It's time to grab your yearly NBA fix and because we are unfortunate enough to be living in a third world country like Australia we will most likely only have the choice between NBA Inside Drive 2003 and NBA Live 2003. NBA2K3 certainly has a strong following both with buyers and reviewers overseas and it would be nice to be able to sample its delights first hand, but as this is unlikely to occur we are going to have to choose between the two we will get. The good news however, is that maybe it isn't as big a problem as you would think, because as it turns out Inside Drive 2003 has turned out to be quite an impressive package. As most people would know, while the 2002 edition was adequate in the gameplay department, it was missing some pretty basic features. Luckily the developers have realised this and delivered a much more complete product this year.

If you played last year's version you will be immediately at home with the controls as they're basically identical and anyone else who's played any other basketball or even ice hockey games will feel comfortable within a few sessions.

All the usual game modes are available including practice, single game and season, There's no one on one or streetball mode, but I hardly think that's a big omission.

One of the big features missing from last year's version was the franchise mode. Well, this year it's here and it's not a bad one either. You are given the ability to play up to 25 consecutive seasons with awards, retirements, re-signings and rookie drafts featuring at each season's end. Player's stats are also updated at the end of each season to reflect their experience, potential, age ,etc so it's sometimes a wise move to let your older players move on if their contract is up as their stats will be on the way down. The computer controlled teams do quite a bit of trading and signing between themselves throughout the season and they will also initiate trades with you. One disappointment comes with the end of a season though, and that is the complete lack of fanfare. What you get is basically just a picture of a trophy with the winning team's name beside it. It's a bit of a let down to slug it out through a whole season and then have it finish on such a flat note. But all trophies you win are collected in a trophy case for future reference, which is a nice little feature.

Player creation has also been included and is quite deep. Although the facial detail and body shape options are fairly basic, the options for player attributes are anything but. Not only do you have a certain amount of points to allocate to the various categories like shooting, blocking and the like, you can also adjust the player's tendencies. There are sliders for just about every aspect of a player's playing character, such as how often he shoots, how often he drives, is he more of a defensive player, does he crash the boards often, does he get involved in the play often or hang back? Honestly, it is quite incredible how intricate you can be when setting up your created player's style of game. You don't just decide whether he's a good shooter or not, you decide his whole approach to the game. This feature really comes into it's own with the existing NBA players. Every player is set up play just how they would in real life. Never have players in a basketball game been so individual. Unfortunately there is no team creation feature.

Many of the general gameplay faults from 2002 have been rectified. No longer will you be averaging 20 blocks a game. Your average will be down to a much more realistic 5 to 10, so you won't be able to just sit under the basket and block your opponent every time they try to score from close range. This year you'll most likely be dunked on. The game has taken on a more sim-like approach this year and when on offense, if you think you'll be able to just pass to your big men near the basket, fake and slam every time, think again. The defense this year is solid and you'll have to work for every basket. Even if you do get your man open for a seemingly easy shot, he is no guarantee to make it. He'll have a better chance of course, but your shooting percentage will be lower this year, not to mention the amount of missed lay-ups. I see the missed lay-ups as a bit of a flaw really. While players will always miss some lay-ups, when the same top line player misses 3 in a row you'll start to wonder what you have to do to score. Some games you'll have no trouble with them, then in the next one you'll struggle. In general though, if you work hard for your points you will get the rewards.

Of course most of this can be altered through the use of the sliders that have been added this time round, although slam/lay-up accuracy cannot be altered. With the sliders set to default you'll find the game a little bit easy after a while, you won't just blow out everyone, but you'll feel like you're getting a bit on top of it. Adjust the sliders though and you're back in business. Down the track it will most likely become too easy no matter how much you adjust them, but that's just how basketball games are unfortunately.

The AI of the players, both your teammate's and your opponent's, is generally excellent. Players are pretty smart at getting themselves in a good position to make a shot. You can get some really nice flowing plays happening and because of the tendencies system as the players that should be cutting to the basket will be cutting to the basket. The AI for rebounding has been improved too. Players will now run in for the ball rather than run away from it as they seemed to last year. No basketball game ever seems to get the rebounding perfect, but it's not too bad here.

One thing the game does lack a bit, is atmosphere, I'm not sure if it's the lack of genuine TV style coverage or what, but there is definitely something missing. It's not just on-court though, the menu systems in between games are also devoid of life.

Inside Drive is a pretty good looking game. The player models are smooth and well animated and the courts look excellent, but why oh why do the crowd look so poor? Each member of the crowd is a low resolution paper cut out with about 3 frames of animation. It's not a huge problem as you don't see much of them during a game, but it does look shoddy. There are a lot of new player animation's this year for rebounding, tip-ins, tip-dunks, passing and so fourth and they really add to the experience. Overall it's a nice looking game.

Pretty much the same as last year, which is neither good nor bad. There is now a third commentator added to the mix, but the difference this makes is negligible. I will say that I think the commentary is more in tune with what's happening on court though. Other than that it's your usual crowd noises and squeaky shoes. Nothing special.