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EA’s dunkalicious NBA Street series is back for a third trip around the block, this time sporting a bevy of enhancements designed to bring a smile to all the arcade-style hoops fans in your neighborhood. The popular three-on-three b-ball franchise, the success of which has spawned such hard-hitting, high-stepping variants as NFL Street and the upcoming FIFA Street, has managed to stay fresh each year by adding just the right amount of twists, tweaks, and new tricks. NBA Street V3 upholds this tradition by improving the control scheme, upping the play modes, and offering more options than its two flashy forerunners.  

In Control

Whenever you start tinkering with a proven hit, you run the risk of alienating the target audience. Yet the developers at EA Canada decided that the controls weren’t getting the job done as efficiently as possible. NBA Street V3 features a redesigned scheme that makes use of the right analog stick for dribble and in-flight moves. This allows a more natural, intuitive style of play where new users can start shaking defenders like a martini even if they’ve never played a basketball game in their life. To put a move on your opponent, you simply flick the stick in one of eight directions, with additional tricks initiated by pressing modifier buttons. Players can string together multiple moves with relative ease, adding to a special combo meter that results in more points for the next basket.

Heezay Does It

While the main trick moves have been simplified to appeal to a wider audience, the more intricate combo moves take some degree of skill and precision timing to pull off consistently, rewarding expert players with powerfully incredible gamebreaker moves. Returning favorites like “back 2 papa” and “off the heezay” are joined by “off the bootay” and “off the back,” where a defender is essentially used as a wall to bounce the ball off so you can snag the rebound for hilarious results. Whenever a trick is performed, you’ll instantly recognize it thanks to informative on-screen icons that show you which direction you pushed and the number of turbo boosts used as modifiers. This visual aid will help new players learn the different moves at a faster rate.

Style Kills

As in the previous NBA Street games, it’s not about scoring baskets but in how you score baskets. Performing tricks will net you street points, which can be used to purchase bonus items from a store, increase your created athlete’s core abilities, and of course, prove your skill against fellow opponents. New to NBA Street V3 is a trick book that lets you know precisely which tricks you have accomplished, allowing you to unlock additional moves once the requisite number of tricks has been successfully performed. Those yearning for even more razzle-dazzle moves will love the new dunk contest mode, where players can creatively assemble the best takeoff, mid-flight, and dunk moves to defy the laws of gravity and to impress the judges. Scenery objects such as ladders and dumpsters can also be incorporated into a dunk for dramatic results.

Take the Rock around the Block

The rest of the modes are carried over from the second game, including pick-up games against your choice of opponents, a practice mode to work out the kinks in your moves, and the immersive street challenge, where you take a custom player on a tour around the country to earn respect amongst your hoop-dreaming peers. What makes this mode so addictive is the sheer variety of challenges offered as you gain experience in the ‘hood. Prove yourself amongst the locals and you'll eventually enter tournaments, special dunk contests, and other random events while improving your team by stealing players from defeated rivals. All 30 NBA teams are also available to contend with in a separate 14-game season.

Urban Development

The street challenge mode begins in your home court, which is fully customizable using your street points. Custom courts can be configured to hold games during the day or at night in a choice of home cities. While you cannot design a court from scratch, there are plenty of variables to give your creation a distinctive look. Fifteen surface types, all with varying degrees of wear and tear, are available, as are multiple backboards, net choices, neighborhoods, murals, logos, and colors. Players can unlock additional items to add to their court, save up to improve their athlete (such as getting a new hairstyle or a pair of shoes), acquire different venues, and purchase NBA greats from years gone by.

Slam Dunk?

Of all the enhancements made in NBA Street V3, it would be remiss of us not to mention the visuals, which have moved away from exaggerated, cartoon-like players to a grittier, realistic look that better suits the game’s urban theme. NBA Street V3, all things considered, is how a sports sequel should be approached. Sports game developers all too often slap on a minor mode or two and call their game “new,” but NBA Street V3 actually feels like a fresh take on the series. It looks and plays better, has more depth, and includes online support for Xbox and PS2 owners, though one significant drawback is that you can’t use your created court or athlete from single-player mode. Regardless, NBA Street V3 offers up enough fresh ideas to give this series a swift kick in the shorts.