Want to shoot some hoops? Want to bust some balls so hard you break the game? Then perhaps this is the one for you! EA Sports have released NBA Street Vol. 2 off the back of their last great success, NBA Street. Many people saw the original as being the best street basketball simulation for any console but EA Games have attempted to go one better again. How do you take an already solid three-on-three basketball sports sim and improve on it? Have they slamdunked another success, or is has this one that skidded off the rim?

I was instantly impressed with how easy it was to load up the game and get immediately drawn in. The graphical intro is a lovely 3D bas-relief affair, melting to the graffiti menus from which you choose your options. The menus are fairly easy to navigate and you soon find your way to training section. It is here that you really get to know the skills you utilise later on and after running through the twenty-six lessons you find yourself binning the instruction manual. After scoring 7000 on your own slam-dunk special, who needs a booklet telling you what to do? My only gripe with the in-game tutorial was that you get a limited number of hints as to what you're doing wrong and have to keep trying the same thing over and over. You hear someone who sounds a little like Chef from South Park telling you how you're doing each time you attempt a trick but this soon gets tiresome when you've messed up the same pass/trick combo for the nth time.

However, one thing the tutorial teaches you is how easy the controls are and how they make for a series of spectacular and fluid in game moves. It raises your level of confidence so that much you feel you can take on all comers. As a result, I moved straight to the 'Be a Legend' mode before properly investigating the others. In this, you start off as a lowly street kid and gradually work your way up through the ranks of wannabe street players. As you build the skills of your character, you also get the opportunity to poach players from the teams you beat and so build a team that's worthy of the Harlem Globetrotters! It really is great fun and the best way to learn the game before moving onto the other modes.

When playing you find a number of ways to improve your points score, other than the number of balls you dunk. If you combine some great uninterrupted passes with some standard tricks then you get a great score, but this can almost always be improved on by using your 'turbo meter', which allows for some neat little passes, tricks and dunks. However, your turbo meter has a limited lifespan, so it is to be used sparingly and to as best an effect as possible. As you progress through the game you soon learn when to utilise this meter, or not. Sometimes the defense is such that using a turbo move is a waste but other times a turbo move is all that gets you past an opponent. Equally, the harder the dunk and the nearer you are to pull it off, the less chance you're going to be blocked by someone from the other team. However, this game isn't all about how to pass and dunk. In fact, it's almost as important to learn how to steal and block. Again, you can use your turbo meter to perform some quick spectacular steals and if you're concerned about an opponent who is about to perform some spectacular dunk of their own you can use your meter to leap in their way and block whatever they're trying to pull off.

Once you've exhausted the 'Be a Legend' section (which is going to take a great deal of time!) it's definitely worth exploring the other game options. These include the 'Pick Up' game where you can choose whoever you want to be in your team and hone the skills you may have picked up in other modes, and the NBA Challenge where you tour around region by region, putting down all comers along the way. Again, you can pick your squad from a seemingly endless list and show any upstarts that you can run with them and put all others to shame. These include your friends, of course! No game of this type would be complete without a multiplayer option, so be sure to bring round some mates and show them who's da man as you dazzle them with your lightning ball skills. You may feel it gets boring when you introduce a friend to a game you've been playing for weeks and find yourself walking all over them. However, NBA Street Vol. 2 is very customisable and giving your rookie mate an 11 point lead is no problem, as is making sure he's equipped with the better rated players. Let him win a couple of games and he'll come crying for more, hopefully bringing a couple more mates with him. For truly, as a multiplayer this game doth shine!

Equally impressive are the graphics. The first thing you'll notice is how lithe and lively the players are. The sheer athleticism of your average basketball player is captured so well here - you're surrounded by lean, mean, dunkin' machines! This is particularly obvious when you watch the moves going down and you realise the sheer attention to detail of the body dynamics of each player. Even in the fastest or most technical of moves there is almost a ballet quality grace embodied within the parameters of each character. This is only let down occasionally by the odd jerky move where, for example, a standing only trick moves with a sudden jump to what would normally be a very fluid attempt at a spectacular 'alley oop', or similar.

However, this is a minor niggle on an otherwise visually accomplished game. The moves you pull via your ultra-toned player are set to some spectacular backdrops. While the settings seem fairly run of the mill, being approximately 10 different basketball courts scattered throughout the US, the attention to detail and the photo-realism is surprising. You can see almost each individual brick of a building when playing in a college or schoolyard in Harlem and in other scenes the weather overhead provides some spectacular moving backdrops. Very often I found myself taking my eyes off the game just to soak up what was around me. As you can imagine, I didn't win that one and can only recommend you wait for someone else to take over the reins before you step back and admire the effort made.

The sound is nicely done and the smooth moves accentuated by smooth grooves of a hip-hop variety, while the special effects lend themselves to the ongoing tension, be it the thunk-thunk of a basketball being padded against the floor, the screams of an excitable crowd, or the ongoing commentary. The music is provided by such accomplished artists as Nelly and Nate Dogg with commentary from DJ Bobbito Garcia. The overall vibe created is definitely one of 'street', even though we have probably never taken a stroll down Harlem way, so couldn't know for sure.

What you will find is that the polished sound and graphics keeps you coming back for a second look, only to be captured again and again by the great gameplay. Once the 'Be a Legend' mode has been exhausted, there are many more options to get through and you're rewarded for completing or winning various sections with the allocation of points. These points can be accrued to open up new courts, players, teams and costumes with which to entertain yourself and three of your mates in the superb multiplayer section.

Even if you've never really tried a basketball simulation, or any sports simulation, you can't help but get drawn into NBA Street Vol. 2. It's a blast making your players quickly and easily score some of the most outrageous dunks and it's great to sit and watch someone else play for its lovely visuals and great soundtrack. If you're going to play any sports sim this year, try and get your hands on this one - it's definitely no Airball, in fact, it's an absolute Give-and-go!

Reviewed by Dave Wynn for AceGamez (All Rights Reserved).