NBA Street Homecourt (Xbox 360, 2007)

If flashy moves and graphics are what you want with a mix of the old NBA Jam game play style then this game is for you. HomeCourt doesn't really have a story mode, but one main feature called Homecourt challenge. In this mode you take your created baller, start a local team, and go against other teams. After awhile tournaments will become available. The game isn't overly long but the achievements will bring some extra life to the game since you'll need to do the 'create a player' thing twice. The on-line mode seems pretty lively but the games I played were a bit laggy at times which did cause some problems.

The graphics in NBA Street are rather good. A little too shiny but the character models look good as do all of the moves. Everything moves as realistically as they could since some of the moves can't really be done. The courts also look good but feel a bit bland in the details areas.The sound in the game really isn't too bad. You can hear the "SWOOSH" when the ball flys through the net, or when it bangs off the backboard or rim. I never heard of any of the artists on the soundtrack but I never noticed any lyrics either so I didn't have to suffer through bad rap music. On the other hand I don't remember much of the music because I was really into the game. Voice work is amusing but nothing special. Sound effects aren't that bad either but nothing special.

The control in the game is rather smooth and once you get the hang of the controls you can really pull off some cool moves. That's a plus when the moves look so complex but I do wish there was a tutorial for the game play because for someone who hasn't played a game in the series in a number of years might have some problems with just jumping into the game. The trick system in the game is very simple to get the hang of and looks cool. The AI is pretty much brain dead on the lower settings so you might want to up the difficulty. I'd recommend NBA Street home court as the perfect weekend rental with friends.

Maybe if it was under $30 I could see it worth buying.