Street Sports Basketball

The Good
This is one of those simple games that I enjoyed playing without really being able to tell what's so good about it. The game is easy to get into and fun to play. It doesn't have a complex set of rules & game mechanics (of course this isn't necessarily a good thing, generally I can appreciate over-ambitious games that try to be everything).

The kiddie/street/pick-up basketball theme has been worked out well. The kids each have their own recognizable personality and specialties. Before the game each team picks three players. Players are picked in turns, each team selects one player per turn. Just like it happened way back in elementary school. Each basket counts for two points. There's no three-point line and you don't take any free throws either.

Court design is well done. You play ball on one of these courts: school, suburbs, alley or city. Again these designs fit the overall theme. Not every court has a clearly defined out-of-bounds line. I especially enjoyed the interactivity of the courts. The ball bounces back from thrash cans (alley), you'll lose the ball when you dribble on the garden hose (sub-urbs), oil makes you slip (city) etc. However, I think the interactivity could have been improved. For example it would have been fun if every once in a while a dog stole your ball or if you could break a window. Remember how Epyx used this aspect to add a lot of fun to their best game,

The Good
I liked the fact that it was fun, beyond anything else it was fun. I always liked it when I got the ball back because the computer fell over a bottle. It was also an easy game to get into, simple controls, nothing to get in the way. I also found the variety of courts to be a welcome addition, from the school to the city court.

The Bad
The graphics, they work for the game, but they could have been better. Then again it is 4 color CGA graphics, but still, it was made in 87, they could have added EGA support. And then there is the sound, nothing really great. Blips and beeps spurting out of the PC Speaker just doesn’t cut it for me.

The Bottom Line
It is what it says it is, Street Basketball.