Let's see, I've got all kinds of mad money, what the hell should I buy today? A cherry red Mercedes? Ah, yeah. No wait, that black Hummer with the installed satellite dish looks rather tasty. I should jump right into that piece. Can't forget my big ass necklace that says "DCD" on it, just to show my old-school flava. Ah, who the heck am I kidding? I barely have the finances right now to keep my nightly visits to the bar in check. But NBA Ballers, Midway's arcade-themed basketball game from 2004, managed to give you the life of a superstar while also keeping the jam-packed gameplay of the sport in mind. Now it's back for a second round, and it's time to buy some bling.

NBA Ballers: Phenom is a more focused sequel, driven by some slight elements from the past glory days of NBA Jam and packing some more meat on its story-based bones to give you more drive as an up-and-coming athlete. It should be quite a contender for the 2006 NBA market, driving right in as the playoffs are set to kick off.

The game's story mode will be the biggest focus, as Midway is promising much expansion in this area. You enter the game as an up-and-coming NBA superstar who has to make sure that his skills don't deteriorate, so that means plenty of one-on-one action, as well as the occasional team-up with a friend to show the competition that, yes, video gamers can jump. More on that in a second.

With the story mode, gamers will have a whole new league of options available, off the court as well as on it. For instance, NBA Ballers: Phenom now packs even more expanded choices of bling, like nicer houses, sweet cars for transport (although you can't drive them- sheesh), and lots of customization options so you can make yourself looking like a million bucks. I wonder if we'll even see any 70's gear to get you all up in the style of a pimp- anything is possible. The activities can also expand leaps and bounds into something along the lines of a clothing line, a record label, and a movie deal. Yes, it's true- you could find yourself being the next Kazaam. That may not sound appealing at first, but look at your cash flow. Booyah.

The game, of course, will rely on hard-hitting gameplay just as much as flash-in-the-pan, and a lot of it will remain from the first game. Animations will be silky smooth as you drive to the bucket, and a variety of courts will be available for you to prove your dominance. If that's not enough, there's plenty of gameplay techniques to learn, including spin moves, quick runs to the baskets, and, of course, getting up in grills to deliver some awesome blocks. Take that, Artest! Yeah, you wanna be a Pacer again? Huh?

But the biggest stretch that Phenom will take is the 2-on-2 basketball mode, where you can team up with a friend and show a team of two how it's done on the court. This is a nice throwback to the days of Midway's old NBA Jam series, a 2-on-2 arcade-fest of insane dunks and mad power plays to dominate the court. Of course, there's no 90-foot dunks here, but it's all about the flava of the attitude on the court, and it's driving it all around the place here. I'm sure that the style of play and customization probably won't suit to NBA commissioner's David Stern's needs, but Midway's trying to cater to the fans...and maybe even the NBA players themselves. Who needs a suit here?

NBA Ballers: Phenom has a lot of potential, just like the previous NBA-themed games that Midway's released, and it should be quite a rush when it arrives this spring. Just make sure you don't go too insane on the customization- can you imagine someone dunking in a Ronald McDonald costume? Besides Artest, of course. Zing!