| NBA Street | |
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PAL region cover art |
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| Developer(s) | EA Canada |
| Publisher(s) | EA Sports BIG |
| Platform(s) | PlayStation 2, GameCube |
| Release date(s) | PlayStation 2
GameCube
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| Genre(s) | Sports |
| Mode(s) | Single-player, multiplayer |
| Rating(s) | |
NBA Street is a basketball video game developed by EA Canada. It was released in 2001 for the PlayStation 2 and in 2002 for the GameCube. It combines the talent and big names of the NBA with the attitude and atmosphere of streetball. NBA Street was followed by NBA Street Vol. 2, NBA Street V3, and NBA Street Homecourt.
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NBA Street consisted of three-on-three basketball games. Asides from the basic structure of basketball, players try to collect trick points, which are scored through the use of almost every basketball game maneuver such as faking out defenders, shot blocking, diving for the ball, and dunking. If a team fills a special meter through flashy and effective gameplay, they get to perform a Gamebreaker, which is a special shot that not only adds to their score, but it subtracts an amount from their opponents' score.
Single player options included a user-created player touring famous American locations, picking up teammates from NBA rosters along the way.
The gameplay could be considered an "arcade" style of basketball in that it is not a true simulation, similar to the NBA Jam series. For instance, in-game players were able to jump high enough to grab three-point shots mid-arc (goaltending is permitted and is often used as a defensive strategy). Games on the default setting are scored not by traditional standards, as two-point field goals are worth one point, while made shots behind the three-point line rewarded two points. Instead of a time limit, the first team to score a predetermined amount of points were deemed the winner. However, variant options existed, such as matches based on trick points.
Reviews were mostly positive, and the game has a composite Metacritic score of 89 out of 100.[1]
With the success of the NBA Street series, EA Sports BIG expanded to the format to football with NFL Street and soccer with FIFA Street.
30 current NBA teams were playable, with rosters from around 2000 and 2001. Michael Jordan, who announced his comeback from his second retirement with the Washington Wizards a few months after the PlayStation 2 release, is available on both the Gamecube and PlayStation 2 versions.
The game introduced several recurring characters called Street Legends, fictional basketball players who served as the series' bosses, each masterful in a particular aspect of basketball and representing a specific area of the United States. Their personalities and appearances were loosely inspired by real players, such as Stretch, the "cover athlete" who resembled Julius Erving in looks and abilities.
The Street Legends are, in order, Biggs, Bonafide, Drake, DJ, Takashi, and Stretch.
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