There may not be an ‘I’ in team, but there certainly is one in ‘Bling’.  That just about summarizes NBA Ballers, the newest one-on-one over-the-top streetball title from the insanely action-oriented Midway Sports guys.  NBA Ballers has many of the pros and cons that riddle action sports titles, but does offer a unique experience that will leave fans of series such as MLB Slugfest, NFL Blitz, and most notably NBA Street jumpin’ out of their chairs and doing a funky little robot dance.

NBA Ballers is street basketball at its flashiest.  It’s not about making it to the championship, it’s not about retooling your game to be the best player, it’s barely even about winning.  NBA Ballers is about pulling off moves that only Cirque de Soleil performers can and embarrassing your opponent.  Targeted at a crowd that prefers style over substance, NBA Ballers is a fun one-on-one street basketball game that’s great for button-mashers and gamers who don’t mind some flawed gameplay.

There are five modes of play to choose from including standard versus mode, triple the fun one-on-one-on-one, the ladder TV tournament, career-like Rags to Riches, and booooooring practice.  In the TV Tournament, gamers select an unlocked NBA Baller and battle him against a select group of players (Rookies, #1 picks, MVPs, etc…) to win credits and unlock players.  Rags to Riches is similar to ESPN Basketball’s career mode, a brilliant way to create a baller and build him up by playing one-on-one matches, except in NBA Ballers, it’s more about acquiring luxuries that include cribs, cars, and hotties.  Practice mode makes me realize what Allen Iverson was talking about, but it does have some great tips on how to play the game.  Rags to Riches will take most of a gamer’s time, being the deepest and most entertaining of the bunch. 

Rags to Riches begins with creating a player from scratch.  If you’ve already made a player in another mode, guess what?  You have to do it all over again!  The create-a-player is pretty solid, but not quite as rich as Tiger Woods or Fight Night.  Gamers can make their ballers seven-foot juggernauts that can really rattle the rim or lightning-quick guards with a shooter’s touch.  At the onset, there are a lot of options for certain pieces of the create-a-player puzzle, such as the tilt of your baseball cap, but fewer for other notable accessories such as jewelry.  Once the created player makes his way up the ranks however, there’ll be more Bling than P. Diddy’s closet.  Skills progress with playing, and increase depending on how you play.  Shoot from long range a bunch to increase your three-point skill, steal a lot to increase you steal skill, etc.  Special skills can also be purchased with credits, such as the ability to alley-oop, throw a ball to someone on the sidelines, or get ‘on fire’. 

Rags to Riches’ most unique pieces are its story and game format.  The story for Rags to Riches actually begins in a television network executive’s office.  Told in a slideshow of stills, we see “the Man” at his most despicable – ready to exploit the inner-city for his own financial gain (at least that’s how I interpreted it).  His brainchild is a new reality TV show featuring one unknown street baller competing against fictional and NBA players in one-on-one competition.  The premise is simple – beat the ballers and collect the credits.  Spend the credits on flashy glasses, shiny medallions, or NBA jerseys.  It’s capitalism at its best, and really teaches kids the value of working hard for your money (ahem – that’s blatant sarcasm for the sarcasm impaired).  There is something incredibly satisfying about taking down an NBA player and using the cash to buy a throwback Clippers jersey or some new kicks, and this is NBA Ballers’ strongpoint.  In Rags to Riches, the materialism goes further than just things you can wear.  Further in the game ballers can buy cars, members of their entourage, and even cribs, though they seem to have little effect on the game itself.

The game format for most of the modes is a best-of-three match, with each individual game to 11 points.  The matches are also timed, and if the players are tied when time expires, the round is played again, which can get very annoying.  This best of three formats extends the game considerably, which is a plus for gamers looking for a lengthy challenge and an annoyance for those looking to unlock the entire roster of more than 80 NBA players (only a fraction of the total lineup is available at the start – boo!).  To serve as a twist, some matches have special rules to shake things up.  The twist can be a single game to 30 points or spiced up with a steal or dunk requirement.  We saw this work well in ESPN Basketball’s one on one career mode, but for this action-oriented game it becomes more of a nuisance than Spike Lee is to Reggie Miller. 

The real attraction to NBA Ballers is the flashy street style B-ball.  More akin to Midway’s basketball classic NBA Jam than EA’s NBA Street, NBA Ballers features players catching fire (literally), the ability to pass to homies on the sideline, and of course physically impossible dunks that made NBA Jam famous.  Ankle shattering jukes are simple as using the right analog stick, and combinations of buttons and “juice” (Midway’s answer to turbo) deliver more complicated actions, including the “Act a Fool” moves that humiliate your opponent in slow-motion, often dribbling between an opponent’s legs three times or rolling the ball off his back after a big time juke.  NBA Ballers definitely delivers the goods when it comes to street style action, and fans of the sport will howl over the plethora of show-stopping moves (though they are often chosen at random). 

The entire game sticks with its hardcore street-savvy presentation, but also isn’t afraid to have a little fun with it.  Hip-hop reigns the airwaves, announcers dish out the slang, and ballers repeatedly taunt and show off.  It makes for a great presentation, and keeps the theme rolling the entire time.  Midway has never taken itself too seriously, and once gamers get through the thuggish façade of NBA Ballers, they’ll notice the humor that’s always been a key factor to Midway’s titles.  One of the games master of ceremonies, a prominent Caucasian who speaks in a Don Pardo voice, amusingly over exaggerates street lingo like a fifty year-old parent trying to be cool with his kids.  The developers also got into the action, including themselves as possible entourage members mockingly posing in street garb.  Lots of collectibles bring some legitimacy to the professionalism of the game including real magazine covers from roundball rags such as Hoops and NBA Inside Stuff.  Advancing through the game also unlocks some fairly cool movies such as “24 seconds with…” where you might find out that Antonio Davis loves cheeseburgers or that Jerry Stackhouse knew the importance of returning to UNC to finish his degree.  Others include hairstyles of the NBA (A.C. Green quipping that he has the best hairstyle in the NBA had me rolling) and a review of nicknames of players.  They’re high quality movie feeds and great rewards for playing the game.  The biggest problem with the presentation of NBA Ballers is the loading time.  I have never had a game take this long just to move from menu to menu.  Thankfully some original photos of NBA players totally GQ’d out give gamers something to look at during these horrendously long downtimes. 

The player’s faces are some of the best I’ve seen in any game, and there’s no mistaking anyone for anyone else in the league.  They’re right on par with the face models of Tiger Woods 2004 and are a huge step for Midway Sports.  Good job, fellas.  The animations are also incredibly fluid, and it’s quite obvious some serious time and effort went into getting them just right.  Going under the leg for a dunk looks just like Vince Carter or J-Rich in the dunk contests and the dribble moves look like they jumped straight off of ESPN’s Streetball.  Midway also gave players alternate gear, which is a refreshing element.  It’s nice to see Tony Parker in shades and warm-ups rather than his standard Spurs jersey.  There’s nothing to complain about visually in NBA Ballers… nothing.

The audio is what you’d expect from this style of game, loud hip-hop and an announcer who knows how to rub it in when you’re getting burned.  It’s pretty standard stuff for this genre, and nothing really stands out. 

Overall, NBA Ballers is a great find for fans of arcade style sports games.  Is it comparable to NBA Street?  Absolutely – but it’s one-on-one format, great Rags to Riches mode, and bling-mentality take a different approach to the blacktop.  There isn’t a ton of strategy here, but it is easy to pick up and play instantly, making it a favorite for gamers who want to step into the action immediately.  

Gameplay: 7.8

A few of the modes are great, but the game can get repetitive fast.  The craziness of the moves such as throwing the ball of an opponent’s head for an alley-oop are awesome to see, but beyond that the substance is a bit lacking – as is the case with most arcade style sports titles.

Graphics: 9.3

Great looking players, great looking dunks. 

Sound: 7.5

The sound is pretty standard stuff.  Some hip-hop here, some street slang there.  Nothing groundbreaking, but it does the job.

Difficulty: Medium

Some of the later players and challenges will really test a gamer’s nerve, but it’s a simple game to learn.

Concept: 8.0

The story idea is great, and acquiring all the goods is a blast.  But take that away, and it’s just a different basketball game. 

Multiplayer: 8.0

No Xbox Live support here, but it’s always more fun to embarrass your friends than the AI.

Overall: 7.8

The game has its moments, but ultimately its repetitive gameplay will see this game collecting dust after a few weeks except for those gamers demanding to unlock everything.  Fans of simulations shouldn’t even bother looking at this game, as it is a 100% rock ‘em sock ‘em arcade style B-ball game.