Mista

We'll picked up Showdown yesterday and must say I'm very surprised about how good the game is. I like NBA Street but never was a big fan of NFL Street but was on the SSX bandwagon since the original.

Since all the "BIG" branded games basically use the same button layout (the top 4 being trick buttons) I knew goin into my purchase that some tricks to maximize the PSP's button layout were going to have to be made or either the removal of some of the tricks.

Glad to say so far I've hadn't had any major gripes. The timing of the button presses and them actually showing up is a lil off but I've played 5 full games and am used to it all ready. The major difference is that to do some advanced tricks you either hold the button or tap it whice does different moves while not really taking anything away due to the difference in PS2's and PSP button layout.

So far I'd say this more of a Street Vol. 2.5 than and portable version of Vol.3 (whice is really what I wanted) The music seems to come directly from V3 but the roster seems to be missing some of the more recent updates as far as certain players on teams they were traded from. Antoine Walker is not back on the Celtics and Webber is still in Sacramento. But for some strange reason it seems all of EA's PSP sport titles for some reason haven't had the roster's udated, I remember hearing someone say the same about NFL Streets' roster also being old.

All in all I say it's a great purchase for anyone who likes any of the NBA Street titles so far. EA did a great job on the character models, they are very large and the courts are top notch. The sound is one area where the game really shines, due to the UMD capasity I'd say maybe 35% of the stuff the announcer says was cut from this version and the sound effects were given a big boost instead. I cut the announcer off usually anyways but I swear you can hear all the little details in the backround like ppl talkin and cell phones riging.

My personal rating for this game is a 8.(whice might not be worth crap to you ne ways)
It loses point for not having the roster updates and the responsiveness of the controls. (They could be a lil tighter but not a major problem.) And I'm not taking points for the button configuration cause hell they did the best they could with the layout of the PSP.