Living life on the streets can be a chore sometimes, even for a baller as accomplished as yours truly. I've got one teammate grousing about a lack of PT and a rival trying to steal my best player away, and my rep is in danger of taking a hit. This isn't the stuff I dreamed about during those afternoons in the backyard while I pretended I was slicing through defenders and hitting tough fadeaways, but it's the reality. No one said being a playground prodigy would be easy, but I didn't know that it would be this challenging. Thankfully, all of my worries melt away as soon I step on the court, when the only thing in my way is the poor sucker whose ankles are about to get snapped. I just have to keep winning, and I'll be the king of the world. The virtual world, that is, thanks to NBA Street V3, the latest entry in EA's celebrated arcade-style hoop series.

Not only is the new game the best in the franchise's admittedly brief history, it just might be the most entertaining basketball game ever. It's amazing, really, because there were a lot of people who said the same thing about the last title, NBA Street Vol. 2, a highly stylized and high-flying romp through the world of 3-on-3 hoops. It would have been really easy for the developers to simply add a few new characters, toss in some online support, then sit back and watch the dollars come rolling in. Luckily for us, they went the opposite route, scrapping just about everything from the last game and creating something new and completely different. It takes guts to toss out a winning formula, but there's no doubt that EA's gamble paid off in a big way.


Pretty much the only thing you'll recognize from Vol. 2 are the basics: you control three players as they defend, dunk, and dribble their way to victory. It's not just about winning, however, although that's certainly your final goal. Looking good and embarassing your opponents are important parts of any budding legend's game, and NBA Street V3 plays up this aspect by rewarding you for fancy moves and posterworthy slam dunks. As was the case in the previous games, you'll get trick points for performing combinations of moves, culminating in a potentially devastating GameBreaker.

While the core gameplay elements are essentially the same, there have been more than a few major changes. The biggest alteration might be the new Trick Stick system, which allows you to pull off a staggering number of dribbling moves with just a flick of the right analog stick. The previous games required you to simply press one of two trick buttons (along with a turbo button modifier), limiting you to just a few choices. However, the Trick Stick allows for 8 basic moves (left, right, up, down, and the diagonals), and that number increases depending on the number of turbo buttons held.

While it might sound a bit difficult at first, you'll be pulling off sick tricks (and more importantly, intricate combos) after just a little bit of practice. It's a fantastic addition to the game, especially since you can unlock several books of tricks just by successfully performing the other ones. I've literally played games in which I didn't see the same trick twice, quite a feat for a game in which they're so prominently featured. In addition to the dribble tricks, you can throw some crazy passes off of various parts of your defender's anatomy, including his head, foot, and yes, even his backside (the aptly named "Off Tha Bootay").