10 best NBA video games of all time

6. NBA Live 2003

Mounting pressure from Sega’s NBA 2k series forced EA to rethink and redevelop their formerly acclaimed NBA Live series. After years of stagnant sales, NBA Live needed a new idea and a new concept to get them back into the minds and hearts of gamers. Enter: the freestyle control system.

The revolutionary feature gave users complete control of their player through a Street Fighter-influenced right stick. Making full use of the Sony Playstation’s Dual Shock control setup, users could now pull off flashy crossovers, defense-confusing hesitation and huge alley-oops merely with the flick of the right stick. On defense, the freestyle control stick became a powerful weapon to counter the new moves as you could front your defense, raise your hands to stop a drive, or even swipe for the ball. Having this level of control is an expected feature in all basketball games now but NBA Live 2003 introduced it to the world.

NBA Live 2003 is also notable for having the first-ever video game soundtrack in history to be certified platinum by the RIAA as the hip-hop loaded soundtrack sold over 1,300,000 copies worldwide, including the one stuffed into a CD binder buried somewhere under a seat in my car.