While playing NBA Live 09, a shoe-related metaphor kept coming to mind. We're not sure why, maybe it's because you can see at least a swoosh or two walking by every time the players leave the floor on the floor-level camera, or perhaps it was the "Jordan Player of the Game" named after every contest. It also might have been because the first time we played NBA Live 09 we played as "Team Adidas." Whatever the exact reason, the latest entry in EA's NBA franchise reminds us of a shiny new pair of basketball shoes that look far better than the previous year's version. The materials look sharp, the colors are perfect, but there's just one problem: the shoes don't quite fit. It's not that they hurt your feet, but you might not want to spend an entire season in them after trying on some other pairs.

EA has adorned NBA Live 09 with quite a few new features to separate it from previous versions. Receiving the most attention has been Dynamic DNA, a daily updating system based on the same database used by the majority of NBA squads to scout players and teams. That means when a player like Yao Ming starts scoring like crazy, he'll also catch fire in NBA Live 09. Of course, it also means that when Yao inevitably gets another stress fracture in his foot, he'll miss time in the game as well. With NBA Live Rewind, one can also pick an NBA game that was recently played, and via Dynamic DNA play the same game on NBA Live 09 with the tendencies from the real contest. So, if you loved watching Chris Paul burn Steve Nash to get in the lane and throw alley-oops to Tyson Chandler last night, the next day you can try to recreate the same highlights. Since we're still waiting for the NBA season to get started we weren't able to test Dynamic DNA, so it's tough to say if the real life happenings in the Association will have distinct or subtle impacts on gameplay.

While Dynamic DNA seems more like something directed toward the hardcore NBA fan who pays rapt attention to the league's day-to-day happenings and trends, the NBA Live Academy is designed to give the less experienced videogame hoopster a chance to improve his or her skills. Through drills designed to work on a specific part of your game (fast break offense/defense, rebounding, etc.), the Academy lets you choose the players and work on drills in a practice setting. While even superstar gamers can always get better with practice, the Academy seemed more like work than fun to us. We could see how constantly working on the drills would help you, but practice in the game is like it is in real life - no frills. There are no crowds, no announcers, no bright lights or replay montages, and after a while it just seems like it would be more fun to practice different facets of our game during actual games.


If you're looking for a different take on playing a real game, you can try the Be a Pro feature, which allows you to play an entire game as the player of your choice. This is good practice for playing online in a true five-on-five format, although since you can always make your teammates pass to you it's a much more self-centric experience. Live 09 gives you indicators to show how well you are playing your position - green is good, red is bad. We noticed that one thing Be a Pro altered was the way we played defense; if we kept going for steals and blocks with the same player, it was alarmingly easy for your main man to foul out.

For those who feel like they're already All Stars, Live still has a familiar-looking All Star Weekend set up with the requisite All Star Game, Three Point Shootout and Slam Dunk Contest. The Dunk Contest isn't as unbelievably difficult as some we've seen, but it takes some serious skill to move up from getting sevens and eights to earning nines and tens from the judges. Judges actually include NBA coaches like Phil Jackson, who'd be the absolute last person we'd ever picture judging dunks. Live still has exclusive rights to FIBA players and teams, the number of which this year have increased from 8 to 24. The rating system is fairly accurate, except for the Boomers of Australia getting ranked below England.

NBA Live 09 has made some gameplay advances, the most noticeable being the new Pick and Roll control. If you hold the left trigger, the nearest player will set a screen for you. Whether or not he goes out to the three-point line, stays on the screen or rolls to the basket depends on when you release the trigger. Pick and Roll works because there is a sense of timing to it, but if you make the wrong decision it doesn't necessarily mean the possession is busted if you have some improvisational skills. It's also got lockdown defense, which works well because it's fairly easy to use (just get chest-to-chest with your man, no button-pressing required), but not failsafe. Naturally, if you get in Baron Davis' face on the perimeter and miss on a steal attempt or fail on your attempt to guess which direction he's going to go, Boom Dizzle is liable to blow right by you.