NBA Courtside 2002 GameCube DISC ONLY - GameCube

The controls are good, but take some getting used to if you've spent a lot of time with other basketball simulations. Players use the C stick on the controller to pass the ball. No button pressing is necessary; just point the stick at the desired player and the ball is away. Unfortunately, this same system is used to select defensive players, and that can be difficult, especially if the action is moving fast and furious. The game does feature quite a few game modes: practice, exhibition, season, and even an interesting mode that takes place on top of the roof.

As you might expect, the player models are smooth, crisp, and photorealistic. The animations are detailed with nary a slowdown or glitch. Even the crowd looks good, and benched players are likewise in full 3-D. The audio isn't so impressive, however. Never have I heard such uninspired and slow commentary--it often seems to be describing plays from another game, or worse, talks about plays that happened 30 seconds prior to the current action. Not a game breaker, but definitely not as good as the competition.

NBA Courtside 2002, aside from the minor flaws described above, is still a stellar entry in the basketball fold and an asset for the Nintendo GameCube library. It's worth the purchase now, and with a few fixes, it'll be a real contender next year. --Bob Andrews

Pros: Fast action; good fundamentals Terrific graphics Cons: Slow, inaccurate commentary