There is certainly a lot of choice for basketball fans on their PSPs. There is not one but three NBA titles out this year, so the deciding which one to go with can be quite a challenge. Sony’s The Inside series has been the most popular thanks in part to its collection of basketball-themed mini games. While the games within NBA 10: The Inside will certainly entertain you, if you are looking for a solid NBA game, you will be disappointed.

Gameplay

Once again, the selling point for The Inside is their mini-game collection entitled Block Party.

There are more than a dozen different games to choose from varying from the zany to the down right challenging. Returning games such as Block A Shot, a basketball version of ‘whack a mole’ and the various Pinball games are back but there are a few new ones thrown in for good measure. The two stand outs are Cherry Pickin’, a bubble-bobble clone which has you eliminating team logos before they reach the bottom and Dodgequest, a combination of the mini-games Dodgeball and Conquest, where you take your team and try to become the dominate Dodgeball force in the nation.

The mini-games are definitely a blast to play and there is certainly something for everyone. The problem lies in the fact that this is supposed to be an NBA game and not a mini-game collection.

In that regard, the NBA on offer here is still its biggest weak point. Similar problems to last year’s game are still evident here. The AI still makes plenty of poor mistakes, both on your side and against you. You will see weird play selections; triple-teaming of players and the computer will fail to properly use time-outs. The problem of last year being whistled with frequent traveling calls when you pump fake has also returned, but this year, the computer gets called on it too.

Controls are easy to pick up but they still don’t hide all the other underlying issues. Choosing a play to pull off never feels proper; rebounding seems completely random and heavily favouring offensive rebounds and even making what should be simple passes feels awkward. The shooting halo is a nice part of The Inside, but it still feels inaccurate at times and it’s extremely hard to get it in the green, which distinguishs a perfect shot, even when you’re clearly in the open.

The only really noticeable additions to the NBA side of things are some add-ons to the Franchise mode which has now has more depth in the GM and Coaching options. The inclusion of looking at the status of players, doing a practice shoot around and adjusting the strategy of the games you simulate are nice but will only matter for a few players. Other than those additions, gamers will feel like almost no focus was put on giving them a great NBA experience.

Graphics & Sounds

The PSP might not be a beast when it comes to graphics, but with only having to deal with ten players on the screen, you would assume there would be more fluidity. There are still a very limited amount of animations available for the characters and they do not flow well from one to the other. Key players certainly do resemble their real-life counter-parts but the rest seem very generic and often times, look like creepy beasts rather than guys in peak physical condition. The crowds have also not seen any sort of improvement, as they still have the same generic look from last year. Not surprisingly, the mini-games are the best looking aspect of the game. The entire collection of Pinball tables look really nice and the other carnival games look and run smoothly without any noticeable issues.

Ian Eagle and Kenny Smith are back again but their dialogue feels extremely similar to last year’s game. The interaction between the two never really stands out and there is never a point where they are accurately discussing the action on the court. Ian does make some interesting comments before the tip-off, but after that, it feels extremely formulaic. The in-game soundtrack doesn’t feature any licensed or lyrical music, relying on a small collection of jazzy songs. It’s not bad sounding, but it fails to put you into the mood to hit the hardwood.

Value

Again, the collection of mini-games will keep you occupied for a very long period of time. Every game mode including Block Party, Franchise, All-Star Weekend and even Exhibition can rack you trophies in the game. These trophies don’t net you any bonuses; rather you can use them as bragging rights with your friends. Your performance in Block Party games still net you tokens which can be used to unlock bonus jerseys and courts to use in-game.

Conclusion

It is really hard to recommend this year’s edition of The Inside. The additions from last year are strictly on the Block Party side of things when improvements were desperately needed on the hardwood. If you still have last year’s edition, I would say stick with it for one more year. But, if you are in desperate need to play an NBA game on your PSP, be prepared for a mediocre performance on the court.