Phenom doesn't add anything new to the on-the-court gameplay, except for a 2-on-2 mode very much like NBA Jam. Story mode now has an open-ish town, free roam aspect where you walk around town with your custom baller (and use your basketball to hit objects and find areas and secrets), partake in mini-games, side quests and main quests (basketball games). Cool aspect for a sports game, but comes off more tedious. Character customization is a lot better, with a ton more clothing options added. Unfortunately, I found that Story mode suffered from difficult matches as it progressed. Majority of matches are played in an arcade Mortal Kombat-ladder like format, which is cool, but much harder since they not only have higher difficulties and often annoying rulesets, but only give you one or a few continues. You can make it to the final opponent on a 6-opponent ladder, but lose and have no continues left and you must start the ladder over again. Fun game, but basically NBA Ballers 1.5 rather than a true sequel.