4.0 Stuffed to the gills with options and zippy gameplay, this is one of the best hoops titles for the old Sony workhorse. The players are alternately blocky or blurry-looking, depending on the camera angle. Chalk the aesthetics up to hardware limitations or the sheer number of faces in the circuit. However, what the game lacks in polish it makes up for in overall smoothness and speed. The animation, while nearly identical from the burly centers down to the scrappy point guards, is quite fluid.
Fast breaks are also impressively speedy.
During some sequences it s almost comical how manically your players backpedal. Still, there are moments of occasional slowdown, which taints the play of the otherwise futuristic flow. The chants, fight songs, groans and other crowd murmurs are back in full force, which really lend a tournament atmosphere to the action. However, you ll want to cut the commentary, which is limited to the point of distraction. It s also difficult to make out what the irksome color guy is saying at times.