rheaton's Full Review: Street Hoops for PlayStation 2
Despite what Nike has been trying to tell aspiring hoops stars for years, the secret of being the next Air Jordan is not in the shoes, the clothes, the gold, or anything else you can pick up at the mall (though there may be some truth in the Gatorade thing). It’s in the hands, feet and blood of the athlete. Having been to several live Street Hoops style tournaments ( I live about 2 hours from both New York City and Philadelphia), I can honestly attest to the fact that these guys have game. Serious game. I’d be willing to bet they could break off an NBA player at the ankles if they ever got the chance to play street style hoops against them.
The guys at Black Ops obviously went to great lengths to make everything about Street Hoops look and feel like the real thing. Including licensing star street ballers like Half Man – Half Amazing, Main Event, Speedy, Hot Sauce, and That dedication to being as true to the source as they could be really shows in not only the realism of the courts (including legendary street courts like Rucker Park, Venice Beach, and Jackson Park) but the style, attitude and mood of the a street baller. To some that attention to “realism” might smack a bit of racial stereotyping. Especially the off the court “street” elements.
Playing (struggling is more like it, but I’ll get to that) through the world circuit mode earns you cash as you win. But the real money is to be made (and spent) off the court. On the “street” you’ll be able to slip into the local barber shop for a new do, hit the check cashing store to place bets on your team (Win, lose, most 3 pointers, lead at the half, etc.), or slip into the pawn shop to score the “mad bling bling”. And by “Mad” we mean it. There’s a $200K diamond encrusted watch chain in there if you can earn the cash for it. Everyone you meet off the courts is horribly stereotyped. The guy at the pawn shop perhaps worst of all. I get nervous and check my wallet when I go in there.
If this is all “cool” with you, fine, it must just be me, but no matter how you cut it you’ll eventually have to take to the courts and prove you have the skillz to match the threads. It’s here that Street Hoops turns into the kid who was always getting his shoes thrown over the backboard. It’s not that it’s a totally unplayable game, it’s not. But the underlying basketball engine is so rickety that it simply doesn’t measure up to the rest of the game. The engine is undoubtedly skewed towards an arcade style of play, as it should be. Street ballers are all about “show time” and as the game repeatedly will inform you “We don’ wanna see no lay ups out here!” Granted there are some slick animations that accompany your deke and spin moves, but pulling them off and regaining in control of your player isn’t always possible. Once an animation starts it has to finish and anything that happens before during or after is ignored.
Defensive rebounds in the paint are a prime example. Snag a rebound and your player will try to shrug off any opponents so that you can get a pass off. The problem is he’ll always try to shake an opponent (The CPU will too) even if there aren’t any within ten feet. Of course if you try to steal the ball while he’s doing this, it won’t work. The animation is in control. All you get to do is watch.
Watch is exactly what you spend a lot of time doing. Watching the CPU sink three pointers from insane distances and angles while you’re players have a tough time making perfect shots from the foul line. Watching the CPU steal the ball while you try to pull a spin move, something else you’ll rarely be able to pull off. Watching the CPU dunk on you at anytime it feels like it, while you sit helplessly by. Watching the CPU block your dunk despite having had a clear lane for the last five feet. At some point, you’ll simply give up trying to make things happen and just start smashing buttons in frustration. As fate would have it, this works much better than you’d think.
It’s a shame really. Street Hoops has tons of play modes and options. Aside from the tournament mode you can play pick up games, 3 on 3, 4 on 4 or 5 on 5. You can create your own player and train them up to be a “Mad Balla”. But you’ll always be running into the screwy basketball engine. You can win, but you’ll have to adjust to all of the quirks and oddities of the engine to do so. Once you accept that your players seem to be on some weird half second time delay and will always jump the wrong way to block a shot, you can learn to adjust your play style and start earning money to spend on the street. I just wish someone would have spent more money on some hoops lessons.
Graphics
Much Kudos for getting the look and feel of street balling into a game form. Twice the dis for making it out to be some horrible stereotyped “urban life” statement. While some of the animations are simply amazing (Dunks and a couple of the juke moves) others are somewhat pointless and seem to run no matter the situation (rebounds). There’s also a weird “force field” effect around players and the ball itself. For a distance of about eight to twelve pixels there’s this barrier that prevents everything from ever touching anything else. The result is this weird sense that everything is just a little disconnected. The ball always seems to hover just slightly above your player’s hand. Other players seem to bounce off you just before you actually hit them. Maybe that’s why the timing of moves and animations always seems just a little off.
Sounds
With a sound track that includes DMX, Method Man, and Cypress Hill, Street Hoops has the music right at least. Where the audio dies is the announcing. LA Dj Bad Boi offers up witty comments on the game as you play, but after three minutes you’ll be reaching for the volume control. It takes half that time to hear every comment he has and the other half to get sick of it. Seriously. Score twice with the same player and you’ll never hear another comment from the Bad Boi other than “Is it me, or does he score EVERY time he gets the ball”. In a game where each player on the court can score five to ten times a game, it gets old faster than Britney Speers. Don’t worry about other in game sounds, they’re a bit on the light side. Player taunts and grunts are barely worth mentioning and none of them are well voiced. But at least the music saves it.
Controls
Pick a button, any button. Hit it a few times, press X then O and hope. You either just picked up two, or you’re chasing the CPU down the court the other way. Don’t worry about skill or technique. You won’t need any. Just remember, Juke, Spin, Pass, Pass, Spin, SLAM. Almost always works. Don’t bother shooting the threes or trying to block shots. The controls are so laggy that you’ll spend forever getting the timing down, and then the player will usually jump the wrong way anyway. Wait for the rebound. Or better, just wait until they score then follow the procedure above.
Overall
In English the adjective enhances the subject, so Street Hoops should be a Basketball game enhanced with plenty of street attitude. Unfortunately its more like Hoops Street. A “street” game with some basketball added to it. If you’re big into the whole street scene this might hold some interest for you, but if you’re looking for some arcade style hoops action with an authentic street feel and style; you’re looking at the wrong game. Street Hoops isn’t bad as a “pick up” title. Killing a little time and playing a game or two is fine. Trying to get into the game and complete all it’s modes and create a hardcore baller however simply isn’t worth the risk to your controller or your TV. Something is going to get thrown. Personally, I'll pass.
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