
	Platform PSP Genre Sports Publisher SCEA Developer SCEA ESRB E (Everyone) Released September 2007

- A great number of mini and full games to suit your mood - Conquest Mode is a great combination of genres - Decent basketball game for those on the go

- Arcadey feel will likely put off those most use to the console versions - Defense seems a little too good sometimes

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NBA 08

Score: 8.0 / 10

Admittedly out of the loop on most of the recent sports titles (and good titles, period) thanks to the whims of the head AE mucky-mucks, the amount of content and modes crammed into NBA 08 really impressed me.

Though it’s packed with all manner of mini-games and time wasters – ranging from pinball to Dodgeball – that can be played in quick intervals, I spent the bulk of my time playing NBA 08’s Conquest mode, which mixes in elements of strategy as you take over other NBA cities. Your troops – okay, players – can undergo

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training and if you successfully repel the advances of an opponent you get to grab a player of your choice from the opposing team. To further augment your “arsenal”, some of the NBA’s past greats can also be unlocked. The actual battle – that would also be known as, playing basketball – happens in realtime and it wasn’t until I had played the traditional

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modes to practice (Season, Exhibition) that I really started to be successful in Conquest. That said, the elements of strategy that go into choosing the next city to “attack” and training your players, make this the most engrossing mode.

The practice is necessary because of the way shooting is implemented. A shot’s effectiveness is measured by a color-coded icon above the head of the player. Red is almost a sure miss; yellow indicates a poor shot but has a half-decent chance of dropping; and green means the ball has a very high chance of actually swishing through the net. At first, it’s a little off-putting, at least when comes to timing; letting go of the button at the right moment. I would actually compare it to something like Elite Beat Agents for DS, where timing is everything and a moment’s hesitation will result in failure.

NBA 08 feels quite “arcadey” but that’s a good thing – this is a portable game and I want bursts of entertainment, not a drawn-out simulation that could take a full 30 minutes with all the stoppages in play. And as arcadey as it might feel, the developers have done a lot to make the players as recognizable as possible, and even making each arena look somewhat realistic.

At the end of the day, I’m looking for fun from my games and NBA 08 has enough options to suite whatever mood I might be in when I start it up. All of that and a decent basketball game? It’s a no-brainer for basketball fans on the go.

- D.D. Nunavut

(October 12, 2007)


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