Unlike the NFL license, the NBA isn’t exclusive to one publisher. 2K Sports has NBA 2K10, Sony released NBA 2010: The Inside and Electronic Arts shipped out NBA Live 10. It’s a difficult job for a gamer to figure out which basketball title is worth their time, especially if there are three of them on the market competing for their attention. Well, today, we take a closer look at NBA Live 10 and if it receives a passing grade on the PlayStation Portable.

Reworking the gameplay, NBA Live 10 has turned out to be the best PSP basketball title released in 2009 – but then again, that’s not saying much. The controls aren’t to perfection due too many hindrances with defense and passing. On defense, many times the computer opponents will fly by the gamer’s teammates without any difficulty for an easy lay-up or dunk. On the offensive side of things, icon passing is poor with a lot of over thrown and tipped passes. These two control aspects need to be fine-tuned for the future to keep the series progressing towards improvements. Beyond that, the gameplay was fine.

The shining feature of NBA Live 10 is The Crown. The Crown, a feature that has been around for the past few years, provides a profile that tracks the Be A Pro mode, mini-games, franchise games and much more. Stat-tracking and setting goals for the gamer to achieve, The Crown invites the gamers to put as much as time into their handheld as one possibly could. As players progress, they’ll unlock an assortment of items such as throwback jerseys. Although it’s not overly exotic, it gets the job done.

The Be A Pro mode permits gamers the ability to create a player, shell out attributes in certain categories, and work their way to being a professional basketball player. In the console versions, Be A Pro mode only allowed gamers to control one player, as opposed to the entire team. In the PSP iteration, gamers are allowed to tell their teammates when they need to shoot, along with their controlled player. Even if it’s not as in-depth as its console cousins, Be A Pro mode ultimately contains the longevity to give NBA Live 10 its weight in gold. As a first in the series on the PSP, this is bound to impress basketball fans that are looking for a little more than standard gameplay modes in their handheld video games.

Dynasty, Season modes and three mini-games are also included. Dynasty Mode is actually somewhat in-depth and was a good surprise in comparison to expectations. Putting together a formidable Detroit Pistons team that consisted of Rodney Stuckey at the point, Brandon Roy at shooting guard, Josh Smith at the small forward, Al Jefferson at power forward and Ben Wallace at center, I was able to make repeat runs as a champion two years in a row. In addition, the FIBA World Championships are included – an asset that no other basketball game in 2009 has.

Unfortunately, with all the game modes included, the loading times are painful to sit through. But, this shouldn’t hold gamers back from having a great time with NBA Live 10 as the gameplay does a decent job at keeping the player intrigued.

Also, NBA Live 10 isn’t the best looking basketball title on the PSP, but then again, it didn’t have to be. The visuals are adequate enough to pass as a 2009 title for the PSP. The player models aren’t half bad, the animations are somewhat unrealistic but not to the point of an arcade title, and the crowds are at least noticeable – if that counts for anything.

All things considered, NBA Live 10 turned out to be a worthy basketball title that offered enough replay value. The loading times may be a bore to sit through and the graphics may not be “next-gen”, but at least the gameplay doesn’t inspire gamers to throw their PSP against the ground.

Gameplay: 6.9
The control issues don’t plague the title to a state of fire and brimstone, but they’ll need to be worked on the next time around to create a more user-friendly environment.

Graphics: 6.6
Subtracting away the loading times, the end result for the visuals turned out to be mediocre at best.

Sound: 6.0
The commentary wasn’t pleasing on the ears.

Difficulty: Easy

Concept: 6.0
There’s nothing innovative about a sports title being ported to the handheld. 

Multiplayer: 7.0
Ad-hoc multiplayer is included for competitive matches against a friend or family member.

Overall: 6.9
NBA Live 10 is a title that EA Sports can use as a building block towards the future. Not everything is fine and dandy with this year’s iteration, but the product presented at least is able to keep the attention of the gamer for more than 15 minutes.