Caleb Omotunde on the Story of Success of NBA Basketball Year 2010

How much can a sport change in a year? When it comes to basketball, unless, abruptly the baskets are decorated with pink fleecy decorations or the ball is substituted with a cluster of grenades fastened together in a basic way, the odds are the game itself isn't really going to change.

This, of course, makes one wonder just how publishers achieve to churn out sports sims after sports sims, year over year.

In NBA Pro Basketball 2010's case, the reevaluation following last year's slightly underdeveloped outing is a worthwhile one. Gameplay in this version is less a cold, firm and slightly lackluster sim and more a festivity of the sport. In short, there are tricks and tactics abundantly on offer here, this year's Pro Basketball is the kind of game you can enjoy with just a superficial look at the controls.

You use 'X' to pass and 'O' to shoot while holding the latter down until the ball turns green produces a slam dunk. It's not hard to get to grips with it, as merely passing the ball to the net is a fairly simple task that wins most matches with little fuss, even on its hardest setting.

Though, It's a two-edged sword. By making play simple, NBA Pro Basketball 2010 effectively avoids the problems that blighted the previous release - players on your own team blocking your path and running out of energy when taking a shot are no longer issues.

But it's incredibly hard not to score a basket every time you have the ball, with stealing possession as simple as tapping '5' in front of the player with the ball on most occasions.

So, while NBA Pro Basketball 2010 is full of notable improvements (and, naturally comes with all the modes you'd expect - full seasons, as well as a slam-dunking mini-game and a three-point shoot out contest), it's made itself a little too accommodating as a result. Victories are just a little too easy to come by for play to really mean anything.

In other words, it's stepped out of one minefield into another, slightly less hazardous, a minefield.