Hands-OnNBA Ballers

Midway showed off a much-improved version of its upcoming basketball game, NBA Ballers, at a recent press event. The game now has many of the tricky offensive and defensive moves that a one-on-one game would require to be exciting, and the game looks like it's shaping up pretty nicely.

NBA Ballers' main mode centers on a fake TV show also called NBA Ballers. The idea is that the show moves between the homes of various NBA players to stage a one-on-one basketball tournament. The game presents this tournament to you in much the same way that a fighting game presents you with a list of fighters you'll be taking on. Commentary is handled by MC Supernatural, a popular freestyle rapper.

Aside from the 60-plus NBA stars in the game, you'll also be able to play as a number of NBA legends, which fittingly allows you to re-create the matchup from the original one-on-one basketball video game, Dr. J vs. Larry Bird. The game also has a robust create-a-player mode, which, in keeping with the theme of representing what Midway is calling "the bling bling lifestyle," lets you give your players gold, platinum, or diamond-studded teeth.

The gameplay carries on a bit of the game's fighting-game-like design ethic, focusing heavily on counter-based play. Each offensive move, which includes the ability to back in on a defender as well as a lot of tricky slow-motion jukes and other maneuvers, will have a defensive counterpart that will allow the defender to steal the ball if the counter is correctly timed. The game is played in rounds, and rounds end when a point total is reached or the timer expires.

The game is scheduled to offer up a lot of variations on the standard one-on-one rules. One example we were shown was the ability to play three-player "one-on-one-on-one" matches. The three-player game will even have its own set of offensive trick animations that will break down both defenders at once.

NBA Ballers has been in development for quite some time, but it definitely looks like it's nearing the home stretch. The version we were shown was definitely fun and just appeared to need its additional modes and a little extra polish. Look for it to hit store shelves later this year.