GAMES: GameSpot | GameFAQs MUSIC: Last.fm | MP3.com MOVIES: Metacritic | Movietome TV: TV.com
Home | About Metacritic | About Metascores | What's New | Wireless Versions | Discussion Forums | Advertising Inquiries | Contact Us | RSS
Metacritic.com: We Deal With Criticism
     Help
> Switch to Advanced Search  
Film Video/DVD Music Games TV

Games

Playstation Reviews
PS3 | PS2 | PS One | PSP

Xbox Reviews
Xbox 360 | Xbox

Nintendo Reviews
Wii | DS | GBA | Cube | N64


PC | N-Gage | Dreamcast

How Metascores Are Calculated
Discuss Games In Our Forums

 

Upcoming & Recent Releases

sort by name sort by score

xx Afro Samurai
76 Age of Booty
67 Alone in the Dark: Inferno
63 Armored Core for Answer
xx Astro Tripper
60 Baja: Edge of Control
xx Bionic Commando
94 BioShock
61 Blitz: The League II
62 Bolt
76 Brothers in Arms: Hell's Highway
xx Cabela's Dangerous Hunts 2009
85 Call of Duty: World at War
78 Crash Commando
xx Cuboid
xx Darksiders: Wrath of War
88 Dead Space
54 Disney Sing It
80 Eternal Sonata
xx F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin
91 Fallout 3
85 Far Cry 2
87 FIFA Soccer 09
62 Fracture
46 G1 Jockey 4 2008
73 Geon
xx Godfather II, The
44 Golden Axe: Beast Rider
70 GTI Club +
85 Guitar Hero World Tour
xx History Channel Civil War: Secret Missions
xx Karaoke Revolution Presents: American Idol Encore 2
59 Legend of Spyro: Dawn of the Dragon, The
49 Legendary
75 LEGO Batman
xx Leisure Suit Larry: Box Office Bust
95 LittleBigPlanet
xx Lord of the Rings: Conquest, The
84 Lumines Supernova
61 Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa
78 Mega Man 9
82 Midnight Club: Los Angeles
78 Mirror's Edge
xx MLB Front Office Manager
xx Monopoly
75 Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe
64 Moto GP 08
81 MotorStorm: Pacific Rift
75 Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm
63 NBA 09: The Inside
82 NBA 2K9
75 NBA Live 09
69 NCAA Basketball 09
59 Need for Speed Undercover
xx NPPL Championship Paintball 2009
xx PAIN: Movie Studio
xx Penny Arcade Adventures: On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness - Episode 1
78 Penny Arcade Adventures: On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness - Episode 2
xx PowerUp Forever
85 Prince of Persia
xx Prince of Persia Classic
77 Pro Evolution Soccer 2009
83 Pure
xx Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords - Revenge of the Plague Lord
64 Quantum of Solace
87 Resistance 2
58 Rise of the Argonauts
91 Rock Band 2
39 Rock Revolution
81 Saints Row 2
xx Savage Moon
xx SBK-08 Superbike World Championship
xx SCORE International Baja 1000
63 Shaun White Snowboarding
72 Silent Hill: Homecoming
67 SingStar ABBA
68 SingStar Vol. 3
xx Skate 2
62 SOCOM: Confrontation
64 Soldner-X: Himmelssturmer
54 Sonic Unleashed
xx Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection
68 Spider-Man: Web of Shadows
70 Star Wars: The Force Unleashed
89 Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix
66 Supersonic Acrobatic Rocket-Powered Battle-Cars
76 Tom Clancy's EndWar
75 Tomb Raider Underworld
86 Valkyria Chronicles
xx WET
87 WipEout HD
xx World in Conflict: Soviet Assault
78 WWE SmackDown vs. RAW 2009
xx X-Blades

Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed games.



Printer-Friendly Version Email This Page Discuss In Our Forums
NBA 09: The Inside ps3 Game Reviews
NBA 09: The Inside
Critic Score
Metascore: 63 Metascore out of 100
User Score  
6.0 out of 10
based on 17 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
based on 5 votes
Read user comments
Rate this game

For the first time on PS3, NBA 09 The Inside includes "The Life", providing fans with a unique and inside experience of life in the league. This year The life starts fresh, allowing players to control the paths of three different characters while guiding them through all-new challenges and storylines in the quest to go from development league to the NBA. In addition to The Life, NBA 09 The Inside delivers a full featured Franchise Mode, allowing players to experience every facet of running their own NBA team. NBA 09 The Inside once again showcases its progression system, where players earn skill and experience rewards used to thoroughly customize player appearance and play styles. This year, players can customize up to five different players to take through the progression update. Also for this year, in game lighting has been revamped along with updated character animations and skin textures to provide a higher level of detail and realism. Adding to the atmosphere, NBA 09 The Inside utilizes a true T.V. broadcast presentation with highlights, a broadcast-style camera, and a comprehensive and in-depth audio commentary with top broadcast talent. With new modes, revamped character models and environments, and a robust online system with player profiles and quick play options, NBA 09 The Inside promises to push the envelope for NBA action. [SCEA]

PUBLISHER: Sony Computer Entertainment America
DEVELOPER: SCE Studios San Diego
GENRE(S): Basketball, Sports
PLAYERS: 4
ESRB RATING: E (Everyone)
RELEASE DATE: October 7, 2008

What The Critics Said

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

81
PGNx Media
As its core, NBA 09: The Inside is a solid basketball game.
Read Full Review
72
GameTrailers
The atmosphere needs some work; and the game is far from a simulation in terms of realism and depth. Yet NBA 09 can still become addictive for those who want a fast-paced, accessible hoops game.
Read Full Review
70
Playstation: The Official Magazine (US)
Such is the case with year's PS3 basketball combatants, with SCEA's version building on the personalization elements (putting yourself in the game), alongside accessible, easily-grasped controls. [Dec 2008, p.96]
70
Games Radar
While The Life remains an eminently pleasant diversion, it’s not enough to vault 09 past its rivals. It’s definitely worth a rental by PS3-owning basketball fans, but NBA 09 The Inside needs more time in training camp before it deserves a spot on the court with Live and 2K9.
Read Full Review
70
Extreme Gamer
For now, NBA 09: The Inside is a buzzer beater showing a fun and accessible basketball offering. NBA 09 is a good starting point for gamers who aren’t need deep into sports games and want to enjoy the simple fun of shooting a few hoops.
Read Full Review
70
GameFocus
In general, everything on the game has been kept to a bare minimum putting all the money on a less daunting experience for anyone who wants to play a basketball game, which is good for some but not for everyone, without caring about what the hardcore next-gen basketball players really want. NBA 09: The Inside is the perfect game for you… until you get the hunger for more.
Read Full Review
68
Gamer 2.0
There’s really no reason to be considering this game for anything outside of a rental, which would only be recommendable because it’s the only basketball game on the PS3 that offers trophies.
Read Full Review
68
Gamers' Temple
NBA 09 suffers from not having the proper attention to flesh out the gameplay to represent real basketball.
Read Full Review
66
GameZone
There is a level of frustration that accompanies this game that simply won’t go away no matter how many games you play or in what mode. Sure, the mini-games are fun, but they cannot carry the franchise.
Read Full Review
65
Game Informer
With gliding players prone to stepping out of bounds, animations that lock you out of reactionary movement, and lackluster commentary, the on-court action offers a similar dose of mediocrity as years past. The low post game is a mess, the strategy suffers from simplicity, and the defensive system lacks the sophistication (and usefulness) of its competition.
Read Full Review
65
IGN
With a plethora of old bugs and issues rearing their head, NBA 09: The Inside has a ton of problems that overwhelm the title. It's still a fun, arcade-style basketball game, but you're going to have to put up strange gameplay problems that have plagued the franchise for years and some unrealistic court play to fully enjoy it.
Read Full Review
65
Armchair Empire
This is unfortunate because this series has the potential to reach a much higher standard of gaming but as it stands now, it’s nothing more than average.
Read Full Review
60
DarkStation
Unless you are dying to check out The Life on NBA 09: The Inside you have better basketball choices this holiday season.
Read Full Review
56
Cheat Code Central
It's a shame too because NBA 09: The Inside has a lot of good qualities. Simply, the bad ones outweigh them.
Read Full Review
50
Gamervision
It’s not completely broken, but compared to the other far superior options available, it might as well be. I can’t even recommend this game to give as a gift to a child.
Read Full Review
50
GameSpot
Despite the inclusion of The Life story mode, NBA 09’s lack of depth and numerous gameplay flaws cause it to fall short.
Read Full Review
33
Gaming Nexus
There are just too many problems with the basic game of basketball in NBA 09 to really recommend this above the other games out there.
Read Full Review

What Our Users Said

Vote Now! The average user rating for this game is 6.0 (out of 10) based on 5 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Discuss this game in our forums

Return to top of page
Home | FILM | DVD/VIDEO | MUSIC | GAMES | TV | Forums | About Metacritic metacritic.com

Popular on CBS sites: MLB | Spore | iPhone 3G | Paris Hilton | Antivirus Software | GPS | Recipes | Shwayze | NFL

About CBS Interactive | Jobs | Advertise

© 2008 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved. | Privacy Policy | Terms of Use