Despite the fact that at times I can't hit the broad side of a barn, I love throwing up three point shots. In fact, launching them is actually more of an instinctual thing, an urge I get whenever I'm behind an arc. Therefore, it goes without saying that the NBA's Three Point Contest that takes place during All Star Weekend is one of my most favorite events, and when THQ and Lavastorm Engineering stopped by to introduce me to their Verizon exclusive NBA Three Point Shootout for mobile phones, it was a match made in heaven.

Just like the actual event, NBA 3-Point Shootout is all about firing rainbow after rainbow. There are five racks strategically placed around a half court, and the goal is to make more than the other guys before time runs out, the key to boosting your score being the precious multi-colored money balls that are at the end of each rack. It can be quite a frantic experience, but at no time is it boring, and that's because 3-Point Shootout's developers have perfectly captured the essence of what makes the real-life event so much fun to watch.

There are 60 real-life NBA players to choose from, 40 of which are current superstars such as Ray Allen, Kobe Bryant, Vince Carter, Tracy McGrady, and just for fun Shaq and Yao Ming. But there are also 20 legends, masters of the court such as Larry Bird (who's like, seriously unstoppable), Magic Johnson, Danny Ainge, Walt Frazier, and...and...TIM LEGLER!!! There's a wide range of superstars to choose from, and all of them have individual stats that are based on their actual career numbers (you can view them by highlighting a player and pressing 1).

The cool thing about this game (well, one of the cool things) is its gameplay modes. Rather than just wimp out and provide you with only the three-point competition, Lavastorm put in several other options that really add some replay value. First things first, you can hop into a quick shootout by selecting Quick Play. You'll only face one opponent, and the game will choose both players. Exhibition is basically the same thing except you can actually select who you want to play as. Practice is neat because it gets rid of the 60 second clock and you can just shoot from any rack on the floor (move to a rack by pressing right or left on your phone). Finally, Tournament is the grand daddy of them all, an eight man elimination bout.

If you want, you can face off against computer opponents, but if you've got some friends nearby or just want to play an entire game you can switch from computer to human-controlled players before a shootout begins. It's a great way to compete against your own high scores, and there's a greater sense of satisfaction achieved from completing an entire tournament.

Visually 3-Point Shootout excels for a plethora of different reasons. Lavastorm really went the distance and did some cool things never seen before in a cell phone game. For starters there are several different types of players that you'll see. Granted, you'll always see them from the back, but there are enough hair styles and skin tones in the game that certain players sort of resemble their real-life counterparts. There are also numbers on the backs of jerseys, and there's a shot clock on the top of the basket that actually counts down. In addition to that great stuff, every time you nail a money ball a light show plays where these multi-colored stars zip around the court, and there's an electronic billboard in the distance that lights up if you're on fire.

I'm also in love with the physics in this game. It literally feels like you're moving within a 3D space, as basketballs will clang off the rim and bounce towards you (complete with a cool scaling effect). How the balls interact with the rim is also pretty amazing, as they'll rim out or bounce up into the air and fall through the net. It's nice to see that every time I miss a shot the ball reacts in a different way. I did occasionally notice that sometimes a ball would skip a beat of animation, but that's not a big deal. However, I can't say the same for the timer at the top right corner of the screen. As it's counting down it has a tendency to shimmer, and the effect looks glitchy.

Sound is another category in which 3-Point Shootout excels. Aside from the crowd noise, you'll hear the ball swishing through the net or bouncing off the rim and there are multiple sound effects for each (though for some reason one effect in particular is used for both made and missed shots), and there's also an announcer who'll shout "On fire" or "Air ball" among other colorful phrases.

Having great bells and whistles is all well and good, but the real star of this game is its gameplay, which is just fantastic. Just about everything revolves around the OK key, so all you need to do is press it once to grab a ball off the rack and then again to let it go, but it's not as simple as chucking basketballs into the air. You need to really time your shots or else you're going to be building a house with all of your bricks. I sometimes play with my eyes closed just to see how I do (and my success varies), but if you really want to get a high score (mine is 28 with Larry Bird), you'll want to keep those peepers of yours wide open.

The bottom line is some of the greatest videogames of all time are based around the simplest of concepts, but at the same time the fun factor is boosted because they also have platform-defining graphics, and that's really why NBA Three-Point Shootout is such a success. Not only is it highly-addictive, but it's also one of the first really great-looking cell phone games, and it offers a glimpse into what I'm going to say will be a bright mobile-gaming future. Nitpicks aside, if you're planning on buying a Verizon phone or already own one, this is the number one game to get.