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NBA Live’s sophomore outing on the PSP improves on the original quite a bit. We get several new modes—some new and some new to PSP—but the underlying gameplay hasn’t changed much.
NBA Live 07 includes Play Now, Dynasty, Playoffs, Season and All-Star Weekend. Dynasty mode places you in the role of the general manager and you’ll have to schedule, train, scout and everything you expect from an EA dynasty mode. One cool feature is that you can link up the PS2 and PSP games so you can continue playing a PS2 season on the PSP and vice versa. The latter includes the Slam Dunk contest, 3 Point Shootout, Rookie Challenge Game and All Star Game. The Superstar challenge mode from last year makes a return. Once again, these are small minigames based on some real-life NBA game. You’ll be tasked with scoring a number of points in a game or certain period of time and you’re rewarded with unlockable videos for your troubles. The game includes two new minigames. In Handles, you have to press D Pad buttons when they appear onscreen to see some fancy footwork from the onscreen character while in 2 Ball, you have to beat the AI to 50 points by scoring in designated spots on the field: the further away you are the more points you get.
The game’s gameplay remains all of its defining characteristics but wrapped in a slightly different package. Though you no longer have separate shoot and dunk buttons, you still have the crazy dunks and you still have the ability to tip in shots or dunks. You still have freestyle dribbling but these are tied to the square button since the PSP lacks a second analog stick. NBA Live 07 still features the superstar moves. This lets you tell the big-name players from the not-so-big. Essentially, there are six types including highflyers, inside scorers, outside scorers, playmakers, power players and shooters. Unlike last year, a superstar can be have multiple superstar abilities.
NBA Live 07 for PSP offers both offline and online multiplayer. The game supports a full five-on-five game or 2 ball. The game isn’t quite as popular online as it is for consoles but it is pretty easy to find someone to play with. Sometimes, connection issues don’t let you play a game but once you do connect, you’ll notice that it is pretty smooth and lag free. The game includes some ESPN integration. If you’re playing online, you can hear a short ESPN Radio SportsCenter broadcast every 20 minutes.
The game’s visuals are pretty good. The character models are excellent though obviously not as detailed as they were on consoles. The characters animate very well and keep up the flow of the game well, since the animations were pulled directly from the console versions. The new animations for the superstar moves look great, often times worth pulling a move for just to watch them. As usual, the courts and fans look appropriate. This graphical detail taxes the PSP though and you’ll notice that the game has a few drops in frame rate here and there.
The game’s audio should be familiar to fans of the franchise. Like the console game, NBA Live 07 includes a much more varied soundtrack compared to last year’s hip-hop centric songs. The sound effects are pretty similar to last year’s but still sound great. The commentary is provided by Marv Albert and Steve Kerr. They don’t have as many lines as they did on consoles but have enough to keep things interesting. Commentary for the all-star weekend is provided by Greg Anthony and Ernie Johnson.
NBA Live 07 includes a few new modes and features that will surely satisfy fans of the franchise. The novelty of seeing NBA Live on the portable has faded, but the gameplay is still good enough to make the game worthwhile. -- Jose Liz, PGNx Media
---- Oct 15, 2006
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