NBA Baller Beats

Introduction

I am the last person to enjoy a sports game. Other than the Olympics and boxing, I don't enjoy real life sports, let alone virtual sports. And yet, there was something intriguing about NBA Baller Beats. Instead of being a basketball simulation game, it's a rhythm game intended to teach you basketball fundamentals. Never one to shy from a challenge, I picked it up, plugged in my long unused Kinect, and took it for a spin.

The Game Itself: Our Reviewer's Take

NBA Baller Beats comes with one of the most unique accessories I've ever seen in a video game: A Spalding basketball. Yes, you have to play this game with a real life basketball in your hands. Starting the game up, you choose your favorite NBA team. Not being a basketball fan, I chose my hometown team, which just happened to be the Lakers. Once you do this, you get taken to a base menu awash in the colors of your chosen team. From there, you can start playing. If you're more of a novice as I am, you can also do some training.

The training section gives you the chance to try out basic skills, set to a generic beat. You probably won't be here for too long, as this is literally basketball practice. It is a good way to get a feel for the ball on your floor. Mine was carpeted and required a little extra oomph to get the dribble right.

Once you feel you're on solid footing, you can start the game proper. You choose a song and difficulty and you're off to the races. The game tells you which moves it wants you to make, and the more accurately you make them, the higher your score is. The moves go from something as simple as basic dribbling to behind the back dribbles, crossovers, quick pass fakes, and many more. Anything other than the lowest difficulty level was already beyond my meager abilities.

And that's really all there is to it. Pretty simple. Maybe too simple. You see, the game doesn't offer much beyond this basic premise. Being a rhythm game, you wouldn't expect it to, but NBA Baller Beats is missing some really basic gaming elements. Want leaderboards? Too bad! Even though they're advertised on the box, they don't exist in the game. Multiplayer isn't online, but instead you switch off the ball with a partner and the game scores your individual performance. And the title commits the cardinal sin of rhythm games: It doesn't allow you to download additional songs. Sure, any or all of these could be fixed down the line, but that really hampers the attractiveness of the game at this moment in time.

The other issue with the game is probably pretty obvious. How do you play with a basketball in a normal living room? The answer is, unless your living room is the size of a half-court, you probably can't. I couldn't. I had to rearrange the furniture to give myself enough room to play, and even then it was a tight squeeze. I also live in an apartment complex, and I can promise you that if I played this when my neighbors were home, I'd be tarred and feathered. So this isn't a game you can just pop on at any time, or perhaps at all depending on your situation.

If you are able to play, and you can accept the limitations, you'll find a game that is often rewarding. As I said, I'm as anti-sport as you can get, but just by playing through a few songs, I felt like I was getting genuine basketball practice and learning fundamentals that I could translate to real life should hell ever freeze over and find me playing a pick-up game. It's also a decent workout, and more entertaining than 'Sweating to the Oldies'.