PlayStation 2

AND 1 Streetball

Man, sometimes a game just hits you right in the gut. I'm a fan of both Ubisoft and the And 1 property. Ubisoft tends to make some of my favorite games, and I've loved the And 1 mixtapes ever since I was in middle school. I'm certainly predisposed to like And 1 Streetball, so there must be something wrong with it if I'm not interested.

I really feel bad for Black Ops and their basketball games. Both times they are going to be thwarted by the EA juggernaut. Still, these guys deserve credit for developing two solid basketball games despite the snickers and giggles amongst the gaming world. And they deserve credit for the contributions they made to the genre four years ago. It’s just a case of too little too late.

And 1 Streetball ist schwer zu beurteilen: Auf der einen Seite merkt man, wie viel Mühe in dem Titel steckt, auf der anderen Seite fehlt dem Spiel einfach der letzte Schliff. Die Entwickler meinten es einfach zu gut. Die Steuerung wirkt überladen und die Grafik zählt auch nicht zu den besten des Genres. So wird das Spiel schnell langweilig und muss sich den anderen großen Namen in seinem Bereich unterordnen. Schade Ubisoft! Für eine eventuelle Fortsetzung sollte das Gameplay deutlich entschlackt werden, dann klappt es vielleicht auch mit einer höheren Wertung.

Arcade sports fans haven’t had too many new titles to get excited about these days, especially those who want nothing more than an NBA Street-killer. AND 1 Streetball doesn’t fulfill that dream, however, there is some joy to be had within the multiplayer experience. Rent it, but be sure to return it on time – it’s worth $8 for a seven-day lease, but doesn’t have enough oomph to make it a must-buy at the full price.

Streetball, by nature, is raw, energetic, and full of the spirit and charisma of the players who do it for the love of the game. It's the flashy, loose, high-flying game that's part Globetrotter, part CBA. Fittingly, the videogame is a pretty even parallel of the real thing.

AND 1 Streetball sets itself apart from other basketball games by placing equal importance on outscoring your opponent and looking damn cool doing it. Just like the real-life, trick-play AND 1 traveling team, the game overflows with impressive athletic moves, grandiose showboating and tongue-in-cheek entertainment value. As a foul-less, unruly streetballer, AND 1 emphasizes action and delivers with an incredibly deep “I Ball” control scheme that allows you to juke, jive and embarrass your opponents in hundreds of different ways. With a few quick flicks of the right and left analog sticks, your player becomes a blur of hyper-athletic supermoves, trick passes and monster dunks. Pulling off these cool, showy moves is a simple matter of organized button mashing, but mastering the complex control scheme to produce the specific killer-combo you want can take a lot of practice (and patience).

The hip street basketball has been a favorite occupation for the gaming couch potato and now there's also Ubisoft's AND1 Streetball where you can do your thing on different fields with your black alter ego. It immediately becomes clear that Ubisoft doesn't go for simulation but from the first second wants to give you a lasting adrenaline shot.

AND 1 Streetball is an aged, unpolished experience that would have fared much better if released back in 2000. As it stands, big-time fans of the AND 1 Mixtape Tour will be amused with the style and cinematics that the game offers, portraying the tour and lifestyle reasonably well. It’s just disappointing that, when compared to other current basketball titles on the market, it feels so outdated.

For a game that could have been amazing fun and a great multiplayer title, AND 1 Streetball is horrible. Hell, for a decent title worthy of a weekend rental it’s horrible. Even without the disgustingly difficult and frustrating control scheme, it looks one step behind all other basketball titles, sounds fairly average and plays very repetitively. There is no reason to pick this up if you have another basketball game, and if you don’t have another, get one!

AND1 Streetball had als bedoeling om gamers wat meer in het realistische wereldje van de AND1 Mix Tape Tour te laten stappen maar ik kan echter zeggen dat dit niet gelukt is. Het spel draait toch voornamelijk om alle strakke moves en andere stoere acties maar het besturingssysteem werkt dit echt enorm tegen en dan is het op een gegeven moment niet eens meer leuk om het te proberen. Het spel geeft me het gevoel alsof het nog lang niet af was maar dat ze het voor een deadline in de winkels moesten hebben liggen. Met wat meer diepte en een betere gameplay had dit spel menig fan van Streetball nog wel wat leuke uurtjes op kunnen leveren, zeker in multiplayer. Helaas zit dat er voor dit spel naar mijn mening niet meer in. Mensen die toch echt fan zijn van Streetball kunnen dan wellicht beter kiezen voor het betere spel in dit genre genaamd NBA Street.

In the late 1990s, street basketball underwent a renaissance, fueled by an upstart shoe company looking to make a mark for itself in the highly competitive basketball shoe industry. That company, And1, succeeded in creating a grassroots phenomenon known as the And1 Mixtape Tour, an event that showcases the country's slickest streetballers with their acrobatic dunks and electrifying ball-handling moves. Today, the Mixtape Tour is nationally known, with a regular show on ESPN, and now its players are household names among most basketball fans. A video game based on the real-life streetballers is a logical extension, and while And1 Streetball does offer all the basic amenities and an interesting ball-handling design, sloppy execution makes this a game that most basketball fans can safely avoid.

Based on how much the license has to offer, And1 Streetball could have offered a new twist on an old formula by introducing a bit of original gameplay with its I-Ball controls. But, because those I-Ball controls are unresponsive and some certain broken mechanics like the anklebreaker meter, and a boring story mode, what And1 fans were given is a complete stinker. It all seems good on paper, but the execution is sorely lacking. Those looking for an And1 fix would be better served buying one of their DVDs or catching a replay on ESPN.

Ubisoft et Black Ops se sont trompés avec And 1 Streetball. En souhaitant aborder l'univers des rencontres de rues de manière un peu plus réaliste, ils ont partiellement dénaturé le principe même de ce type de jeu qui est d'apporter une bonne dose de fun. Un gameplay approximatif et une IA inégale ne font que confirmer cette impression. NBA Street n'avait pas de concurrent à sa mesure. Il n'en a toujours pas.

With everything that is wrong with this title, it’s simply rubbing salt in the wound by plastering in-game advertising everywhere. In fact, I can’t remember a more blatant example of in-game advertising ever; the tutorial is sponsored by Dodge and the replays are sponsored by Tylenol. I understand that in-game ads generate revenue to cover the rising production costs of many of these games, but when the gameplay in a title is this questionable it’s hard to get behind plastering ads anywhere you can. While the obnoxious ads shouldn’t be taken into account when critiquing a title, its poor execution of nearly every aspect of gameplay warrants plenty of scolding. Placing players in a position early for failure, then failing to reward them with engaging gameplay or satisfactory basketball action is simply unacceptable.

It's impressive to see someone who's mastered a skill at work: it's even more astounding when you see these experts perform seemingly impossible feats with their talents. The And 1 tour features the fast-paced steps and mesmerizing hand skills of the best players from America's streetball courts. An urban hip-hop infused evolution of the Harlem Globetrotters, And 1 often comes down to the one-on-one breakdown between players, with flashy tricks and a focus on embarrassing your opponent. Sounds like a good concept for a game, right? Unfortunately, And 1 Streetball's horrible control scheme, visual glitches and other issues remove most, if not all of the dynamic play that makes the And 1 Mixtapes or live tour so enthralling.

To cap off all of these issues, And 1 just doesn’t look very good. It’s a shame that the one good idea in this streetball title had to be overshadowed by bad execution and a mediocre presentation.

The world does not need an And 1 Streetball basketball video game. The world is a better off place than one where a game like this can be made and released upon the public. Do you enjoy nonsensical gameplay where defense is completely devoid of all meaning? Do you relish in the possibility of creating a 7' 2" player, only to realize that despite his size he dunks as consistently as an elderly woman? Do your ears scream for joy at horribly repetitive voice-over dialogue and trash talk? If you answered yes to any of those questions, this is the game for you. Also, if you answered yes to any of those questions, you need some serious help.