Platform: PlayStation
2, Xbox Genre: Sports Publisher: Ubisoft Developer: Black Ops ETA: Q4 2005
AND
1 Streetball
Electronic Arts found a paramount success with their NBA Street series, and Midway's NBA Ballers found its fair shares of sales as well. Ubi Soft is looking to add another challenger to the court -
AND 1 Streetball for the PlayStation 2 and Xbox, developed by Black Ops Entertainment. Something of a
spiritual sequel to its Activision-published Street Hoops, AND 1 Streetball is looking to set itself away from the arcade-feel of its
competitions. No fancy, spinning dunks, no anti-gravity jumps - this is SERIOUS
streetball, if there were such a thing. Ubi Soft doesn't have the license to NBA players, but instead they're taken the likenesses of street personalities like Skip-To-My-Lou, AO, Hot Sauce and The Professor. It seems like Ubi Soft is taking something of a gamble and hoping that niche fans will recognize names like these, rather than playing as the stars.
As the role of a young wannabe, the story mode takes you through the AND 1 Mixtape Team. Black Ops wants to put you in the shoes of a real competitor - most recent games let you personalize your own characters, but AND 1 lets you create your own moves, right down to
your victory taunts. The trick system is something similar to what we've seen in NBA Street, although most of the showboating is done with
maneuvering of the two analog sticks. Routinely showing up your opponents with your mad skills and whatnot will gain you respect, allowing you to climb your way up the ladder.
There's some fierce competition in the field, and
AND 1 Streetball has a ways to go before it can prove to play with the big boys. Still, with online play for both versions, AND 1 may yet prove itself come winter.
-
Kurt Kalata
(June
27, 2005)
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Features
from the Fact Sheet:
-Become the next AND 1 legend as you
experience the
trials of the AND 1 Mixtape Team for ESPN.
-"Create-a-Move" editor allows to you to build your own characters and moves.
-Various options to customize your game, ranging from one-on-ones to regular five-on-five matches.
-Online multiplayer for both the PlayStation 2 and Xbox Live.