NBA is the first and only basketball game available at the launch of the PSP. Unfortunately, these two points turn out to be the game's only notable distinctions since the game itself is a rather lackluster basketball experience.

Being the first out of the gate does come with its advantages, namely there's little to be compared with. With NBA, it is tempting to try and compare it to 989's PS2 efforts, but even with the PSP's visual prowess, it is still an unfair comparison. When compared to the rest of the PSP lineup, NBA rides towards the back of the pack. The graphics are decent, but suffer from a poor camera angle that detracts from the models. The details are there, which is made evident by the "basketball card" framing action that occurs whenever you pull off a great move. During gameplay the camera is pulled back a little too far, which ends up making it hard to identify who you're playing with. The more you play with a particular team, you'll begin to see nuances that help you to tell one player from another, but do you really want to spend all your time trying to tell people apart when you should really be concentrating on your game plan? I didn't think so.

Player animations are also rather still and don't transition between each other all that fluidly. Again, since this is a launch title, I'm inclined to write it off as a limitation of the system, but after seeing THUG 2 in motion, it's hard to do this. One aspect that can be overlooked is the lack of different animations for dunks and other moves.

Sound is another rough spot in NBA's presentation. The most noticeable aspect is the static crowd noises that constantly drone in the background and end up drowning out some of the other sounds that are going on. No play-by-play is available (which is an understandable omission), but at least you'll get the announcer calling out some more important game moments like shot-clock violations.

NBA is split up into a variety of game modes, all of which should be familiar to long time sports fans. Quick-Play and Exhibition allow you to quickly jump into a game -- making them good modes for when you're on the go and want to sneak in a quick game of hoops. All 30 NBA teams are available from the start, as are some developmental, All-Star and Team USA.

The core basketball gameplay suffers from a number of gameplay issues, which end up making it hard to make it through a complete game. Not only did I find this true for myself, a casual basketball fan and gamer, but for hardcore fans like my sister's boyfriend. For starters, the innovative shooting system still needs to have a few kinks worked out (more on this later), so it's not uncommon to have your computer controlled players picking up the slack for you (or at least attempt to; more on this later as well). Also, though a number of defensive plays are available, they rarely seem to work properly. You can also pull off a number of fakes, but like the plays, they really don't seem to do much other than showing off a few animations.

Season is the core mode in NBA. After selecting a team, you can take them through a 29, 58 or 82 game season. A playoff option is also available which includes both "Best of" and Single Elimination options. During a season, you can play any game you like, or have the computer simulate it. Management options are also available during seasons, but lack balance, making for some really goofy trades. When I'm able to snag Shaq for PJ Brown, then you know something odd is going on.

Mini-games prove to be one of NBA's strongest points. In fact, I actually found myself playing these modes more than the actual basketball games. Mini-games can also provide you with some practice using the shooting system. My favorite mini-game was Paint, which has you shooting from different parts of the court, each with their own point values. As you shoot from each part of the court, you gain control. After time is up, the painted values are tallied up and the one with the highest score wins. Other modes include a 3-point shoot-out, and other skill challenge games.

NBA also supports WiFi games via local or Internet connections. I was only able to get two multiplayer games started, one of which ended dropping on me. The online option is one of the game's nicer features, but given how poorly the game plays, its really not as much of a draw as it could be.

A.I. is another of the game's numerous rough areas. Players are very clumsy and are prone to pulling off some really bonehead moves like stepping out of bounds for no reason or passing the game to players that are either really well-guarded or running in the opposite direction. I even witnessed a player attempt to shoot from half-court. There's also a tendency for players to take plays off and let computer-controlled opponents walk right up to the basket for an easy 2 points.

NBA's shooting system is it's biggest gameplay contribution. The typical way to handle shooting is to just push the button and hope for the best. Instead, NBA tries to add a little more skill to shooting. Once you think you have a clear shot, a mechanic that can take some adjustment considering the number of blocked shots, you press the button to indicate you want to shoot, causing a colored ring to appear around the ball. The color of the ring will let you know when to press the button again to shoot. If the ring turns green, you have a really good shot of making it. Yellow means you have a 50/50 shot and red means you have next to no chance.

The concept behind the system is great, but as previously stated could use some tweaking. For starters, things will usually happen so quickly that you'll miss seeing a green or yellow ring altogether, meaning you'll usually shoot while in the red. This probably accounts for the number of missed or blocked shots. Also, the system takes a little too long to pull off, which ends up affecting the pacing. The system also lacks consistency since dunks don't require two button pushes but nearly all other shots do.

Even though it's currently the only game in town in regards to NBA action, its really hard to recommend NBA, even for the most hardcore of basketball fans. There are some really good ideas in the game, but the number of flaws end up outweighing the good parts. If you really must have a basketball game, then NBA is your only option, otherwise its probably best to wait for another basketball game to come around.