Then EA Big developed NBA Street and all hell broke loose. Here was a game that employed the over-the-top basketball excitement that gamers craved, but with the spirit and originality that the NBA Jam series had lost along the way. Tons of special moves, access to all of the NBA players - Michael Jordan included - and tons of secrets and outrageous stunts to figure out. Wildly popular on the PS2 and Gamecube, NBA Street proved that there was still money to be made in the extreme basketball genre, if done correctly.

Now Activision has stepped up to the plate with their offering, Street Hoops. By licensing the likenesses of real streetball legends like Hot Sauce, 1/2 Man 1/2 Amazing, The Future, Main Event and others, the street credibility of Street Hoops definitely starts off on the right foot. Thanks to agreements with several clothing manufacturers (And 1, Sean John, Snoop Dogg Clothing, Fila, Enyce, etc.), Street Hoops certainly looks like street ball come to life. Soundtrack? Well, let’s see. DMX? Check. Cypress Hill? Check. Master P? Check. Xzibit, Method Man & Redman, Ludacris? All present and accounted for. Videos are available for viewing too, so those of you who appreciate the greatest rap video of all time “Make ‘Em Say Ugh” can get your tank on with no problem.

How does Street Hoops differ from NBA Street, the current king? Well, the gameplay certainly has some differences, as do the ballers (no NBA license but tons of real-life balling legends) and some of the various locations, but let's get down to business shall we? Street Hoops has the single greatest addition to the genre since customizable characters...

Gambling.

Yup, you can bet on damn near anything in Street Hoops? Think your team will have the most steals in a game? Lay down your cheddar, fool. Most rebounds? Which team will lead at the half? If you believe in your boys, you'll bet the farm that you will win. Step up, and before you know it you'll be swimming in cash. Mess up, and you'll be taking public transit and eating government cheese. You'll definitely want to make big bets and collect, because (to paraphrase the Wu) cash rules everything around this game. Do you want a fresh set of tattoos? That'll be 19 grand. Like that fresh Ecko gear in the Footaction USA store? Pony up the ducats. Need a haircut? New shoes? New courts to play on and new opponents to play with? Jewelry? Want to upgrade your created player’s skill set? Settle all bills at the front, please. Honestly, the gambling portion of this game made Street Hoops more fun than should be legally possible. Run out of money, and you can go to the pawnshop to sell your stuff…at about 20 cents on the dollar. And for those of you out there who really get into this (and you KNOW who you are), no, you cannot throw games in order to make cash. Don't think you can just reset the machine if you're losing the game either - the programmers took your cheating ways into account and have ensured that if you quit or reset your game, you lose all the money you've bet. Knuckle up!

Now, none of this great gambling action would be worth spit if the gameplay wasn't up to snuff. Well, it's not quite the smooth ball fest that NBA Street presents, but Street Hoops certainly doesn't embarrass itself. There are tons of different tricks that you can perform, and different trick sets you can assign to players on your team. The animation is fairly nice, although there are some interpolation issues between certain moves that serve as a minor irritant. Somewhat more disturbing are the occasional millisecond freezes that occur during gameplay - not that often, but often enough to be noticeable. Perhaps data is being loaded in on the fly, but regardless, it shouldn't occur. The amount of dunks that can be performed are well done, if not insanely over the top like NBA Street. Street Hoops professes to be somewhat more realistic, and in that vein, Black Ops has definitely succeeded. Whether you’re performing a wicked crossover to break your defender’s ankles, or teabagging some fool who thought he could block your dunk, you’ll rarely see a move that would make you say, “There’s no way in hell you could do that in real life.”.

You can play 5 on 5 to 3 on 3 in full court pick-up play, or 3 on 3 to 1 on 1 in half court action. When you really want to unlock new ballers and gain access to new courts, you need to hop into World Tournament mode, traveling across the USA to take on the best teams at each venue. Or, if you're more of a homebody, choose Lord of the Court and defend your turf against all challengers. The parks available range from the Run’n Shoot in Atlanta to 11th and Lombard in Philadelphia to NYC’s Cage and Rucker Park and many others in between. Find a court, stake your claim, and go to it.

Street Hoops is a credible first effort, but it’s not enough to knock off NBA Street from its throne, gambling options aside. The graphics aren’t nearly as sharp in comparison, and the cameras need some serious tweaking. Gameplay could be smoother, and the AI in single player ranges from the brain-dead to the psychic – this is a much better game played against friends than the console. The front end UI could use retooling, especially when it comes to making selections in the Footaction USA area. Swapping out players for your team is the most non-intuitive experience I’ve had in some time. It’s not all doom and gloom, though. All the ingredients are here to make the ultimate street ball game – but it’s very apparent that some more time in the development kitchen could have made the difference between what is just an OK game, and one that is truly great.