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And when we say dozens of moves, we're talking about four versions of the crossover, three kinds of spin moves and all kinds of hesitation dribbles that can be performed with either hand. But the satisfaction comes from knowing that even when you're throwing down impossible reverse alley oops from behind the backboard you know you're still within the rules and conventions of the NBA.įreestyle control is revolutionary in that it allows the player with the ball to pull off a variety of offensive moves in the blink of an eye and that you determine the direction and variation of the move. The arcade fun comes from the exaggerated speed of the game and the dozens of new moves you can pull of with players using the right analog stick. Live 2003's attention to NBA details, rules and style of play is completely legitimate, yet gamers are given the freedom to repeatedly create exciting highlight-worthy plays that would keep the crowds cheering and coaches stressed out. Nine times out of ten schizophrenic sports games that try to force-feed wild over-the-top antics into an obvious basketball sim with rules and dimensions and everything end up pissing off fans of either type of game. Gameplay The most interesting aspect of NBA Live 2003 is that it somehow brings blatant arcade and simulation elements together to coexist peacefully in one game.
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With Sega's popular NBA 2K series making the jump to all three next generation consoles last season, NBA Live 2003 pretty much had to do something great to keep EA in the game.
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This is NBA Live's debut on GameCube, but the 2002 edition on other platforms was choppy, devoid of any basketball artificial intelligence and had too much focus on the flashy, more superficial elements of professional basketball.
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