NBA Ballers

NBA Ballers is a streetball game which is similar to AND 1 Streetball and gameplay similar to the NBA Jam series. The game features fictional NBA analyst Bob Benson (voiced and depicted by Terry Abler) and MC Supernatural doing the commentary. Supernatural makes many references to the Mortal Kombat series and NFL Blitz, two games published by Midway. The game also maintains the "player on fire" feature that is in many, if not all sports games published by Midway. Most of the moves that were in the game were from real-life street ballers who provided some of their moves for the game. Stephon Marbury is on the cover.

Not to be confused with NBA Baller Beats.
NBA Ballers
Developer(s)Midway
Publisher(s)Midway Sports
EngineRenderWare
Platform(s)PlayStation 2, Xbox
Release
  • NA: April 5, 2004
  • AU: April 14, 2004 (PS2)
  • EU: October 15, 2004 (PS2)
Genre(s)Basketball
Mode(s)Single player, Multiplayer

The game was followed by a version for the PlayStation Portable, NBA Ballers: Rebound and two sequels, NBA Ballers: Phenom and NBA Ballers: Chosen One.

Gameplay

Most matches are 1-on-1. Others can be 1-on-1-on-1, meaning you have three players each playing solely for themselves. The matches are 2 minutes in length and winner is the best of three rounds, each round being a game to 11 points where the winner must win by at least two points. If time runs out, the player with the most points will be declared the winner of that round. Jackpot: Located in the top left of the screen during game play: as the player pulls off style moves he earns points that go into a jackpot at the top of the screen and when a player scores he gets all accumulated jackpot.

  • Juice Meter

In gameplay the player has a "Juice Meter" that fills up like a fuel gauge and it is used at the turbo boost meter. It is the players energy and if it used up the meter will diminish.

  • House Meter

The second meter below the Juice Meter is the "House Meter" which is raised by pulling off style moves and scoring points. The meter is filled until the word "HOUSE" is spelled. When totally filled, the player may choose to "Bring Down the House" by holding all shoulder buttons and throwing an alley-oop to himself that tears down the rim and ends the match.

Rags to Riches

Rags to Riches is the main story mode, in which the player portrays a relatively unknown rookie with certain abilities and must take on the best in the NBA to become arguably the greatest player in the association. Each match is done by tournament style and the player must defeat every opponent to advance to a new tournament to move the story along, and attributes rise during progression.

This game mode featured a full story told over 21 different cut scenes as the player progressed throughout the game. With the inclusion of this game mode, NBA Ballers became the first video game officially licensed by a league to contain a story mode.

Reception
Reception
Review scores
PublicationScore
PS2Xbox
CGMA[1]A[1]
EGM8/10[2]8/10[2]
Game Informer8/10[3]8/10[3]
GamePro[4][4]
GameSpot8.3/10[5]8.2/10[6]
GameSpy[7][8]
GameZone7.5/10[9]7.8/10[10]
IGN9/10[11]8.9/10[12]
OPM (US)[13]N/A
OXM (US)N/A6.5/10[14]
Playboy75%[15]75%[15]
The Village Voice8/10[16]N/A
Aggregate score
Metacritic83/100[17]82/100[18]

The game received "favorable" reviews on both platforms according to the review aggregation website Metacritic.[17][18]

Maxim gave it a score of eight out of ten and stated that "Eighty-four hyper-detailed players are represented, or you can create your own baller and go rags-to-riches, racking up pimp-wear and Scarface-worthy real estate."[19] The Village Voice similarly gave the PS2 version eight out of ten and stated, "Like the sport itself, you can easily start a pickup game, or put all your time—and high hopes—into it. Playing D, of course, isn’t nearly as fun."[16] Playboy gave the game 75% (nearly two months before its U.S. release date) and said, "Victory is accompanied by flashy jewelry, fancy cars, and the truest measure of a champ, a larger posse."[15]

By July 2006, the PS2 version had sold 670,000 copies and earned $23 million in the United States. Next Generation ranked it as the 94th highest-selling game launched for the PlayStation 2, Xbox or GameCube between January 2000 and July 2006 in the U.S. Combined sales of the NBA Ballers series reached 1 million units in the United States by July 2006.[20]

References
  1. "NBA Ballers". Computer Games Magazine. No. 165. theGlobe.com. August 2004. p. 6.
  2. EGM staff (June 2004). "NBA Ballers". Electronic Gaming Monthly. No. 179. Ziff Davis. p. 92.
  3. Reiner, Andrew (May 2004). "NBA Ballers". Game Informer. No. 133. GameStop. p. 92. Archived from the original on May 26, 2005. Retrieved December 25, 2019.
  4. Dan Elektro (April 7, 2004). "NBA Ballers". GamePro. IDG Entertainment. Archived from the original on February 9, 2005. Retrieved December 25, 2019.
  5. Colayco, Bob (April 6, 2004). "NBA Ballers Review (PS2)". GameSpot. CBS Interactive. Retrieved December 25, 2019.
  6. Colayco, Bob (April 5, 2004). "NBA Ballers Review (Xbox)". GameSpot. CBS Interactive. Retrieved December 25, 2019.
  7. Leeper, Justin (April 4, 2004). "GameSpy: NBA Ballers (PS2)". GameSpy. IGN Entertainment. Archived from the original on November 7, 2005. Retrieved December 25, 2019.
  8. Leeper, Justin (April 4, 2004). "GameSpy: NBA Ballers (Xbox)". GameSpy. IGN Entertainment. Archived from the original on December 24, 2005. Retrieved December 25, 2019.
  9. The Bearer (April 21, 2004). "NBA Ballers - PS2 - Review". GameZone. Archived from the original on October 5, 2008. Retrieved December 25, 2019.
  10. Surette, Tim (April 26, 2004). "NBA Ballers - XB - Review". GameZone. Archived from the original on May 25, 2009. Retrieved December 25, 2019.
  11. Robinson, Jon (April 2, 2004). "NBA Ballers (PS2)". IGN. Ziff Davis. Retrieved December 25, 2019.
  12. Robinson, Jon (April 2, 2004). "NBA Ballers (Xbox)". IGN. Ziff Davis. Retrieved December 25, 2019.
  13. "NBA Ballers". Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine. No. 80. Ziff Davis. May 2004. p. 101.
  14. "NBA Ballers". Official Xbox Magazine. Future US. May 2004. p. 81.
  15. "Review: NBA Ballers". Playboy. Playboy Enterprises. March 2004. p. 39.
  16. Catucci, Nick (April 26, 2004). "Love Ballin' Like Fat Kids Love Cake in Rags-to-Roca-Wear Story". The Village Voice. Village Voice, LLC. Archived from the original on May 22, 2004. Retrieved December 24, 2019.
  17. "NBA Ballers for PlayStation 2 Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved December 24, 2019.
  18. "NBA Ballers for Xbox Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved December 24, 2019.
  19. Porter, Alex (April 5, 2004). "NBA Ballers". Maxim. Biglari Holdings. Archived from the original on June 3, 2004. Retrieved December 24, 2019.
  20. Campbell, Colin; Keiser, Joe (July 29, 2006). "The Top 100 Games of the 21st Century". Next Generation. Future US. Archived from the original on October 29, 2007.
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