NBA Street: Homecourt [X360]

Arcade sports games have a problem, and it's the career mode.

From Midway titles like NBA Jam and NFL Blitz to the original NBA Street, the genre is defined by over-the-top moves and a general lack of gravity. They also suffer from a move-up-the-ladder single player campaign in which your team starts at the bottom and defeats team after team until it takes out the top-rated team, usually the defending World Series, NBA or Super Bowl champion. While the exciting gameplay keeps you coming back, especially for multiplayer time with your buds, the career mode leaves a lot to be desired.

In NBA Street Homecourt, EA's upcoming arcade basketball title slated to hit stores this February, the single player campaign is also a move-up-the-ladder style but with plenty of interesting twists to give the mode legs after you've taken over every court in the game.

If you've played FIFA Street 2, you'll be familiar with the design choices as they are almost identical: plenty of attribute-boosting licensed gear; defeating and then recruiting stars to your team; creating a personal, upgradeable baller that plays your favorite style. Not coincidentally, a lot of the same crew at EA that worked on FIFA Street has moved over to NBA Street Homecourt, and you'll definitely notice the influence with new features like the Trick Remixer and the revamped gamebreaker. (Click on the links to read our hands-on impressions of those.)

As the name implies, this version of NBA Street is about defeating NBA stars on the courts they grew up playing on, like Cloverdale for cover boy Carmelo Anthony of the Denver Nuggets. Cloverdale is in Baltimore, so on Melo's squad are other players from the area, including Sam Cassell and Juan Dixon. Out in Oakland you have J-Kidd, Paul Peirce and Tyson Chandler. Other homecourt teams include Carolina, Chicago, Coatesville, Detroit, Los Angeles, New Jersey, and New York. It's up to you to take over these courts. And don't worry, all the NBA teams, a WNBA team and a Brand Jordan team are also included.

The first step is to create a player using a modified game-face technology in which you select three NBA players and morph your players mug to match somewhere in between. If you want Tim Duncan's forehead, Shaq's cheek bones and Pau Gasol's weird look, you can do it. It's a strange system compared to the likes of the Tiger Woods franchise, but it gets the job done and it's actually kind of fun. You know that bit on Conan O'brien where he morphs the faces of celebrities together to predict what their children would look like? Well EA has created a way for you to mate Shaq and Kobe into one conflicted little baller.

The next step in the career mode is to create a team from a bunch of street players from a fictional hometown. We named ours Chico, home of Sierra Nevada Brewing Company. Delish. You get to choose two players with different attributes and then you take on the rest in challenge games. Challenges include normal games to 21, games with jump shots only, games with dunks only, games that are over when one team leads by three and few other surprises. Each time you defeat a team, your attributes like speed, power, dunks and handles get a boost. You may unlock gear and you may unlock a player to add to your team, replacing one of the scrubs.

The first player Team Chico picked up was Antoine Walker. Walker wasn't too happy that he didn't score any points the first time we played with him, and he told me after the game that he was unhappy. So I kicked him off the team. Team Chico does not tolerated overrated cry-babies. Adding this kind of simplified-team chemistry was a great touch and your team's play will be affected by both good and bad atmosphere. I'm still trying to get Shaq and Kobe together, so stay tuned for some real fire works.

The final element of the Homecourt Challenge is upgradeable gear. There's a ton of outfits and shoes to unlock, some of which give your baller attribute boosts in a variety of skills. Of course, EA had to place a few products in NBA Street, so get excited for the court in Venice Beach with the Sprite logo at half-court as well as the two green and yellow Sprite outfits you can wear. We'll let you know if The King makes an appearance.

Check in next week for HD-videos of NBA Street Homecourt and a triple dunk. That's right: triple.

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