Fun for a while
GAME PLAY
You use the screen for almost all controls. Use the Dpad to move around and such. When on offense, draw a line up to shoot. If you tap and hold the bottom of the screen until the ball glows, then draw a line up, the shot will be more accurate, but it takes more time. Where you tap the stylus on the screen also moves where your character is moving the ball. It works well on offense, and can help you score extra points by driving through what would usually get the ball stolen. Passing the ball is as simple as drawing a diagonal line towards an ally. Team mates are useless, and don't do anything. The best thing in the game is the special shots though. By tapping the stylus in a pattern twice, you can do a special shot or dunk that is worth 40 or more points. It also looks cool too, making you want to use it more often. Beware, that long shots can be blocked if the reciever for the dunk is blocked by an opponents.
On defense though, you hold and move the stylus to make a barrier. Where ever the stylus is the barrier will move. If it turns red, that means you can get a hit in to knock the ball loose regardless of where they are bouncing the ball. Only one AI opponent is under control at a time, so defense is a snap.
GRAPHICS
Best graphics on a DS hands down. This game is meant to show case the DS's power in small areas in my opinion. Courts are detailed, models are high polygon and have good texture resolution. The only thing missing is replays with ALL of the characters showing. Its very disappointing to do a sweet move and only see yourself do the move without the replay showing the opposition. Only complaint though, as graphics are great.
SOUND
I found most of the music good, but nothing memorable. A few tracks kind of sucked, but overall, music was good.
Voices are others were plentiful. The generic yelps and taunts of the Nintendo Characters return for another go around. Its just surprising to see Nintendo fit them all on the DS. Congrats once again to the show case for the DS.
VALUE
Short single player that is easy enough to beat in 3 hours on both difficulties, plus multiplayer requires two carts. Sorry, but Mario Basketball will not entertain most of us for very long. I got maybe a weekend out of this game until it was boring, or annoying.
TILT
The game has no grab at all. After you win a few games, see the special moves you don't want to come back. As people who read my reviews know, I rate Tilt based on story in some games, because it is what grabs us. In this game, it has to use something else due to the lack of story. It doesn't do it, so it ends up being drab. The only part I enjoyed was the final game, because of the way it caught me off guard. Be watching for it...
OVERALL
If you want to show off that the DS is a powerful hand held, your game is here. If you are looking for a weekend romp, your game is here. If you are looking for an engaging game to entertain you long after you beat it, keep waiting for Phantom Hourglass at this point. Though after playing the Tingle game, anything can happen...