Next-generation basketball has thus far been ruled by 2K basketball’s NBA 2K series. Since Sony began doing their own first-party basketball franchise on the PlayStation 2 and PlayStation Portable they have been slowly but surely gaining a solid fanbase who enjoys the faster-paced style of play and variations in gameplay and presentation. It was no surprise on launch day that Sony, thanks to their San Diego development house, had NBA ’07 ready to go on the PlayStation 3 in full 1080p HD. Was it a good enough effort though to dethrone NBA 2K7 and be the premiere hoops title on the PS3?

One thing which SCEA San Diego did very well was to implement some extremely innovative things into the next-generation version of NBA ’07. One of these things is the addition of the NBA Replay mode. This mode features two games a week from every single week in the NBA season from 2005-2006, last year. They play in sequential order and allow you to re-create the amazing moments of last season as you get to play them all out right when it counts. This mode is extremely innovative as you do not have to play through an entire game. The mode throws you into scenarios from last year such as Kobe’s 81-point game and asks you to make the clutch plays down the final stretch to seal the deal.

The other mode which extends on this and truly adds a great deal of replay value to NBA ’07 is the NBA Replay Game of the Week mode. Once you hook up your copy of NBA ’07 to the servers on the PlayStation Network you will have access to constantly updating games from the current NBA season. Each week the developers will be taking games with the biggest plays and most clutch moments and re-creating them in the game. So if you see your home team make a three-point shot at the buzzer to win the game, next week you will likely be able to re-create this exact play as you are able to download the scenario and try to play it out on your own. The fantastic thing about this mode is that it is constantly updating content for the game each and every week. The scenarios all have primary objectives as well as secondary objectives and can get very challenging, especially if you want to surpass every objective in the games.

Continuing onward with the modes of play for NBA ’07, the season mode has returned allowing you to play a short 29 game season, middle-ground 58 game season, or the full-out 82-game run towards the championship. The season mode is pretty straightforward but does not have a great amount of realism to it. The computer will not restrict trades or anything of that nature so you could technically trade your rookie point guard for Allen Iverson or Steve Nash if you wanted which allows you to build a dream team if you wished without having to worry about salary caps or that type of stuff. It is definitely more of an arcade approach towards a season mode rather than an actual simulation but it still is enjoyable and good that they put it in there. Maybe in next year’s game the developers will add more depth to it turning it into a possible franchise mode perhaps.

The mini-games found here are also very enjoyable to play through. The three mini-games include Own The Court, Skills Challenge, and 3-Point Contest. These are all very enjoyable with Own The Court definitely taking the cake as one of the most exciting and straight-out fun things to take part and play in NBA ’07.