If you’re an NBA fan, you know that if you want to get your team far, you’ll have to dish out the cash to get the superstars on your team. That’s why teams like the Miami Heat ended up with guys like Shaquille O’Neal last year—they want to end up somewhere. In this year’s entry to the NBA Live series, EA Sports will introduce the new “freestyle superstar� controls.

Of course, if you really want to take this into full use, you gotta know what your players are capable of. On offense, you have playmakers, high fliers, power players, shooters, and in and outside scorers. Then on defense, you have in and outside stoppers. You can tell what kind of superstar a player is by looking at the insignia on the bottom of his name. You can hold one of the top triggers for a key if you’re confused as to what each symbol stands for.

So what exactly is so special about these new controls? For one thing, it makes NBA Live a lot less generic—perhaps the worst problem with the whole series. You won’t have to worry about guys like Vince Carter suddenly packing Kobe when he’s in the air, since you know that in real life, it just isn’t possible. That’s why we have all these categories of different superstars. Look at Yao Ming for instance. On offense, he can be a power king slamming his way to some points, and he can also be a heck of a stopper on defense against the little people.

You activate your superstar’s special abilities by hitting the left shoulder button, which allows new face button icons to show up. When you press a selected button, your guy will perform a move that suits his style. If you’re using a playmaker like LeBron James, you can make all sorts of slick, street-esque passes. Guys like Kobe can charge up to the line, leap into the air, not caring about defenders and slamming the ball. If you’re using a power guy, you can perform a tight spin move that’ll almost always result in a successful dunk.

EA Sports didn’t forget not to add the bad that comes with the good though. (It’s not a bad thing; it really needs this…) If you get a little too aggressive on the court, bad things can eventually happen. For example, if you’re using a guy like Manu Ginobili and you try to take a mindless shot using his superstar abilities in front of an aggressive Ben Wallace, you’ll eventually choke up the ball. When you go against good defenses, or vice versa, turnovers are going to happen whether you have superstars or not. So just because you can “cheat� by enhancing or reducing player ratings to make them superstars doesn’t mean you’ll automatically have an advantage in the game.

Aside from the nuances with the gameplay, NBA Live 06 will feature a new graphics system, so you don’t have to worry about guys’ faces looking the same. While we haven’t really seen anything totally new yet, there seems to be quite a few new models in the arena, and the audience around actually has more depth. While it’s not that exciting, it’s fitting to see such a change.

On the audio side of the court, you’ll have the legendary Marv Albert and five-time champion Steve Kerr calling the games. This gruesome twosome actually has quite a bit to say, and they sound good together. If you’re a regular player of the Madden football games, the more calm yet excitable NBA announcers will be a nice change. Aside from the commentary, you have all the boos and the squeaks of Nike’s sliding on wood you want, so if you want realism—NBA Live 06 has it.

NBA Live 06 has a lot going for it right now, and it looks like this game will deliver. We didn’t even go into the new minigames or revamped Dynasty Mode in this preview, so you can bet that the editors here at IGO will have a lot to say once our review rolls around. For now, just keep imagining of all the good things (like all-star trades) that can eventually happen to your team. NBA Live 06 will be out on store shelves late this month on the PC, Xbox, GameCube, and PS2. Also look for the Xbox 360 version a bit later in the year.