basketball, all of which help sell the hardware -- even if you're probably going to be playing mini-games most of the time.
It's not a knock against the normal basketball modes, which include the usual Season, Exhibition, Playoff and Shoot-Around Modes, but it's in all the stuff surrounding that that I had so much fun. The core game exhibits the same speedy play and controls; L brings up icon passing, the d-pad is a quick command for posting up, cutting to the hoop, running a screen and so on, R is turbo, and the face buttons control crossovers, backing into the hoop, spins, passing, blocking, shooting and steals. Yes, I know, this probably goes without saying, but hey, I've got space to fill.
Again, it's the bits outside of this that were most entertaining to me, the utterly skill-less basketball sim dork that I am, raised on a steady habit of NBA Jam and, more recently, NBA Street. Decidedly arcade-oriented affairs, to be sure, which is why I'm so surprised that NBA 07 still managed to hook me. It was, no doubt, the speed of things and the intuitive controls that helped, but things like the horrendously addictive Conquest mode, a suite of carnival games (everything from a Pop-A-Shot-style game to skeeball), the PlayStation Skills Challenge (a gauntlet of shooting, dribbling and bounce passes), All-Star games, Slam Dunk Competitions (which play like an overly complicated game of DDR) and across-the-board online play (though I only found a single player -- who I think was a dev team member, and who royally spanked me at the regular games).
And then NBA '06 hit. It wasn't so much that the replication of the game was different -- though it was better -- it was that they managed to add a cinematic approach to what it was like to see an aspiring player go from rookie to pro and balance the need for teamwork and sportsmanship with the desire to be a human highlight reel. Combined with some simple but addictive mini-games and a shooting mechanic that was instantly understandable, the rebranded sports developer had a genuine hit in the making.
The PSP version, on the other hand, was a pared down version of that. It lacked the whole "The Life" storyline bit, but it was, if nothing else, a fairly technically advanced attempt at basketball on a portable. It scratched the surface of what the system was capable of, and as an early sports title, it offered real, portable 3D basketball. It wasn't the console experience on the go, but it was... well, it was something.
By contrast, NBA 07 is a fairly respectable suite of portable basketball options. It still lacks any over-arching storyline like the console versions, but at least it handles the basics. It's the WNBA of basketball; little flash, but solid fundamentals. Actually, that's not terribly fair. No, this still isn't a pint-sized version of the PS2 games, but it is very much its own game, and it runs beautifully; 60 fps, nicely detailed player models, and a very quick game of basketball, all of which help sell the hardware -- even if you're probably going to be playing mini-games most of the time.
It's not a knock against the normal basketball modes, which include the usual Season, Exhibition, Playoff and Shoot-Around Modes, but it's in all the stuff surrounding that that I had so much fun. The core game exhibits the same speedy play and controls; L brings up icon passing, the d-pad is a quick command for posting up, cutting to the hoop, running a screen and so on, R is turbo, and the face buttons control crossovers, backing into the hoop, spins, passing, blocking, shooting and steals. Yes, I know, this probably goes without saying, but hey, I've got space to fill.
Again, it's the bits outside of this that were most entertaining to me, the utterly skill-less basketball sim dork that I am, raised on a steady habit of NBA Jam and, more recently, NBA Street. Decidedly arcade-oriented affairs, to be sure, which is why I'm so surprised that NBA 07 still managed to hook me. It was, no doubt, the speed of things and the intuitive controls that helped, but things like the horrendously addictive Conquest mode, a suite of carnival games (everything from a Pop-A-Shot-style game to skeeball), the PlayStation Skills Challenge (a gauntlet of shooting, dribbling and bounce passes), All-Star games, Slam Dunk Competitions (which play like an overly complicated game of DDR) and across-the-board online play (though I only found a single player -- who I think was a dev team member, and who royally spanked me at the regular games).