Year Released: 2003 (Gamecube, Playstation 2, Xbox)

Number of Players: 4

ESRB: E

Summary
EA Big returns to the streets with NBA Street Vol. 2, now with more tricks, more modes, slightly better graphics, and a better anouncer.

Graphics
The first NBA Street had nice graphics, but this one topped that, if not by much. I don't have much else to say about the new graphics in this game, as they are quite similar to what NBA Street players are already used to.

Sound
The old anouncer was good, but his voice got annoying after a while. The new game has a better anouncer. The new voice comes from Bobbito Garcia aka DJ Cucumber Slice. His voice is less annoying, and he has more and better things to say now, including stuff like "He's bugging out. He's trying to eat a burrito with no fork," or "'D' is the fourth letter of the alphabet. After A, B, C, there's D. Ever think of using it?" While playing a game, you can hear the players shout random game-related comments.



Music
The in-game music consists of mainly beats by Just Blaze, but also includes the instrumentals of some of the rap songs you hear in the menu (In the menu, rap music plays rather than just beats) from artists like MC Lyte and Erick Sermon featuring Redman.

Control
As in the first game, you have a button for passing, shooting, and doing tricks, while pressing a combination of shoulder buttons to change the maneuver. Once you learn the controls, you shouldn't have any problems. (You don't need to worry about what combinations of shoulder buttons does what trick unless you want to.)

Challenge
This game offers three different difficulties for playing any type of game: Got Game, Mad Game, and Legendary. NBA Street veterans will have an easy time playing on Got Game and may want to step up to Mad Game. Legendary is the most difficult mode, and is only for the extreme street ballers.

Gameplay
NBA Street Vol. 2 has the NBA Challenge mode from the first game where you choose an NBA team and progress through a ladder of NBA teams from different regions, but also has a new mode called Be a Legend. In that mode, you create a baller, select a few team members, and play games in different famous courts around the United States. In addition to new modes, the game also contains lots of new tricks which can be set to your main character in Be a Legend mode. Some new things that all players can do are Kick Passes, Off the Heezay, and Back 2 Papa. Kick Passes are self-explanitory. Off the Heezay is where the player with the ball bounces the ball off of one of the defender's heads. This can be used to regain dribble as well. Back 2 Papa is where the player with the ball bounces the ball off the backboard to a teammate or back to him or herself. Also new are Be the Oop and Give and Go.

Bottom Line
NBA Street Vol. 2 is much better than the first game. If you think you've already seen it all by owning the first game, then you're in for a surprise. This game is definitely a must have for Basketball fans, or for fans of the Street line of games. Even if you're not either, you should definitely give this a try at least once.

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