It used to be simple when it came to naming the best basketball game in town. Back on the Sega Genesis, EA Sports dominated with their reborn NBA Live series, an isometric game of b-ball with all the moves, dunks, blocks, and sly touches that made it the closest thing that the sport had ever seen in digital form. All Sega could try to do was keep up with their NBA Action series, which was alright but still paled in comparison to EA's greatness.

Shift to several years later and the rules have changed. Sega's gotten out of the console-making business and has now become a chief competitor with EA Sports. But EA had a lackluster weapon in the release of NBA Live 2002, one of the most poorly conceived games of b-ball on the market. Sega struck back with NBA 2K2, a Visual Concepts-developed piece of work that really brought back the thrill of basketball that video game players were seeking. It took back the crown from EA and changed perspectives entirely. Now Sega was the only game in town.

Shift again, this time two years later. EA Sports has realized what crap NBA Live had become and redeveloped it from the ground up, coming up with an impressive example yet again with NBA Live 2004. Packing plenty of arcade-style gameplay and some rich visuals, it seemed to be unbeatable. Could Sega triumph yet again with their newest entry, ESPN NBA Basketball? In a word, yep.

ESPN NBA Basketball is their most impressive game of hoops yet, a purely enjoyable b-ball game that was truly built for the love of the game. It features a similar engine from last year's stellar NBA 2K3 (which, yep, toppled Live 2003 with its greatness), but there's little touches here and there to remind you why it's considered an all new chapter in the series, not to mention worth dropping another $50 on.

I think one of the first things I should mention is the game's IsoMotion control addition. What it does, with a little help from the awesome control layout, is gives you the option to face off against a defender and pull off a stylish offensive or defensive move to either take it to the hole or become humiliated with a steal. It's a marvelous control addition, and really adds a good deal of unpredictability to the game. Granted, you still have plenty of key plays to take advantage of, like the big steal and the fast break down the court to take it to the hoop, but this really shows your skill as a b-ball player. Anyone can shoot threes, but who can master the IsoMotion and become king of his court?

The control in itself is generally excellent. The handling of the players seems right on, although they do slip from time to time but nothing bothersome. Your passing and shooting controls are rock solid, and the ability to change defensive plays on the fly, set up alley-oops, get some mighty blocks on some of your attempting scorers, or make substitutions remain perfectly intact. Offensively or defensively, there's a lot of play involved here, and it comes together damn well.

Then you have the game's many boisterous modes. I say boisterous when I should be saying frickin' huge. First off, you have the addition of 24/7 mode. 24/7 is basically the ability to create yourself in basketball form, or a player of your choosing, and then taking them to street courts and building their skills to become the best b-ball player in the world. This mode is very involving and really concentrates on the finer things of development, like making sure your ball game is good enough and keeping you in touch with "hook-ups" as you proceed, so you can partner with other players in 2-on-2 match-ups. It's a nice touch and really adds a new factor of addictiveness to the game.

That's not including the already-hovering Franchise Mode, which lets you handle your own b-ball team, acting as a manager who must make some good choices- not to mention tough ones. This thing's still as strongly built as ever. Then you have Street Mode, which works on a more realistic level than NBA Street Vol. 2's over-the-top antics. There's still trash talk and fast plays, but it's centered on realistic gameplay that's very good. The game also lets you take on exhibition modes and online play as well, courtesy of the Xbox Live support. It is missing the franchise set-up that the PS2 version has, but it still keeps online play in itself flowing smoothly so you never miss a beat dunking on your buddies...or your fellow GamerFeed staffers.

The game's visuals are amazing, like always. Visual Concepts has taken the time to make sure that the detail in players are perfectly rendered, right down to their little movements and tattoos and what have you. Carmelo Anthony looks like Carmelo Anthony and not, say, Chris Tucker. Yao Ming has his little hairstyle in check, even with his rather tall self. The players look great and animate just as well as they should. The courts look fantastic as well, right down to their glimmer of lights on the court and the crowd showing a great deal of support, although they don't move as well as they should. Still, small complaint, the on-court action is what matters here and it looks excellent. Kudos to the 480p and 720p support, too.

As for sound, it's all here, although some of it seems a bit off. The game has some sweet sound effects, like the squeaking of your high-tops, the PA system in full effect, and the crowd either getting behind you or booing your performance. The commentary team has changed slightly for this year, with Tom Tolbert teaming up with commentary man Bob Fitzgerald. It's still a good commentary, but it lacks the smooth flow of previous commentary. I think they should've just kept things running like they were last year here, but at least it focuses on the on-court action and doesn't go off into some kind of comical rant.

Could ESPN NBA Basketball used anything more? Well, yeah, it would've been nice to take franchise stats online instead of just the 24/7 player, and it would have been nice to see some kind of ESPN NBA 2 Night highlight show, like ESPN NFL Football had with Prime Time. But hey, there's only so much Chris Berman can do with his day, right? What were Stuart Scott and Dan Patrick doing, anyway?

What we have here is the latest and greatest in Sega's NBA legacy, and it beats out NBA Live 2004 to be the best hoops game of 2003. Granted, we haven't seen all the releases for the NBA completed as of yet (Inside Drive 2004 is just around the corner), but they've got a lot to live up to with this release. Sega indeed remains ruler of this court...but, as you could see by my statement above, you never can tell when things will change. Here's hoping the changes get greater and greater, like they have been.