NBA Ballers: Rebound Hands-On

The original NBA Ballers was a welcome surprise on the PlayStation 2 and Xbox. It was a hoops game that built on the solid arcade basketball roots of Midway's older b-ball franchise, NBA Showtime, infused with the modern-day cash-money sensibilities. And though the real NBA has put the bling on the back burner (thanks to commissioner David Stern's newly imposed dress code), Midway is bringing an improved version of the original Ballers to the PSP, dubbed NBA Ballers: Rebound. We got a look at the game during a recent visit from Midway and definitely like what we've seen so far.

For those who aren't familiar with the series, the original Ballers was a streetball/NBA hybrid that featured fun trick-based play on the court and a storyline that had you taking your created hoopster from the streetball anonymity all the way up to rubbing shoulders with NBA greats like Allen Iverson and Stephon Marbury. That's the general idea here in Rebound as well--a rags-to-riches story that has you creating your ultimate baller and guiding him up through the ranks until you're hanging with (and competing against) the league's elite.

That isn't to say there's nothing new in Rebound, however. Along with updated rosters and two new levels to play on, the intriguing one-on-one-on-one mode--which is borrowed from NBA Ballers: Phenom for the Xbox and the PS2--is playable in Rebound and, as you might expect, it's a lot of fun. The third man on the court adds an extra layer of difficulty to the asphalt action, because it's not just one more guy you have to get around when making your way to the basket, it's also someone you'll have to compete with for rebounds. With plenty of current and classic NBA stars to choose from, it's easy to get an epic matchup going in no time.

Beyond the three-man game, the main modes in Rebound are your straight one-on-one matches, where you choose the baller you control and the opponent you go up against, the TV tournament, practice mode, and the rags-to-riches story mode. In the TV tournament mode, you play in tournaments against a variety of opponents in order to unlock real NBA players in the game, such as Tim Duncan and Shaquille O'Neal. Rags to riches serves as the story mode and will feature your created character in a number of different tournaments as he tries to make his way up the ladder. As you play games, you'll rack up points at the end of each match. You can then head over to the Inside Stuff menu, where you can spend your hard-earned points on things like mansions, hot rides, or sign NBA players like Alonzo Mourning, Steve Finley, and old-timers like George Gervin and Rick Barry.

The create-a-character tool has been given a makeover for Rebound. Not only will you be choosing the look and style of your baller, but you'll also be assigning him a move set based on a number of real-life NBA pros, choosing whether he is a conservative or flashy player, and, of course, assigning skill points across a number of different general attributes including clutch, power, speed, and stamina, as well as both offensive and defensive attributes, like two- and three-point shooting ability, blocking, and stealing.

In fact, one of the key improvements the Backbone development team has made to Rebound has been in terms of player attributes. As one producer told us, the original Ballers had several categories that were less than useful. This time around, the team has tried to make every attribute carry more weight in the progression of your player. Additionally, how you improve your character stats has changed as well. Instead of automatically upgrading your stats, your attributes will improve based on how you play the game. Spend a lot of time on midrange jumpers and three-point shots, for example, and your shooting abilities will improve. Drive to the basket on a consistent basis, and attributes dealing with your inside game will get a boost.

One of the most impressive aspects of Rebound is simply how good it looks. If the player models don't have quite the number of polygons as they did on the Xbox and PS2 versions, then the numbers are probably pretty close. This is one fine-looking game on the PSP screen--the impressively lifelike and recognizable faces that were so amazing on the console version are well intact here. If the game's pace is slightly slower than that of the NBA Street series, it's not necessarily a bad thing. If anything, it gives you more time to position yourself to grab a rebound, or set up a series of trick combos.

Wireless ad hoc support for up to two players in both the one-on-one and one-on-one-on-one modes should offer this PSP game some life on the multiplayer front, as will the loads of unlockable content that kept players coming back to the original game. While the load times got in the way of some of the fun in our hands-on time with the game, the core challenge and lively animations made up for it. NBA Ballers: Rebound is scheduled for release in late March, and you can expect to see, read, and hear more about the game in the coming weeks.