NBA Pro Basketball 2009

Can you imagine the furore that would erupt if someone scored an 'own basket' in a professional game of basketball? Own goals are a fairly regular occurrence, even at the top level of football, but I'm not even sure I can fathom how a player could accidently shoot the ball into their own basket, let alone the reaction that would greet it afterwards. The only certainly is, it sure as hell wouldn't be pretty.

Never underestimate the ability for the unexpected to pop up at the most inopportune moment, however. While that elusive 'own basket' might seem incredibly unlikely, there's always the chance it'll come along when you least expect it, robbing your team of a deserved victory. In the same spirit, there's a feeling that Gameloft's NBA Basketball 2009 might have snatched an unforeseen defeat from the jaws of victory.

That's because, while it copes well with the fairly hard task of conveying the strengths of one of the world's most popular sports on a mobile, it makes some of the simpler things - such as shooting and running with the ball - far more difficult than they need to be. No doubt, this is as a result of unpredicted errors rather than a deliberate attempt to muck things up, but they do manage to damage what is otherwise an accommodating attempt at honouring the NBA.

Yes, that license means that proceedings here have a touch of realism, with real teams from up and down the U.S. making the cut. As you might expect, too, there's a choice here of taking part in a one-off match or engaging in a full-on season, but there's also a nifty couple of contests that see you either attempting to get a set number of three-pointers in a set time, or attempting to land a series of stylish slam dunks 1-on-1 against a rival, with ratings given for style, speed and the jump up to the hoop itself.

Both of these contests act as mini tutorials for the main game (which itself comes with its own optional tutorial before you play for the first time), helping you get off on the right foot with little fuss. Matches themselves are fairly close encounters, the game finding a nice balance between being accessible for the green amongst us, and providing a fair challenge - even on its easiest setting. Matches are fairly indistinguishable from the kind of NBA titles you might find on a home console near you, which is a considerable achievement on mobile.

However, NBA Pro Basketball 2009 makes a couple of basic fumbles on the court - the most annoying being the knack your teammates have for blocking you in possession, forming what are essentially concrete walls. You'll repeatedly find yourself attempting to break towards your opponent's area, only to run into a corridor of your own players, standing like statues, severely hampering your attack and proving more than a minor annoyance as play goes on.

Taking shots is also a fairly essential part of play, and Pro Basketball employs what initially feels like an intuitive system, where holding down the shoot key ('0') begins to turn the ball itself different colours, the idea being to release your hold on the key when the ball briefly turns green. This works perfectly at the beginning of a match, but the system seems to be affected depending on your success rate. Miss a few baskets, and the ball will stop flashing green altogether for some players, turning yellow instead, which results in a missed basket.

Whether this is related to the accuracy of said player or general tiredness is never made clear, but it's no great feeling to get all the way up to the basket only to find that it's all been in vain. It could be a bug, or it could be a genuine attempt to simulate the kind of external factors real players actually come under -either way, it does the game no credit, and eradicates some of the shine from what is otherwise an enjoyable and broad take on b-ball stateside.