I love sports games. I just marvel at the idea that I can place myself into a game with such legends as Michael Jordan and Patrick Ewing. There is not a sports game alive that I haven't bought and placed a group of characters based on people I know. Basketball is my all-time favorite sport, so for every system I own, I buy a basketball game. It's a must. Now that I have a PS2, I had to get NBA Live 2001, the series I have been purchasing since I owned my first Playstation system. I love this game, but unlike other PS2 games, I am not blown away by anything. I enjoyed playing it, but in my view, it is just another basketball game that could have been so much more.

     The minute I got the game, I placed it in the system and was greeted by some kick ass music from Montell Jordan, Choclair and other great talent. This was really cool for a basketball game. I was totally looking forward to playing this game. Then I discovered that there was no franchise mode involved. This is so weird for a basketball game not to have. Usually, you can pick a team and play several seasons, tracking a team from year to year, but for some odd reason, the folks at EA Sports decided that was not necessary here. Not a good move.

     Well, I dealt with it and went right through season mode and chose the New York Knicks who took on the Utah Jazz for the first game. A cool calendar came up with game dates noted. Then I went to the courts and boy did they look beautiful. The graphics were really nice and the players look bigger and more realistic than the previous games. However, that is only up close. I didn't really notice a major difference in this game from the PS One version of NBA Live 98. That is not saying much. There are no new camera angles that really get you into the action. I need different views.

     But was there were some good aspects to the game. I enjoyed controlling my squad and for the first time really developing a good inside game, something missing from previous versions. I was even happier to see that the players contested calls made by the refs with under the cuff remarks about how they are getting the wrong calls and such. When a player misses a free throw, he gets some encouragement from his homies, which is cool. Even the bench comes alive as the team scores and goes to the next quarter. These little nuances added to the game really bring out an exciting experience when playing. Add this to some incredible stat checking and noteworthy tidbits on the performance, and you have a great game in the making.

     But then you have to subtract the bad. The computer opponents are stupid. I left a wide-open space and no one went to the hole for an easy dunk. In fact you can be sure that the opponents will hold onto the ball until the shot clock is close to expiring before they do anything. You can also be sure that the opposing team will suddenly get hot when they are down by five and need to score. Your team suddenly gets cold at times. This sucks. In addition to all this, I don't really like the announcing. At the beginning, they are too quiet. Thankfully, they pick up the tempo as the game goes on, but for a PS2 game, I would think they would have a whole lot more to say.

     Unfortunately, in the first game, I heard some of the same phrases mentioned three or four times and I remember some of those phrases in the 1998 version. Add something new.

     I did like the one-on-one playground mode, but they could have done so much more with this. The boombox is a nice touch, but it would have been cool to change the tunes. That is nitpicking, but I can say that there is a lot of things ignored in this game. I mean, I played Michael Jordan and kicked his ass. He didn't do anything spectacular and didn't play like the god so many NBA analysts have labeled him to be. Larry Bird didn't even look like Larry Bird. Patrick Ewing's face is so unique, but they got it wrong. How can you mess that up? In addition to this, there is nothing cool to do with the playground feature. Why not add a tournament of some kind or maybe enable a two-on-two half court mode? I mean, I did like the fact that you could play like they do on the streets. The tame reminded me of the old Dr. J vs. Larry Bird and Larry Bird vs. Michael Jordan games I played as a kid, but in a game for the PS2, again I expected more.

Badseed's Bottomline: 6 out of 10. This game is above average, but for the PS2, it is not as good as I thought it would be. It suffers the same flaws as games for the PS One do and use the same tired methods as those games do, too. Must we have the same old method for shooting free throws as we have had for the previous ten years? BORING. I like the legends in the game, but if they don't look much like them, why bother putting them in? If Jordan cannot dominate the game, why is he playing? I loved the game, but that may be due to the fact that I love basketball. This game has some great game play in it and there are a lot of things you can do with your players, but far too many buttons to remember if you want to do it. In addition to this, I know I have played better. NBA 2K from Sega was hot and with Sega now putting games out on the PS2, EA Sports better step it up a little. Right now, things can be forgiven as the system is new, but NBA Live 2002 has a lot of expectations behind it. Lets hope the NBA Live series does not die.

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