Operation Sports:

NBA STREET V3: Street Challenge

By Shawn Drotar, Managing Editor, OperationSports.com

NBA STREET V3brings the greatest players in the NBA to your Xbox® for an over-the-top street hoops experience. But in the game's Street Challenge, there's another superstar waiting in the wings, and he can make it all the way to the top—if he's got the game.

That star is you.

Street Challenge is the most absorbing way to sample everything that NBA STREET V3 has to offer in a career mode setting. You have to balance egos, adding superstars and street legends to your crew. And you even create a place to play where you're the king of the court.

From the hair to the shoes, you choose the look.

You start out by creating your alter ego. NBA STREET V3uses a robust character creator, so you can make virtually any kind of player you can imagine. Use the V3 Store to add new headgear, tons of different tops, jerseys, and even throwback items for you old-school hoops fans. Knee braces, jewelry, even tattoos—your baller can be totally unique. Hit the Barber Shop for a new hairstyle, or even use the Shoe Creator to customize your kicks any way to like them. NBA STREET V3 is all about style on the court, and the game gives you ability to create your own and show it off to the virtual hoops world.

Speaking of the virtual hoops world, when you're done creating your player, you need to create your court. Pick a city to set it in, give it a name, and then use the Court Creator to make your ultimate street hoops headquarters. You can set your court's neighborhood and surrounding buildings, what murals to paint, what kind of surface your court has, its condition and lines, and even whether to spray paint the local area code on the concrete so everyone knows who's representin'!

Create a court, making it your own.

Of course, all this won't matter if you don't have any street credibility, or, in NBA STREET V3 lingo, rep. You build your rep by winning all sorts of different matches. You're joined by two teammates from your area, and the three of you can take on the world in Back to Basics games, Trick Point Showdowns, Dunks Only matches, Old School Games, NBA Scoring games, and even the occasional dunk contest or elimination tournament. Up that rep with more and more wins and you soon start facing NBA stars—beat them, and they can join your squad. Build your team's roster by adding the best players you can get to join your team, but be careful—these guys expect to play, and, if they don't, they get unhappy and can cause morale problems on your team. The game becomes a challenge to balance your best roster and your happiest one. A team with good chemistry will have an easier go of things, and, soon enough, you've earned enough rep and Street Points in your wins to improve your baller's skills and spruce up your home court.

More courts are unlocked as you progress in the game, and you may even be invited to join an NBA team's summer squad—which boosts your rep even faster. Once you're among the best in the game, then you're really tested—the legends are coming your way. Think you can handle Larry Bird, David Skywalker Thompson, Pistol Pete Maravich, or the one and only Kareem Abdul-Jabbar? Get your game in shape, and you can find out.

Defend your turf, STREET-style.

NBA STREET V3's Street Challenge is engrossing, addictive, and always keeps you coming back for just one more game. With plenty of different ways to play, customization options galore, and more unlockables then you can shake that proverbial stick at, you simply can't go wrong taking your game to the street and seeing what you're made of. So what are you waiting for?

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