NBA Ballers: Phenom

NBA Ballers gives NBA Street a run for its money

Strengths: Gorgeous trick moves on the court; excellent player rendering; tons of players to unlock

Weakness: One-on-one isn't as exciting as three-on-three; repetitive in-game commentary; can't customize soundtracks; too many load screens

NBA Ballers seems like Midway's response to EA's very successful NBA Street series and, for the most part, it doesn't disappoint. Like NBA Street, NBA Ballers has some pretty amazing trick moves that highlight the creativity and athletic impressiveness of streetball. These moves are executed with the right thumbstick, and multiple moves can be strung together into a combo. The player imaging in...
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NBA Ballers seems like Midway's response to EA's very successful NBA Street series and, for the most part, it doesn't disappoint. Like NBA Street, NBA Ballers has some pretty amazing trick moves that highlight the creativity and athletic impressiveness of streetball. These moves are executed with the right thumbstick, and multiple moves can be strung together into a combo. The player imaging in this game is probably the most impressive feature. All of the NBA players' faces and overall likenesses are amazingly accurate down to the tiniest details. As far as sound and music goes, the commentary tends to become repetitive after a while and the standard hip-hop soundtrack cannot be modified for those who might be interested in listening to some other genre of music. Most of the players in the game start out as being locked, so you have to work your way up by beating your opponents to gain them as available players to select in future matches. This is a lengthy feat to accomplish and should keep anyone busy for quite some time. While NBA Ballers is pretty fun to play and has a solid presentation, I feel like a one-on-one game just isn't as fun as a three-on-three one. So if I have to pick between the two, I'd go with NBA Street Vol. 2 or 3. However, this may be simply a matter of personal preference. If you're a fan of arcade basketball games, I recommend giving NBA Ballers a shot.

By sarma81 - Jan 21, 2007

NBA Ballers

Strengths: Solid Graphics, Game Soundtrack

Weakness: No Online Play

I remember the first time I got a chance to play NBA Jam at the arcades and how addicting that game was that I ended up buying it for my PC. After some mediocre games over the years, Midway has brought back much of that fun to the series with NBA Ballers. The game features a good storyline mode that allows you to create a player and acquire assets such as jewelry, clothes, cars and a house as you...
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I remember the first time I got a chance to play NBA Jam at the arcades and how addicting that game was that I ended up buying it for my PC. After some mediocre games over the years, Midway has brought back much of that fun to the series with NBA Ballers. The game features a good storyline mode that allows you to create a player and acquire assets such as jewelry, clothes, cars and a house as you progress through the game. The gameplay is solid with a variety of moves, but was frustrating at first for me to get down. The biggest detractor from the game is the omission of online play as I think this is one of the titles that can be most enjoyable going head-to-head with others. Other than that NBA Ballers is a fun, fast-paced game and recommended for anyone that enjoys basketball and the hip-hop lifestyle.

By Tyga24 - Mar 28, 2006

Ballers come close to rivaling NBA Jam days

Strengths: Unique, one-on-one style of play, great graphics and soundtra ck, 720 progressive scan support.

Weakness: Many NBA players not included, A.I. cheap at times, XBox version DOES NOT support online play!

It's been about a decade since NBA Jam stormed the arcades and was a smash hit. Ever since then, Midway has had a hard time recapturing that past magic but I believe they have come close with NBA Ballers. Basically you create your own baller through a career mode, customize his looks, moves and bling all you want until you reach the top. The storyline is nothing to write home about it keeps you...
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It's been about a decade since NBA Jam stormed the arcades and was a smash hit. Ever since then, Midway has had a hard time recapturing that past magic but I believe they have come close with NBA Ballers. Basically you create your own baller through a career mode, customize his looks, moves and bling all you want until you reach the top. The storyline is nothing to write home about it keeps you motivated to keep playing until the end. The moves take a while to master but they are surprisingly fun to perform once you get the hang of them. Online play keeps the competition and replay. This game has one of the best soundtracks of any sports title. I loved this game so much on PS2, I bought it again on Xbox in order to take advantage of the 720 progressive scan support. This makes the graphics really pop on a HDTV. The one big negative on the Xbox is that Midway decided not to grace this version with online support, which is a big oversight considering how popular Xbox Live is. Overall, highly recommended although if you really want online support, get the PS2 version.

By sabin23 - Nov 14, 2005

NBA Ballers

Strengths: Fun over-the-top gameplay, nice graphics, good controls

Weakness: No online play

NBA Ballers takes a different approach to arcade style basketball by allowing you to play one on one with your favorite NBA players. The game has a lot of players from some of the most recent rookies to hall of fame legends and they all are great likenesses of their real world players. The main single player mode in this game is "Rags To Riches" where you create a baller and take him up against...
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NBA Ballers takes a different approach to arcade style basketball by allowing you to play one on one with your favorite NBA players. The game has a lot of players from some of the most recent rookies to hall of fame legends and they all are great likenesses of their real world players.

The main single player mode in this game is "Rags To Riches" where you create a baller and take him up against all the NBA players in a series of tournaments. As you progress through the tournaments, your skills improve and you unlock more clothing, friends, cars, and eventually your own crib.

The gameplay is what you'd expect from an arcade style sports game from Midway. The controls are responsive and there are a lot of moves to figure out. There is a nice counter system that allows you to block your opponents special moves and this adds a lot to the gameplay. As you progress through the game, you will also gain new abilities that allow you to make passes to the crowd and perform alley-oops.

This game can be somewhat frustrating at first, but once you figure out how to attack each player the gameplay can get a little repetitive. This is still an excellent basketball game that has distinctively different gameplay though and it's worth checking out.

By shipwreck1 - Oct 23, 2005

This is one of the better...

Strengths: Good graphics, great gameplay--a good addition to a gamers collection

Weakness: Sports games don't keep value

This is one of the better basketball games I've played. The gameplay is great, everything works like it should, and shooting "feels right." The graphics are great, and the player selection is awesome. This game is definitly worth $20 or less. I'm not a big sports game person, but this one is awesome.

By Alive741 - May 2, 2005