NBA Street Homecourt is like a basketball time warp to the '70s, before the monster fro's were all knit into cornrows. The eye-calming visuals of this series' fourth game are so freshly serene that they might leave you feeling anesthetized. Foregoing photorealism, Homecourt is washed in delightful primary colors that just plain sparkle. The stars of the environment—the rich, breathtaking courts—are all recreations of places NBAers balled in their youth, including Rip Hamilton's Ash Park stomping ground in Coatesville, PA, and Carmelo Anthony's home spot in West Baltimore. The historical courts are educational, but they also serve as launching points to put your own home court on the map.
As good as the game looks, though, it plays even better, and it's been ideally refined over its past iterations. The ability to bust out a clever series of tricks has reached new heights, the new loose-ball shenanigans add levity, and the dunks are jump-out-of-your-seat-and-cheer ridiculous. The game scores again and again by never taking itself too seriously. If you blow a monster dunk, you might get your foot caught in the hoop. If you time your flush right, you can catch it with your feet and dunk again, for double the points. The much-more-than-a-sports-game identity becomes more apparent when you're playing defense, which becomes a sort of fighting game, with your pushing and shoving vs. a ball-handler's trickery. Good times.