E3 2005: Level Up
UbiSoft Takes it to the Streets
Product: And 1 Streetball
Company: Ubisoft Entertainment
Date: 05/30/2005
Avaliable On:

The And 1 Mixtape Tour, which features the country's best streetballers, is making it's way to the world of video games in And 1 Streetball from UbiSoft. Featuring players like The Professor, Escalade and Spyda, UbiSoft is looking to bring a faster-paced, energetic brand of basketball to the Xbox and PS2.

In Streetball's single-player mode, you'll take your created baller through several seasons in the streetball "league". Character customization will offer a ton of different options. You'll begin by assigning stats to your player, and designing what type of player he is. Once this is set, you'll choose his appearance (which includes an unlockable wardrobe of licensed And 1 apparel) and 10 created move-styles. These include dribble, juke and dunk types, as well as showboat and celebration moves.

In the beginning, you'll participate in open competitions with the intention of impressing the And 1 players. Once you've got their attention, you're invited to join them on the And 1 bus tour where you'll take on all challengers in several well-known courts like Mosswood and Rucker. You'll eventually go international and take on ballers from around the world.

In addition to the moves you create, Streetball will offer hundreds of preset moves, all of which will be context-sensitive based on where you are and the direction you press the right analog stick. Offensive style is a big part of Streetball, so expect moves you're not used to seeing in more traditional games. The right analog stick will allow you to quickly transition between moves and set up tricks such as bouncing the ball off another player's body or other humiliation moves. Pulling off combinations and moves will slowly fill up a meter that, once full, will give you a "mic". Mics can be used to either use one of your user-created moves or perform a "shutdown move", which is basically a move that really pisses off a defender. You can also save up your mics, which nabs you an automatic win if you can rack up three.

And 1 Streetball is expected to hit stores later this year.

Starscream aka Ricky Tucker

GameVortex PSIllustrated TeamPS2