Live 2003 or 2004?

[NBJ]

I am going to buy either NBA Live 2003 or 2004. But i just cant find out which one of them i should buy. I like the fast street alike gameplay in 2003, and the dunks also looks cool, not like the boring dunks in 07. I havent played 2004, so i dont know the gameplay, but i read that it is at lot slower than in 2003. But i dont a game completele like 07. So i would like some advises of which game to buy. And i would also like to know something about the dunks in 2004, are they really cool? or boring like in 07? And are the gameplay just like in 07? Thanks in advance

[Tuomas]

Dunks in 2004 are pretty good. Not as flashy as in 2003, but more realistic.

The gameplay has a couple of bigger flaws, the cpu catches you in fastbreaks and there is an unrealistic blocking issue but other than that it's a good game. 2003 hasn't got any bug-like flaws except the gameplay resembles NBA Street more than the real NBA. Both are pretty good vintage Lives imo and both have many patches to download.

I can't really recommend you either one since they differ so much from each other.

[The X]

I really enjoyed Live '04, so it's definitely worth a look....haven't played Live '03, so couldn't compare them sorry

[Andrew]

NBA Live 2004 had a much better reception as it corrected many of the problems in NBA Live 2003, added a couple of new Freestyle moves (the pro-hop made its debut as a standalone move and not just part of a layup animation in 2004) as well as gameplay sliders. 2004 isn't perfect but it much closer to being a sim than NBA Live 2003.

NBA Live 2003 had its good points but the problem is it tried to be realistic and fun/action-packed at the same time and the balance wasn't to the liking of those of us who crave as much realism as possible. Silly cutscenes didn't help the atmosphere, blocks often sent the ball all the way to the opposite baseline accompanied by a booming sound effect and gameplay was usually just a shootout. If you like that kind of style though then it would be a very fun game.

[Tuomas]

Yea forgot the pro-hop in 2004, it tends to get abusive, like freestyle moves in 2003, they can't be stopped.

[Patr1ck]

2003 is perfect for a fast paced arcade basketball game. Like 2007, the pg liked to score a whole lot. But, lowering there primacy fixed it, I think.

2004 toned down the freestyle a little bit making it more realistic. 2004 took what was great in 2003 while leaving out many of the flaws, and of course creating some of its own. With the addition of sliders for the first time, you can make the game play like you want it too. Marv Albert and Mike Fratello commentate for the first time in Live in this version. I suggest you get 2004.

To quote Andrew's review...
"NBA Live 2004 is truly the best game in the series."

He said it in 2005, too, but it was a year later.

[Andrew]

Those old reviews always come back to haunt you. Mind you, over those two instalments in the series I did feel that satisfactory improvements were being made, even if the games themselves still had room for improvement.

[NBJ]

Thanks for the quick answers Think i am going to buy 2003, cause if i wanna play a realistic game, i just play 2005, 06 or 07

[23 LeBron]

for me its of course 04... cuz 03 was baby stuff to me... u just do a spin move and slam it, that's all the movement in live 2003...

[JaoSming]

yah and in live 2004 its spin twice then prohop and slam it


all honesty though 2003 is just arcade fun, 2004 is more simulation but still has some arcade elements.

[TomCat]

I have never played 2004, but 2003 is a great game with great graphics and very "flashy" dunks. Alley-oops are fantastic with a terrific replay.

So I cant really answer this question, but 2003 is a great game anyway

[R-Tistic]

I definitely remember 03 being a lot of fun. It wasn't nearly as arcade as NBA Street...but I'd say that every regular game felt like an all star game, plus a lil bit more. Fast breaks and cherry picking were too easy, and the dunks were very fake....but it was very exciting overall....and the create a player was in it's prime...because it's fallen off HAAAAARD since then. You could change the expression in the player's face that you created.

[Tuomas]

I had one of the best games I remember a few minutes ago with Live 2003. I re-instelled it again.

I took Toronto (me) against the Suns. Now I already had it up to all-star level, so I was surprised how few dunks there was, didn't feel like the same game (must be because I don't remember how to abuse it anymore ). Everytime I pulled a freestyle move and drove down the lane I got ripped. I like the fact that if you take a bad shots, you get humiliated REAL bad. Also what I like is the speed + the great responsive player control AND the awesome jumpshot. It's so quick that you can challenge defenders with it, with the risk of being totally swiped Anyways, I was down about 10 in the last 1:30, so I fouled, then ran and took a 3. I kept doing that and I had 5 seconds, my team had the ball and the game was tied. With Alvin Williams I ran from coast to coast taking a one handed floater to win it It was great.

The sickest moment was when Amare put down a 360 windmill in traffic, knocking one guy off. I know this is normal Live 2003, but the reaction the whole game gave was awesome. First the sick replay, then the crowd went wild, and it was in Air Canada Center!!! On the corner of the screen the Phoenix bench went wild. This game did pretty well on presentation and atmosphere imo, much better than 07 at least

[---]

That brings back memories. Nowdays Live is far to "animated" the players seem robotic, no emotion. The bench is a bunch of stiff player models that don't move and the game has no atmosphere.

Your post alone makes me want to reinstall Live 2003 also

[beau_boy04]

And if you love Michael Jordan then 2003 will be your last resource because that was the last edition in which he was part of.

[Andrew]

Actually, NBA Live 2004 was his last official appearance in the series as a member of the Legends roster.

[Pistol]

due to you all talking about this...NBA Live 2003 wil lbe coming to my house soon, lol...just gotta find it.

[Bohemian]

NBA Live 2004:
pro- hop step, modified freestyle control, in air collisions, freestyle air and the five on five freestyle feature among many other minor details make this game very similar to the nba game

cons- block and shot animations and the ability for the pc to run you down on the fast break with slower players at times can be frustrating, also the ability to sign start players to minimum contracts in franchise mode, makes the mode to easy at times.

NBA Live 2003:
pros- its like an all star game every game, dunks and crossovers are amazing, game play is very fast, and the soundtrack is one of the best if not the best by live

cons- sfx tend to be annoying at times, blocking animation is very unrealistic