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Third time is the chart for Sony’s portable basketball franchise. Sony’s NBA series on PSP has been improving ever since the original NBA was released with the portable’s launch. Sony’s latest entry includes a number of features and minigames to make it a recommended upgrade for fans of the franchise.
NBA 07 includes many of the expected game modes. You’ll find exhibition, season, playoffs, shoot around, and free throw mode. In addition to these, the more fancy modes like 3 Point Contest, Skills Challenge, and All-Star Game as part of the All-Star Weekend. New to this year’s version is Dunk Contest, where you’ll have to rhythmically hit buttons as they appear onscreen and pickup game where you’ll be provided with 10 random NBA players for you (and your opponent) to select before playing a game. As usual, the game includes online and local multiplayer. In addition, there is game sharing for some of the minigames so that you can play them with a buddy who doesn’t have a copy of the game. Bizarrely, the game includes support for the PSP Camera, although it isn’t available yet.
The game also includes some new minigames. Conquest Mode is a turn-based strategy game designed around basketball. In this mode, you’ll have to show your skills to take control of every NBA team in the league. During each turn, a team will have to option to invade another team or defend themselves. If the invaders win the following game, they take over that team, their city, and the team’s players. However, if the invaders lose, they can expect to lose their key players. The gameplay is different than a typical ball game, as well. For one, there are life meters which deplete with the number of shots taken, missing shots can leave you dazed, and there are 4- and 5-point shots should you get too far behind.
The game also includes Carnival mode which includes three minigames: Pinball, Big Shooter, and Hot Shot. Pinball is a basketball-themed pinball table, big shooter gives you ten balls to shoot into six moving baskets, while hot shot gives you a minute to score as many times as possible, although the basket will move every 20 seconds. All of the minigames are quite fun and those in Carnival mode give you tickets that you can trade for Jerseys in the prizes section.
The actual basketball gameplay in a typical game isn’t much different than we’re used to. The game series is famous (or infamous depending on your point of view) for its three-color halo that tells you when to shoot. This makes a return this year and although some people hate it, I actually like it a lot. Otherwise, passing, pulling of juke moves, and everything else is solid but the game doesn’t try to sell itself on basketball complexity.
Visually, NBA 07 is as sharp as the series has ever been. The character models look great for a PSP game and the animation is very fluid. The stadiums are packed with people and look great as well. The crowd is much more interactive than it was in previous iterations. Aside from technicalities, the presentation has also been improved. After the game you can see a highlight reel of the best plays of the game.
The audio is also very solid. The sound effects accurately recreate the sounds of basketball. The crowd, as I mentioned before, is much more interactive and enthusiastic—loudly cheering on the home team while booing the other. The play by play is performed by Mark Jackson and Ian Angle who do a good job of calling the game and keeping things interesting.
NBA 07 doesn’t try to be something that it is not. It’s an arcade basketball title and it does that very well. The addition of the seriously fun minigames and improved presentation make it easy to recommend this iteration of the franchise. -- Jose Liz, PGNx Media
---- Sep 25, 2006
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