An ok game for bargain hunters, but this game struggles over whether to be a sim or an arcade game. Fun, but not deep.
The greatest problem for this game, and perhaps any basketball game, is the balance of sim and arcade basketball. Even on simulation mode, this game definitely isn't a sim. Players have incredible dunking prowess, fast breaks are constant, and superstar players are overpowered to an insane degree (Kobe is good, but in this game he plays better than MJ at his best.) On top of this, fouls are called in a somewhat unfair manner. Many attempts to steal the ball (which is impossibly hard to do at times) are called for a foul right away. Then, players are knocked down during a powerful dunk with no call, or a ball carrier runs right through a defender without a call. Human ball carriers can scarcely use the turbo without getting a foul. The combination of an arcade game like game with poor foul calls can make for a very frustrating experience.
The arcade portion of the game is a little more fun, but not deep at all. The broken foul calling is thankfully gone, but defense is almost outlawed at times. It is still very tough to steal the ball, even the ball handler is right in front of you and not moving at all. Combine this with the abilities of superstar players to absolutely abuse the defense every play make for an unsatisfying game. Things get repetitive, and there isn't much depth here.
The presentation isn't all that great. The graphics are pretty good (especially for their time) but the animations are reused again and again. Play two games and you'll see almost every off the court animation the game has for the players. The sound is comprised of rather poor announcing and a very limited soundtrack of less than 10 songs that were commissioned. Hearing Snoop or Busta deliver lame lines about how well they play basketball just doesn't do it for me, and you'll hear it over and over.
The game has some roster management depth for those that are interested, but that isn't my particular cup of tea. It comes with the modes you expect, but there aren't any extra surprises to be found. All and all, if you like the Live series, and only have a few bucks for one of the games, you could do worse than this game. It has its fun moments, but I can't see myself playing this over Madden, NHL, or FIFA.
NOTE: Review score is based on comparisons to other games from 2002.