If you’ve been missing games like *NBA Street* or *NBA Jam*, it’s worth checking out what Play by Play Studios just dropped. The game is called **NBA The Run**, and the whole idea is basically to bring back arcade-style street basketball, moving away from the hyper-realistic simulation that has dominated the market for years. The project involves Mike Young, who actually worked on the original *NBA Street* series, which gives you an idea of the visual style and pacing they’re aiming for here. Gameplay focuses on 3v3 matches. It’s built to be fast—exaggerated dunks, quick crossovers, and pretty physical defense. Anyone who played those older titles will find the dynamic familiar. There’s also a momentum bar (the *"In the Zone"* system) that you fill up by making good plays, which lets you trigger signature moves. It’s usually pretty handy for turning a game around right at the last second. As for how the game is structured and what to expect: The main modes revolve around knockout tournaments in well-known street courts, like Venice Beach or The Tenement in the Philippines. One interesting detail is that the rules change randomly each round, which keeps things from getting too repetitive. You can either play cooperatively with friends online, controlling just one athlete, or control all three players yourself in the solo mode. The launch roster features 33 licensed NBA players—names like Steph Curry, Luka Dončić, Kevin Durant, and Joel Embiid (Kyrie Irving was also added for release). To capture that street atmosphere, they threw in five fictional streetball legends, including Bobbito Garcia. A few practical points that matter: * **Monetization:** To be fair, this is rare nowadays, but the game has zero microtransactions. Everything cosmetic (clothes, animations) or alternate player variants is unlocked simply by playing and earning the in-game currency (*Cred*). * **Connection:** The online setup uses rollback netcode, which generally means stable matches without input lag. The downside is that the game requires a constant internet connection; you can't play offline against the AI. The standard version is priced at $29.99. There’s also a Deluxe edition for $39.99 that comes with some extra in-game currency and three "Rookie" player variants (2009 Curry, 2018 Dončić, and Durant back on the Sonics). It’s out now for PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC, with cross-play fully supported. On paper, it looks like a solid alternative for anyone who's tired of the complexity of annual sports simulators and just wants to pass the time with quick, straightforward games. We'll just have to see if the community sticks around enough to keep the online servers active in the long run.