Definitely worth the $10 pricetag.
Advantages:
-Compete against human players -Lloyd Banks soundtrack is pretty tight
-Simplistic controls make the gameplay pretty easy
-Custom design your own player with hairstyles, gear, skills, etc.
-Players can level up and increase skill as they play.
Disadvantages:
-A lot of the clothing is very ugly and doesn't look like street ball gear.
-There aren't many different facial features to choose from, as a result a lot of characters look alike (especially in the early stages).
-There's only one server so if it gets crowded, the game gets laggy
-You have to pay to get "Bills" (game currency). They are for sale online or you can buy a game card at local stores.
What makes this game fun is the level of difficulty is determined by the human players. The computer doesn't decide the outcome of the game like on some sports titles. The controls are so simple that it only should take you a few minutes to be able to play the game after the tutorial (I gave a 1 to 2 hour learning curve because it took me a while to become proficient at rebounding and defense). The players are fully customizable, but there are very few options at first. After you gain a little experience you can change you clothes and hairstyles so your character looks different.
The fact that the characters look so similar is one of the biggest downsides of the game. There are only 4 different facial features (2 for males and 2 for females) and you are limited to what clothes you can buy based on experience. That's cool, but a lot of the clothes are ugly or come in the wrong colors. Some of the clothing and hairstyles can have their color changed, but that doesn't always help either. Also there are two things required to buy items. "Bills" is the game's currency, but you also gain points as you play and win games. Often you will pay bills for an item but you can add attributes to that item for a certain amount of points (or extra bills). That is the difference between a plain piece of clothing and an item that actually helps you. Some items can be paid for with points alone. The only bad thing about buying items is that some of them are only temporary. This means eventually you will have to take some of your hard earned bills to buy some more, which mean you will have to go buy some more bills with real money.
Overall, this game is fun and easy to play. The controls are simple, especially since the game has to be played by keyboard and not with a gamepad. The graphics are decent but not amazing as the characters all resemble anime cartoon characters. The Lloyd banks soundtrack is awesome, but it also gets repetitive at times. The big picture is this is a $20 game that sells for $10 if you get it at Best Buy. Definitely worth $10 but I would pay $20 now knowing that the game is this good. Also, the game comes with invitations for you to give to a friend that will give them a chance to play a trial version of the game for a few weeks. Friend referrals result in rewards for both parties involved. This is quite an incentive to get others involved.