Competition is a good thing. It gives us flame broiled and fried as well as deep dish and New York style. For the consumer, it's about choices. For the manufacturer, it's about delivering a superior product. Early titles in the NBA Live series were certainly an inspiration to the NBA 2K series, which has been both a critical and commercial success. With the NBA 2K series as the b-ball benchmark, the developers of NBA Live consistently have something to shoot for. Unfortunately, it's often been the rim instead of the net. Hoping to bring the on-court action up to the level of its visuals, NBA Live 09 steps up its game with a number of tweaks and additions.

Stuck in the Middle of You

NBA Live 09 is easy on the eyes, improving on the variety of animations and transition sequences. One of NBA Live 08's problems was that you had to wait until your athlete's motion-captured movement finished its cycle before initiating another action. While this is also an issue to an extent with NBA Live 09, you can now break out of canned sequences on offense by flicking back the analog stick. It's not particularly elegant, but it's an improvement. You also won't find yourself traveling out of bounds as frequently because of the moves, which was an annoying problem in the previous installment. So while the game still stutters at times when it should surge, you have more control on the court.

Moving On

Moves such as fade-away jumpers, alley-oops, dunks, are easy to perform, and executing shots relies on a timing system similar to the NBA 2K series. One new feature is "pick-and-roll control," where you can influence two players instead of one. Tap the shoulder button to call a teammate, hold the button down, and release it when a transparent meter positioned above the teammate's head fills to a certain level. Let the button go before the meter reaches its halfway point, and the teammate will roll toward the hoop. Release it after the halfway point, and the teammate will leave the screen and move into position for an outside shot. It's easier to use than it sounds, and it's fun to execute. Last season's quick strike moves have an added "ankle breaker" option, where you can attempt to outwit a defender by faking them out and driving to the hoop.

All of the moves can be tested in a new practice facility called the NBA academy. While it's hard to get excited about a practice option, a mode that's been traditionally as useful as the blank "notes" section at the end of an instruction manual, there are some interesting features worth trying out. You can now strut your stuff in a series of skill-based exercises designed to familiarize yourself with actual NBA strategies and on-court skills. Various mini-games will test your abilities to lead a fast break, play low-post defense, make long-range shots, and more. A nice touch is that the drills become more challenging over time, adding new wrinkles to keep you on your toes. These mini-games can also be used to build-up an athlete's ratings in the addictive dynasty mode.

NBA DNA

While most of the modes are identical to NBA Live 08, there some notable additions. NHL 09's "be a pro" mode makes its NBA Live debut, allowing you to take control of a single athlete and play your position as the computer (or your online friends) guides the rest of the team. A horizontal meter will let you know how well you are doing in each game, so those who turn the ball over like Dwight Howard will see more red than an angry bull. The FIBA World Championship follows the international, single-elimination tournament with its distinctive set of rules and 24 of the world's top teams. It's a nice diversion from the main game, but you'll dominate the competition if you decide to play as USA's all-star laden "redeem team," diminishing its replay value. Online support is also enhanced with the option to play with up to ten friends on ten different consoles, and the ability to join up to ten leagues complete with drafts, trades, and a playoff structure. The seamless integration of the online component is a definite plus.

Perhaps the most unusual features of NBA Live 09 are dynamic DNA (since when is DNA dynamic?) and NBA Live 365. Dynamic DNA is not used to settle paternity tests, fight diseases, or resolve crimes. Instead, it is a ratings system that changes an individual athlete's attributes to account for day-to-day performances and trends from real-life games. Statistical data is used to recreate hot and cold streaks, shooting tendencies, and percentage ratings in various categories. You can even access team-specific plays based on the downloaded data. Downloads can be automatic or manually initiated, and you are always free to edit a player's ratings and DNA to achieve the results you desire. It should be noted that NBA Live 365 requires a one-time use code that enables one season's (2008-09) worth of daily updates, which include DNA, trades, roster moves, and injuries.

New and Improved?

NBA Live 09 continues EA's impressive run of sports titles for 2008, making you believe that the prolific publisher really is trying to improve its quality. The new features aren't exactly earth shattering for this year's installment, but the game is fun to play and a noticeable improvement over NBA Live 08. Things to work on include improving the ball physics and rebounding game, smoothing out some of the animations, incorporating a more skill-based free throw system, and including more diverse play modes. Basketball fans that have skipped this series in favor of NBA 2K should take another look, as they might be surprised at NBA Live 09's overall quality. Competition is a good thing.

Review by: Scott Alan Marriott