Offensive controls work okay, with one button for passing and other for shooting. Two tutorials help you master these controls, which can be lightly tapped (for a pump fake) or swiped for slick jukes and other maneuvers. Defensive controls are disappointingly even muddier. Two buttons are meant to cover switching players, attempting to steal, blocking shots, rebounding, and more. Even with practice, defense too frequently felt like an exercise in (virtual) button mashing, more than strategic maneuvering. My teams averaged merely two steals per game. Aggressively staying in the face of offensive players was my best defensive bet, often triggering a shot-clock penalty while my opponents waited for a clearer lane. slow-motion buttons--and the fact that it features more than just two buttons at a time--seem like perfect features to bring to NBA Live, but they're just not there.

In both rookie and intermediate modes, it felt a bit too easy on offense to simply charge across the court to the basket for a dunk--literally running any players in my way. The lack of collision detection on players make sense given the cramped quarters, but it's still jarring and feels odd.

Foul shots use the accelerometer: You tilt the iPhone back and then forward to arch your shot. It would be a clever implementation if it required a bit more effort; I've yet to miss one--even when shooting as Shaq, a notorious bricklayer from the charity stripe.

Occasionally, I encountered some brutal frame-rate issues, even on my iPhone 3GS. Relaunching the app--or just waiting it out for 5 to 10 seconds--would generally resolve the problem. On the audio front, the game features a driving soundtrack, though the sound effects and commentary are pretty repetitive. I am especially tired of hearing some kid yell "C'mon guys, let's go!" incessantly during the game. The game's menus are ugly and out-of-place on the iPhone, but they do have plenty of options to guide you through--exhibition, season, or playoff games, three levels of difficulty, three levels of penalty enforcement, quarter length adjustment, and so on.

So NBA Live isn't perfect. But it's undeniable fun and highly replayable, in spite of its flaws.