Retooled like the Lakers.

Well, now that basketball season is in full swing the real question isn't if the all-star riddled Lakers can take the NBA by storm like it seems like they should, or if my beloved Supersonics can actually maintain there second place stranglehold they have placed on the West behind surprise of the short season Ronald Murray? Nope, it's not questions like is Vin Baker really back to his all-star form in the East, or if KG and the new look Timberwolves will make it past the first round in the playoffs, if they make it, this year? No those questions are as unimportant as what the hell happened to T-Mac and Orlando Magic, or why didn't people know that Jeff Van Gundy is a fantastic coach and with him the Rockets would flourish? No sports fans in spite of all the interesting stories this year in the NBA the only real question this season is which basketball game will be the champion of the hardwood this time around?

Well NBA Live made an impressive run in the playoffs last year and look primed and ready to repeat that same performance again this season. When Sega's ESPN NBA Basketball series (formerly the NBA 2K series) posed to knock Live out of minds of consumers last year, the boys and girls at EA sports responded by putting together a remarkable game; especially when compared to the other Lives that EA had put out for the PS2..

Graphically this year's NBA Live 2004 looks very sharp, with the NBA superstars looking very close to their real counterparts. Also this season's Live is sporting an almost countless number of new animations thanks to the new 'pro-hop' button added to the control scheme. Unfortunately, during fast-breaks I did encounter some slowdown when all 10 players were on the screen at the same time. Also, Live still suffers from some series clipping problems when players are playing under the basket. For example, a post player pivots to a position under the hoop goes up to dunk and uses his non-corporeal powers to dunk through the backboard. Now this doesn't happen all the time you are positioned under the hoop, not even most the time, but it does happen. However with that being said this year's version of Live has some of the most realistic set of animations I have seen in a basketball game. Players fight through screens, fight for position in the paint, and the crossover moves are just mind blowing. Dunks and lay-ups are also fairly realistic this season and the jumpers look authentic as well. However, the alley-oops don't look all that hot, players jump without the ball in the same manner that they would if they had the ball. An example of this would be a player leaps up for a tomahawk like jam with his arm cocked back without the ball, and whoever throws the alley is suppose to throw the ball there; plus after the player jumps he stops looking at the passer most of the time.

Now where NBA Live 2004 excels is in the gameplay department. NBA Live successfully gives you almost total control of the game of basketball, crossovers, pivot moves, shot adjustments, and fade-aways, are all aspects of the game that EA has given you control of. While at first it seems very daunting to have to control all these aspects of the game of basketball on a controller, after learning the control schemes it seems so natural. The only aspect of the game that they don't give you enough control of is the passing game. With all the control given in this game you don't have the ability to throw lob passes, bounce passes, or anything besides what the computer deems ok. It wouldn't be a problem expect when you are double teamed in the post and you want to kick it back out to a ball handler, every time you pass out of a double you just seem to throw a bullet pass right into the defenders chest; an added option for a bounce pass or a lob pass would be nice.

This year it is possible to play defense, whenever you get a players face during an attempted dunk or lay-up it forces the player to alter their shot. This stops the old dunk every time with Shaq or T-Mac garbage that plagued the previous versions of Live. However, the new jump-stop button that EA has dubbed 'pro-hop' makes it a tad bit too easy for the quicker players to get lay-ups that they shouldn't; but I really can't complain too much because it sure does look pretty.

Unlike NBA Live's distant cousin, John Madden's Football, its franchise mode is a bit weak. Nothing to really tweak or to play with as far the actual basketball franchise is concerned. No hiring or firing of coaches or pricing of popcorn in this year's version of Live. However, this year EA did add something to the trades that I found quite intriguing, as well as quite useful. Once you are scrolling through the potential players that you want to bring to your team, each player has an 'interest' bar next to their name. As one could expect the longer the bar is the more likely the trade is to go through, even if the players have the same overall rating and are the same position, both players might make the different teams better; this is something that has been lacking in almost all sports games of note.

Overall NBA Live 2004 does a fantastic job of representing the professional basketball game. Despite its flaws NBA Live 2004 is a great basketball game that should be enjoy by anyone that is a basketball fan. Everything from the pacing of an NBA basketball game to the simple mannerism of a NBA event, NBA Live has it. For the first time EA's slogan just about fits the game that it is selling, "if it's in the game, then it's in the game". Besides a few animation problems and stupid passing controls NBA Live 2004 is a great title for basketball fans that want to live out their dreams of making it to the pro ranks. Just forget that the other NBA Lives came out (expect for last year's) and pick up this season's version, you will be glad you did.