Paradise for vultures!

When it comes to game consoles, I'm a complete vulture. In other words, I stick with the older systems so I can build up libraries of games for cheap. While I love my old Atari Jaguar, NES, Atari 7800, Atari 2600, Odyssey 2, ColecoVision and regret having sold a couple of other systems, I spend most of my time playing on the Playstation.

Sure, "modern" gaming consoles blow my Playstation out of the water when it comes to graphics, but the PS1 has a lot of great games available. And, I can get them for a little bit of nothing.

One of the best games out there for the Playstation is NBA Live 2000, and you can grab it at the local game exchange for about $6.95. Sound good? It is. Read on, then.

Simply put, the little features and statistical depth of this game is hard to beat. Sure, Electronic Arts has come out with the 2001 and 2002 versions of this game and those are a little better, but NBA Live 2000 has enough to keep me coming back time and time again.

The variety of options on this game is impressive. Sure, you can mess around with the length of periods, choose skill levels that add complexity to the game and the kind of stuff you would expect. However, you also get a fantastic season mode, practice mode, exhibition mode and the option of playing a little 1-on-1 with Michael Jordan.

Also, you can choose whether to play in arcade mode or simulation mode. Arcade mode is about what you'd expect -- flaming basketballs, larger-than-life moves and that type of thing.

The beauty of this game, however, is the simulation mode. The players are well-represented here, and move along like real basketball players (momentum, physics and the like is taken into account very well). Also, rather than just being able to jump, pass and shoot, players can hand check, try to steal basketballs, do some tricky dribbling, set up for dunks and that type of thing. A good number of those "moves" we expect to see in basketball are replicated here, and that makes for a great game.

The season mode is, by far, my favorite. That gives players the option of choosing a team and then trying to drag it to the NBA championship. Throughout the season, statistics are kept for all the teams, including the human-controlled one. That makes for a pretty good "scorecard" if you want to compare your players' stats to others in the league. That's a nice touch.

Also, there's a practice mode where players can practice their skills and get used to the controls. And, the 1-on-1 mode with Jordan is a kick, although Michael is hard to beat on that one.

The controls are very easy to pick up on and use well. Sure, you've got a lot of buttons controlling a lot of different moves, but it's not too hard to learn them. Spend about 30 minutes in practice mode, and you'll have it all down to an art.

As for the graphics, they're great for the playstation, but look very dated in this day and age. The animation is smooth, and little touches like a close up of players congratulating each other when free throws are made work very well. However, the crowd looks rather blocky, and the players kind of look like they're models built on wire frames. That should surprise no one, though.

The sound isn't great, but it works. You get bouncing balls, basketballs flying through hoops, crowd noises and etc. The commentary from the simulated sportscasters gets dull and repetitive after a time, but it doesn't really get on my nerves. As for music, you get plenty of hip hop.

What it all boils down to is this -- you can find some basketball games with much better graphics (even newer ones for the Playstation), but you'll have to look long and hard to find a better game engine than the one that powers this fantastic title. And, for $6.95 or so, the price is fantastic. Pick it up if you want a good, cheap sports title for the PS1.