NBA 09 The Inside is a very tough game to play, especially on the higher difficulty settings. If you’re looking for an easy game to beat, you may want to look elsewhere, but if you want a very strategic basketball game that rewards you for playing smart instead of just rewarding you for pushing buttons, than this is the game for you. Keep reading to find out more.

As I’ve said, NBA 09 The Inside is one tough game. The reason behind it is found in the game’s design, your strategy and button timing. I’ll cover the timing first. Once you start to take your shot a halo around the ball changes colors ranging from red to orange to green. Red means you shot won’t go in (sometimes a lucky bounce cause the ball to go in, but as a general note red means that you’ll miss the shot). Orange gives you a better chance at making the shot and a green halo means that the shot is guaranteed to go in (unless some tall dude blocks it).

The halo around the ball is not the only thing that changes colors. Your selected player has three colors as well. Just as the ball has green, orange and red, the player indicator has the same colors. Red means that the player positioning is off to take a shot based on the player skills, the location of the player on the court as well as the location of the other’s team players. For example, a player with horrible 3-pointer abilities will never get a green halo on the ball even if he is open. So unlike most other basketball games where with the right timing any player can be anything, in NBA 09 The Inside the player attributes and strategy determines how the game will go. Get to know your players and play smart and you’ll be awesome at this game. But don’t expect button mashing to do anything for you.