NBA Street Homecourt

Developer: EA Canada
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Release Date: Feb. 20, 2007
Systems: Xbox 360 (reviewed), PS3
Official Web site

In a nutshell: Basketball with 20 foot leaps, 1080 degree spins and other realistic touches.

0:01 The intro makes my brain hurt with its quick jump cuts, and I'm pretty ADD as it is. I love the huge Press START that takes up 9/10ths of the screen.
0:02 Pick up game, home team, random stars (bulls vs. spurs) at Hometown Park. Medium difficulty. Nice that it's easy to dive right in.
0:03 Nice little introductory vignette about the importance of the community basketball court. Makes the game itself feel more important.
0:05 I love the subtle, ever-present player chatter. Makes it feel more real, but it's not so overpowering that it distracts from the game.
0:08 My opponent just dunked it twice. In one shot. I'm pretty sure that's not legal in a real game.
0:10 The ebb and flow of the game is pitch perfect. The transition from offense to defense rocks back and forth with a gentle ease.
0:13 I'm finally getting the hang of using the X and Y buttons to do trick moves and steals.
0:16 Lose 22 to 8. I used to be good at this series, too. I feel like I'm learning the game all over again.
0:21 Doing jump shots seems kind of pointless when (1) the dunks are so incredible and (2) these behemoths can block every freaking one.
0:22 Shot clock violation? I thought this was streetball? So I can push a guy to the floor, but I can't hold the ball for 24 seconds?
0:23 An alley oop gets me my first lead of the game. I'm starting to feel it now.
0:25 The little button prompts above the player are great for learning. Who needs a tutorial?
0:26 The other team gets four points for a gamebreaker then a long range and I'm suddenly down 14-7. Wow. And I thought I was getting better.
0:28 Their guy just dunked right through three defenders all up in the air with him. Annoying.
0:30 The key to good ball handling seems to be jamming on the X and Y buttons as much aspossible. Who knew? This knowledge does not prevent a 22-13 loss, though.
0:31 I make a baller for the Homecourt Challenge. Another nice voiceover about who you wanna be. Nice touch.
0:34 I love the morph stick that lets you meld three faces without having to delve into each piece of the face. Create-a-player made simple.
0:39 I lose 5 - 0 to a team that seems to steal from me at will and gets every rebound. FUCK!
0:45 Rematch, now I now what to look for. They still squeak out a win 5-4. This is getting annoying.
0:46 After taking a quick 3-1 lead, an opponent throws out the comment"We just spotted you all some points." I'm laughing here.
0:47 5-2 win by focusing on going to the hoop instead of pulling off fancy moves.
0:49 I have not made a single jump shot. Not one. In nearly 50 minutes. Even when they are't blocked they just clank.
0:52 7-4 win, but I lose the trick move count 75 - 20. You'd think a game so focused on fancy moves they would pay off, but at least in the short game going straight for the basket is better.
0:59 I like how the game-changing gamebreakers can be turned around if the opponent gets a steal. Nice little risk vs. reward structure.
1:01 Win a tight game back and forth 12-10. I'm getting the hang of this.

Would I play this game for more than an hour? Yes
Why? I'm just starting to get good.

This review is based on the full Xbox 360 version of the game, rented from GameFly