Throwback Thursday: "NBA Street Vol. 2" Repped for the Old School
In the latest edition of Throwback Thursday, we go back to the hardwood to look at the streetball classic, "NBA Street Vol. 2".
Image via Complex Original
NBA Street was a breath of fresh air for sports gaming. Not since NBA Jam had a game been so fun, so joyful, and so exuberant in its execution and delivery. So, when it came time to deliver a sequel, EA Games must have felt the pressure. How, exactly, do you follow up a classic? Do you keep the essential gameplay, and just update the rosters? Or, do you stake out new territory, and create an entirely new experience?
I’ll tell you what you do—you split the difference, and you create a game like NBA Street: Vol. 2. The fan favorite—widely considered by die-hards to be the strongest in the series—Vol. 2 had substance and history. It did everything properly, recognizing future Hall of Famers while letting us play as our favorite Legends.
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The Golden Oldies
The very first song you heard when you started the game was Pete Rock and C.L. Smooth’s "T.R.O.Y." Thus, right off the bat, Vol. 2 distinguished itself from NBA Street. Rather than repping current trends, Vol. 2 embraced old school charm. It traded in original announcer Joe the Show for DJ Bobbito Garcia—a nod to the underground culture that popularized hip hop. Even the visual style had a hand-drawn, DIY look to it.
Smooth as Silk
Vol. 2 improved upon the gameplay of the original. The animations were smoother and the visuals were prettier—gone was the blocky, ‘3D’ look that was so common at the time. The game varied its handles—you could now do trick passes, such as kicking the ball with your foot. You could also do a ‘Back 2 Papa’ pass to yourself against the backboard—or an ‘Off Da Heezy’ against your opponent’s head.
On Fire
Most notable, however, were the changes to the Gamebreaker mechanics. In NBA Street, there was only one type of Gamebreaker, and it could be leveraged for a four-point swing. In Vol. 2, you could store your Level 1 Gamebreaker, and then earn a Level 2 Gamebreaker. This move was unblockable, and created a 6-point swing. The Level 2 Gamebreaker also came with a little animated movie—you could kick back and watch as your players made fools of your opponents.
Style Over Substance
This was fun at first, but the more you played (especially against human opponents), the more irritating it became. It was simply too much of a point swing. Because of this, the game favored trick points over solid, fundamental play—the two should have been equal in importance. Vol. 2 was the last time we saw Level 2 Gamebreakers. V3 had huge point swings too, but they were skill based—not prearranged, animated sequences. There was always the chance that you could botch the Gamebreaker on the way to the basket.
Legendary
The “Be A Legend” single player campaign was the highlight of the game. You started by creating and customizing your baller, and then assigned him a number of Skill Points to different categories. Just as in NBA Street, I prioritized my character’s Blocking stat—some things never change. You started out in New York playing at the Rec Center, slowly building up your Progress Points until you could unlock Philly. And then Chicago. And then Seattle. And so on.
In Vol. 2, there was a bigger emphasis on depicting real world, 'streetball significant' locations. A perfect example of this was The Cage, set in Greenwich Village—a tiny court that encouraged in-your-face, contact play.
IRL
Years later, when I was a grad student at NYU, I recognized the real Cage at the West 4th stop on the A Line. I watched an amateur tournament, and it brought back some fond gaming memories.
Top of the Line Dime
Vol. 2 allowed you to unlock Street Legends, some of whom were veterans from the original game, but most of whom were newcomers. Stretch and Bonafide were still there, but now there was also Biggie Little, a tiny Chicagoan with sick handles; Whitewater, a Seattle hipster with an accurate jumpshot; and Osmosis, a shot swatter from Oakland. My personal favorite was Dime, an L.A. girl who could steal and handle the ball. She had a fantastic crossover move—Droppin’ Dimes—that broke opponents’ ankles every time.
Class is in Session
Michael Jordan was in the game again, but now, there were tons of other Legends. There was Larry Bird, who never missed a shot, and there was Bill Russell, who had unbelievable power under the rim. Julius Erving. Wilt Chamberlain. Pete Maravich. Connie Hawkins. Isiah Thomas. Good ol’ Isiah Thomas. He was a better as a player than as a coach, that’s for damn sure.
Too often, hip-hop is about what’s new and what’s hot, right now. There’s little room for older folks in a genre that prides itself on youth. In a small, humble way, NBA Street: Vol. 2 rectified that injustice, reminding young bucks that old timers have experience on their side. For many young kids, Vol. 2 was a history lesson, prompting them to go online and research an NBA history that they never cared about, or never knew existed.
S.O.S.
The latest entry in the Street franchise was NBA Street: Homecourt, released in 2007. To put it gently, it was trash. It had terrible controls, awful coloring, and a ‘double dunk’ mechanic that was corny as all hell. We would kill to have another basketball game like NBA Street or NBA Street: Vol. 2. Your move, EA Games.