NBA Street V3

NBA Street V3 is the third installment of EA Sports BIG's arcade streetball series, which takes basketball off the court and onto the street — no fouls, flashy moves (Gamebreakers), and teams made up of real NBA stars and legends alike, all in a street style. The game expands the NBA Street Legends career mode, where the player gradually builds their own team, unlocks courts across the United States, and faces rosters full of real players as well as icons of the past. There is also a custom character editor, the ability to stylize the look of courts, and a soundtrack made up of period hip-hop tracks that round out the street atmosphere of the game.

At its core remains fast arcade three-on-three action with an emphasis on chaining trick passes, alley-oops, and flashy dunks, which gradually fill the Gamebreaker meter that lets players swing the score with a single spectacular basket. A style-points system rewards creative play and lets individual players gradually improve their attributes, similar to an RPG.

The PlayStation 2 version launched in February 2005 alongside the Xbox and GameCube releases and offers identical content — the same courts, players, and career mode. Technically, it was a standard generational difference: PS2 handled somewhat less detailed character models and coarser jersey and court textures than Xbox, but the frame rate remained stable even during the game's hectic on-court exchanges. For the most widespread console of the time, this meant a fully-fledged release with no reduction in game content.

With its third installment, the NBA Street series reached the height of its popularity, and thanks to its installed base, PlayStation 2 became the platform on which the most players of the generation tried the game. Publisher EA Sports BIG later used a similar street concept for the NFL Street and FIFA Street series, which launched on the same trio of consoles during the same period and shared with NBA Street a similar emphasis on style, music, and street aesthetics over a realistic simulation of the given sport.

Why play it: For the pinnacle of the street basketball series, with its bold music and style standing in for a realistic simulation — the PS2 version reached the most players of the generation and defined the genre just as much as EA's sister Street titles.