NBA Street Homecourt

 Review

Common Sense Media says

All-ages street game brings history to the court.
greenON: Content is age-appropriate for kids this age.
yellowPAUSE: Know your child; some content
may not be right for some kids.
redOFF: Not age-appropriate for kids this age.
not for kidsNOT FOR KIDS: Not appropriate for kids any age.

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Quality
 
Sometimes media can be age appropriate but a real waste of time. Our star rating assesses the media's overall quality.

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Parents say

Kids say

What parents need to know

Parents need to know that this game brings professional basketball players to the street courts where they learned their skills. The playground game is more raw than arena games -- there are no referees, so players are free to push opponents down and take the ball. There's constant trash-talking on the court, and while it never rises to the level of vulgarity, it doesn't really promote sportsmanship either. At the game's core, though, is a theme of people rising above neighborhoods marred by poverty or violence.

  • Pushing your opponent around on the court is not exactly model behavior, but it's offset by the inclusion of professional women ballers.
  • Player can shove opponents to shake the ball loose.
  • There's on-court trash-talk, but nothing obscene.
  • Shoes, soda companies, and basketball franchises are among the in-game sponsorships.

What's it about?

NBA STREET HOMECOURT features four modes of play: Homecourt Challenge, Gamebreaker Battle, Trick Battle, and Back to Basics. The highlight is Homecourt Challenge, a career mode that allows players to create their own players and develop their skills. As they ascend through the circuit of legendary street courts, players face stiffer competition from squads of NBA and (in a refreshing twist) WNBA players. Players recruit new ballers to upgrade their team, expand the flamboyance of their moves, and freshen up their look with new (often branded) uniforms and shoes.

Trick Battle strings together combinations of the Homecourt's signature tricks -- from simple crossovers to the elaborate "Trifecta Dunk" where the ball passes through the hoop three times. In the Gamebreaker Battle, players score only when they fill a power-up meter that allows special moves and deducts points from opponents. Back-to-Basics is simple three-on-three ball, with the special rules turned off.


Is it any good?

 

NBA STREET HOMECOURT sets a new standard for the arcade-style basketball games that trace their lineage back to NBA Jam. And while impossibly acrobatic dunks still define the game, it's a new twist of elegant realism that elevates the title to Hall of Fame status. In beautiful, HD video, Rip Hamilton talks about using the courts of Philadelphia to get out of a desperate situation, MVP Steve Nash details his unlikely Canadian high school history, and Carmelo Anthony recounts the time he won the respect of everyone in his neighborhood.

This understated sense of history is a welcome addition to the cartoonish court showdowns. All of this, plus impressively rendered, stylish court settings and fluid -- if demanding -- gameplay make NBA Street Homecourt the basketball arcade game to beat.


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What families can talk about

Families can talk about the role basketball players take in popular culture. Like Shaquille O'Neal's Superman tattoo, do NBA stars have a superhero quality about them? How do their personal struggles -- often against poverty and violence -- inform this image? Does this influence the aesthetic and storyline of this game? How has hip-hop and video game culture changed our perceptions of basketball?


This review was written by Aaron Lazenby
Adult
April 27, 2009
 
Easy gamerscore
Find out how you can get this game for free by visiting: *://freeconsolegear.tk/

Flag as inappropriate 
Adult
April 9, 2008
 

Flag as inappropriate 
Teen, 18 years old
April 9, 2008
 
How did nobody else notice this?
In one of the beach levels (not Venice), a girl walks by with no top and a thong. Is the gameplay so compelling that nobody else noticed this? I'm shocked this game squeaked by with an E.

Flag as inappropriate 
Teen, 15 years old
April 9, 2008
 

Flag as inappropriate 
Kid, 12 years old
April 9, 2008
 

Flag as inappropriate 

This review was written by Aaron Lazenby
Topics:sports and martial arts
Platforms:Xbox 360, PlayStation 3
Available online?Available online
Genre:Sports
Developer:Electronic Arts
Release date:February 20, 2007
Price:$59.99
ESRB rating:E

This review was written by Aaron Lazenby

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About our rating system
ON: Content is age-appropriate for kids this age.
PAUSE: Know your child; some content may not be right for some kids.
OFF: Not age-appropriate for kids this age.
Learning ratings
BEST: Really engaging, great learning approach.
GOOD: Pretty engaging, good learning approach.
FAIR: Somewhat engaging, OK learning approach.
NOT FOR LEARNING: Not recommended for learning.

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