NBA 07
June 1,2007 - Good portable hoops is hard to come by, in fact most portable sports games somehow lose some effect in their migration to a smaller screen; its one of the mysteries of gaming. NBA 07 provides a decent hardwood romp that mildly pleases, but most of the time you’ll find yourself playing the game’s Conquest mode and various mini-games just to pass the time on a commute.

The action on the court in NBA 07 is mediocre at best. If you have a good center it’s possible to absolutely control a game with him; simply pass the ball, back the defender down, and dunk or hook a shot over him. Wash, rinse, and repeat. One of the bigger annoyances in the game is that for some odd reason players on your team will become vigilantes and uncontrollable, they’ll just begin dribbling their way to the basket by any means necessary and the only way to recapture control is to press the shoot button and force that player to throw the ball up from wherever he is on the court. There are also instances in which the player you’re controlling will stop dribbling, giving you the option to pass the ball or shoot with a defender all over you.

The AI defenders are also quite frustrating as they’re able to pick off a lot more passes than should be allowable. The rule of thumb in NBA ’07 is that if the pass looks too long, don’t throw it or it’ll be stolen in mid-air. Your teammates rarely do much when on offense aside from stand around until you pass them the ball, and getting through the defense proves more difficult than it should be since none of the special moves like spinning or crossing over are able penetrate the invisible shield around the defenders who are nearly impossible to get around; though oddly enough such moves by the computer work against you.

The best part of NBA 07 is the Conquest mode in which you take control of a team of five players and vie to take over control of the entire country. Conquest is almost like a board game of sorts in which each team controls their territory and challenges other teams to take control of their territories. You can only attempt to capture a city adjacent to yours, so if you start out with the New Jersey Nets you can only play Boston, New York, or Philadelphia. If you challenge a city and win, your team takes over that city and unless the other team has taken control of another region they’re eliminated. Conversely, if a team challenges you and you lose, you forfeit control of that territory and if it’s your only territory then it’s game over. If you challenge a city and that city wins, they can take one of your players, and vice versa. It’s quite simple in practice but terribly addicting, and reason alone to buy the game. The actual gameplay in NBA 07 isn’t that great, but you can absolutely lose yourself in Conquest mode for hours if you let yourself.

There are a number of mini-games to play which are all fun in and of themselves and a great addition for some additional value to a portable game; the kind of games that only take a minute or so to complete and get in some quick gaming between subway stops or whatever the case may be. There’s a three-point contest, a skills contest, and a timing-based button mashing dunk contest that is very little fun since you don’t really see the dunk you’re pulling off because you’re too distracted by the timed buttons sequences. There’s also HORSE which is pretty much the classic game we all know and played.

There are also some cool arcade like mini-games including a ski-ball type basketball themed game, and a fun shooting challenge with a moving backboard that’s a bunch of fun if you’re the type of person who always tries to beat their best scores.

NBA Live 07’s visuals are nice but nothing to gawk at and the soundtrack is barely noticeable. Despite the game’s many faults, however, it’s a hell of a lot of fun to play the Conquest mode, and that coupled with the mini-games offer enough value to make it a worthwhile purchase as it’ll stay in your PSP for a long time to come.

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