Quite possibly the greatest basketball video game of all time (90% on GameRankings and 90/100 on Metacritic), NBA Street Vol. 2 (released 2003) does not just celebrate basketball as a sport, it celebrates it as a cultural institution. What sets NBA Street Vol. 2 apart from other basketball games released over the past two decades is that you get to play basketball the way the average person plays it. Rather than playing in fancy 20,000 seat arenas, you play in a combination of real-life and fictional public basketball courts across America. The two real-life courts that appear in the game are the legendary Rucker Park in Harlem and Mosswood Park in Oakland. The sounds of the game certainly make you feel like you are playing an actual pick-up basketball game. On the court, the players jeer and grunt as they battle it out. Off the court, not only do you hear cheers from the crowd, but you get to listen to non-stop commentary from the real-life DJ and pick-up basketball emcee, Bobbito Garcia. Notable lines of his include, “Call the paramedics, that was sick right there!” and “I believe your ankles need an x-ray.” The game also features a soundtrack of 90’s rap and hip-hop, which seems to go better with pick-up basketball than does some of the pop songs included in modern basketball video games. As for the actual game-play, like actual pick-up games, pretty much all NBA rules are thrown out the window. Games are 3-on-3 and first to 21 points. Dunks and close-range shots are one point and anything beyond the arc is two points. And of course, there are no fouls. By using trick moves, you can pretty much do whatever you need to do (from tripping an opposing player to throwing the ball off their head) to get to the rim. The game encourages you to do trick moves by rewarding you with a gamebreaker, which is a beautiful dunk or shot that is guaranteed to go in the basket and gives your team points while taking away points from the opposing team. NBA Street Vol. 2 is beyond fun to play.
Although NBA Street Vol. 2 looks nothing like modern-day basketball video games, it has almost certainly influenced such games. Today, games such as NBA 2K19, are valued for their graphics and realism. When you play NBA 2K19, it may very well feel as though you are watching a game on ESPN. This clearly is not the case with NBA Street Vol. 2, which strives for an arcade feel. Still, the game has a lot of components to it. In NBA Street Vol. 2, you can choose to play with current (now former) players, with over two dozen NBA legends (including 1984 and 1996 versions of Michael Jordan), or with fictional street ball legends. You can choose from different game modes, including Pick-Up Game, NBA Challenge, Street School, and Be a Legend. In the Be a Legend mode, you create your own baller and select a couple teammates. You then take on challenges with your team. With each win, your baller gains new skills, or you can choose a player from the opposing team to join your team. The goal is to make your baller into a legend and have an elite team. Modern sports games retain elements of this mode. In NBA 2K19’s My Career mode, you also develop from an unknown player into a legend by completing different challenges. In Madden and FIFA Ultimate Team, you also seek to create an elite team by adding players to your roster after winning games. Thus, NBA Street Vol. 2 is influential not just among basketball games, but among the whole sports genre.
On a personal level, NBA Street Vol. 2 sparked my interest in basketball and basketball video games. When I first played the game on my PS2 in 2003 as a six-year old, I was new to gaming. The fact that the game had an arcade feel to it, accompanied with relatively easy controls, made it easy to play. The fact that the game had seemingly endless dunks and tricks moves I could do, as well as a really fun Be a Legend mode, made it fun to play. I found myself wanting to play it all the time. As a result, I got to learn all the teams and players well. Not too many six-year olds know who Hawks legend Dominque Wilkins is, but because of this game I did. This game was really my first exposure to basketball and the NBA. Because of this game, I began to play basketball, follow professional basketball, and ultimately play more modern basketball video games, like 2K. Still, I think this game has broad appeal to basketball fans of all ages. Of course for older fans, the ability to play with NBA legends provides a nostalgia aspect. And the game really is fun and unlike other basketball games out there.
Overall, I think this game is important because of how it portrays basketball. Too many basketball video games focus on NBA-style basketball, but the truth of the matter is that the average basketball player is a recreational pick-up ball player, not an NBA player. This game exposes you to the sights, sounds, and feels one has while playing pick-up ball. Pick-up ball is an important component of so many people’s identities and cultures throughout America, so it is pretty cool to have a video game that celebrates that.
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