NBA 2K26 by developer Visual Concepts and publisher 2K Games—Sony PlayStation 5 preview written by Nick with a copy provided by the publisher.
Estimated Reading Time: 13 minutes
Showing posts with label nba. Show all posts
Showing posts with label nba. Show all posts
NBA 2K26 – PlayStation 5 Review
NBA 2K25 - Xbox Review
NBA 2K25 by developer Visual Concepts and publisher 2K Games—Xbox Series X review written by Nick with a copy provided by the publisher.
Estimated reading time: 8 minutes
I can almost hear the naysayers with this latest release of NBA 2K25: “Another year, another sports title update, another roster update with nothing substantial added”. Well guess what? They’re very, very wrong. NBA 2K25 is the best annual update the series has seen in some time. I’d go so far as to say NBA 2K25 is the best sports video game release we have seen in years.
I wouldn’t want the unenviable job of trying to develop new features, while trying to figure out what worked from last year’s game and keep it going, while balancing that against wanting to freshen things up, all on a limited timeframe because of the yearly cycle of major sports leagues. It’s a tightrope act that can often earn more jeers than cheers from fans who lament the cycle as a roster update cash grab.
NBA 2K25 doesn’t completely reinvent the wheel here, but it doesn’t have to. This is a franchise that didn’t get exclusive NBA rights like Madden did with the NFL; they simply put out the best basketball game year after year until the would-be competition picked its ball up and went home. Since then the series has been good, but seldom great. Last season was a bit of a bust in my opinion, so I was unsure what to expect from this year’s release. And right off of the bat? I had a somewhat odd feeling because things felt off. Different. Uneven. Loose. There were a lot of descriptors going through my head as I figured up a quick match and just wanted to get a feel for the game itself without working through the tutorial.
The thing is, what started off feeling sloppy actually grew on me as I realized it was simply more fluid. The feeling of loose controls was flexibility in movement and control options. The more I ran up and down the court, the more I began to appreciate that this game I knew so well and had been playing for well over a decade now finally felt like it had shaken some of its on-rails stiffness. There have always been exciting, flashy plays in NBA 2K, but many times things felt scripted. A specific set of animations triggered to go off in a very specific way. That may still well be the case behind the scenes, but the engine used in this year’s game feels like it has hit a new level.
Shots don’t just swish or bank in, they roll around the rim, ricocheting off of the backboard in unexpected ways. An errant pass doesn’t just sail out of bounds, but sometimes bounces off of a foot or a hand. One time it bounced off of the back of a player’s head, only to be snatched out of the air by a nearby defender who put the ball on the floor to advance, making contact with a teammate, nearly losing their balance before pressing on up the court. Such a simple set of events, but this is by far the most realistic representation of player movement I’ve seen yet.
Sure, this engine looks great in general. Well-known players look like themselves. The really great ones don’t just look like themselves, but are animated to move like themselves. Little nuances from free throw form, to how they handle a crossover to how they chew on their mouth guard. There’s a level of authenticity here that NBA diehards are bound to eat up, and all of it translates to the best basketball playing experience I’ve had yet.
The presentation doesn’t stop there, as there’s an excellent soundtrack of music that plays in the background, tons of voiced dialogue in the MyCAREER mode, tons of authentic filters and commentary both for the modern game and some of the older eras for those throwback games. There’s still times where I recognize bits of audio commentary that’s been used in the last game or two, but the repetition’s down this year, with more audio than ever it seems like. There’s still room to expand – maybe have some more commentators or something, similar to Madden introducing more teams this year, but I know that’s likely a lot of work and a few bucks to bring those crews in – but it’s an area that could be improved.
Speaking of improvement, there’s aspects of the UI that I don’t love. Maybe I’m just being an old fuddy, but I preferred the last couple of shot meters to the ones presented here. It was a bit of a surprise to see what it looked like this year when I pulled up for my first shot. It bricked. There’s something about navigating the MyTEAM mode that took more time to get used to than usual as well. Just something about the menu UI didn’t click with me for a while.
Last but not least, since I’m airing grievances? I might as well bring up how much I have Virtual Currency. The microtransactions are strong with this series, and they have been for many years. They want too much of the VC (virtual currency) for the packs in MyTEAM, which is a sort of fantasy sports meets card collection mode that wants you to open your wallet. Still, you can choose to spend or not, and outside of the VC I start with for the version of the game I reviewed, I never buy any more. I’m just not a big microtransaction person in any game, so I tend to grind in games to avoid paying more. The good news is, compared to last year’s NBA 2K24? This year’s MyCAREER didn’t feel nearly as grindy. In fact I was earning VC at a good rate and enjoying my time doing so far better.
That being said – I do have a request 2K: Could we stop with the pop-up windows when the game starts? Instead of defaulting to having them open, maybe have a banner with a button to be pressed to bring them up. It’s annoying to fire up the game (which takes a bit to load in the first place), then see a menu and attempt to pick your game mode only to have a window pop up trying to get you to upgrade your purchase. And sometimes if you close that, a second window with a different offer pops up. It’s annoying, and it keeps me from getting right into the action.
There’s plenty of other modes to be had here outside of MyCAREER and MyTEAM as well. MyNBA is all about running a franchise. I love that there are different eras represented here (including the new ‘Curry Era’. I went back to the 80s to live out the early and later stages of my Detroit Pistons Bad Boys era in two different franchise files. There’s a ton to sink your teeth into here, and I lost a lot of hours to it. There’s also a MyGM mode that’s more of an RPG-lite management experience set with the current era as you also take the reigns of a franchise, but with a bit more story behind it. The story’s writing feels a bit stilted at times, but it’s still a lot of fun.
I was really happy to see The W get more love this year as well. Whether you follow the WNBA or not, it’s impossible to be more aware of the league with the arrival of some of this year’s top rookies, Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese. But it’s more about these new faces to the league. There’s more of an effort to make this mode more fully fleshed out than years past, including some storyline elements that don’t quite make it equal with MyCAREER, but a worthwhile endeavor all the same. And it’s worth noting that you get a set amount of VC for completing games in these other modes. I’ve seen some people grumbling that the requirement for ‘always connected’ could one day render these offline modes unplayable, but in reality I like that I’m getting VC for playing games, regardless of where (though MyTEAM does have a second currency in there. Frankly I think they should do away with that and just unify everything through VC.
Even with all of these modes? The vast majority of my time is spent with MyCAREER mode. I went with a different build than recent years for my first one, and I’m having a blast with it. The actual storyline’s not as interesting as a some of the prior years have been, but the voice acting is solid and the progression elements have been a lot of fun. I’ve been up entirely too late at night since installing NBA 2K25, and it’s usually because of this roleplay-lite mode.
Simply put, NBA 2K25 is the best release this series has
seen in years, and it’s probably my favorite sports game right now. This series
has a knack for being my guilty pleasure, in that I play it more than almost
anything else each year, and that’s very likely to be the case here once again.
The package isn’t a flawless one, but there’s undeniable progress throughout NBA
2K25, and fans of the NBA owe it to themselves to play it.
Score: 8.75 / 10
NBA 2K22 - PS5 Review
NBA 2K22 by developer Visual Concepts and publisher 2K—Sony PlayStation 5 review written by Nick with a copy provided by the publisher.
Estimated reading time: 13 minutes
A new year, a new sports game. Last year was a strange year for the world, and it was reflected in both the sporting and video game world. The good news is, just like in sports, every new year brings new hope and promise. By and large, NBA 2K22 capitalizes on that, delivering a robust, entertaining brand of basketball that may well be my favorite in the series over the last few years.
As I mentioned, 2021 was an odd year, and it hurt the NBA 2K21 franchise. Development teams were still trying to cope with the pandemic, three was a new generation of consoles coming out, and that led to a weird end result. NBA 2K21 on the prior generation of consoles felt underwhelming, and the comparatively later release of the game on the new generation of consoles combined with the weird real life schedule of the NBA season just made for a strange, jarring overall experience.
Let’s start with the overall framework of this year’s game. We are reviewing this for the PlayStation 5, and the hardware improvements feel better than ever. Games and scenes load with far more snap than the last generation, and while the 2K games have always had excellent presentations, the visuals in this year’s game continue to impress. The face scans are always just a little hit and miss as there are a ton of players to try and get right, but by and large they are plenty good, with players immediately recognizable. As a sport that doesn’t use helmets or face masks of any kind, and a lower number of players on the court when compared to other sports, that individuality is key to the visuals and NBA 2K22 gets it right the majority of the time.
Sure, there are still some odd collisions and moments out there with the graphics, but there are far more impressive ‘wow’ moments too. I recall one dunk in particular early on that I pulled off where there was mid-air contact, with the defender’s body hitting the deck and my player finishing with authority. It just looked and felt good. The one semi-consistent hiccup on the graphics front comes with wandering the city, where the framerate can dip pretty hard due to all of the players and activities taking place. It’s to be expected given the size of the City, but I find myself hoping that this gets polished up as the developers begin to make better use of the hardware in future years.
It helps that the haptic feedback on the PlayStation 5 just feels good in my hands and also seems a bit more refined than last season. The feedback through the triggers really brings full-bodied defense or collisions to the forefront. All of this is capped off with a strong soundtrack and the usual polish of the commentary. Certainly when you play a title like this as often as I do (I mean, you will play about 100 games in a season with playoffs and such), there will be repetition in the audio and even many of the player animations, but the whole things has an impressive layer of polish to it.
However, all of the bells and whistles in the world wouldn’t mean much if the gameplay itself doesn’t back it up. The usual bevy of modes are here with the card collecting MyTeam, another round of even more detailed WNBA options and of course the primary mode – MyCareer. This is where the 2K titles have been hanging their hat for years now, and the 2021 iteration continues to deliver on that front. It’s got plenty of lightweight RPG elements such as progressing your stats, making decisions and interacting with people. Last year on the new generation of consoles this mode introduced the City versus the prior, smaller neighborhoods of the prior generation of consoles. I do think there’s room to grow the WNBA options further, maybe even into a career mode that parallels the men but with a different set of options along the way.
The idea of the City was an interesting one last year, but it felt a bit rough around the edges. There were numerous things to do, but it still felt very empty at times and it was so large that getting around was rather cumbersome. But the potential was there, and dwhile I don’t think it’s completely realized yet in NBA 2K22, it’s a lot closer. I would appreciate more fast travel options (right now you simply have one – to zip back to your apartment), and if your internet is not strong it can lead to some frustration (I’m up at my cabin where my connection speeds can be a bit sketchy at times and there are certain events like skateboard races that can glitch our or outright disconnect you as a result), but the numerous quests and things to do certainly make the experience more interesting than last year. I do wish however, that quests were a bit cleaner.
Often you’re presented with two options to choose from, but it’s not always clear where those are at. You see two quest makers, but they don’t show up any differently on your screen. In one instance, I took the option I was not planning to, simply because I walked into the wrong building and it triggered that as my choice. But there was no indicator as to which person I was visiting before that. Either tagging the name of the person on the marker icons, or perhaps putting the distance you are in the upper left corner of the screen where your options were listed would provide some much-appreciated clarity on that front.
This all ties into the story in MyCareer as well. It feels considerably less linear, as you kick off with your best friend Ricky in your apartment and make decisions about your future. Sure, you can play your next college / G-League / NBA game or… you can go play some pick-up ball at a variety of different venues. Or you can go skateboard around the city doing timed trials or taking pictures. The way your character progresses is a bit different too, and ties into the story nicely as there is a great focus on a reality of our world today that many people either love or hate: social media.
Your story is less about some tough upbringing or living in your father’s shadow or standing up to your college coach, but more about how you and your best friend are also interested in being social influencers. Your character’s gotten popular via social media for their abilities, and it plus a successful high school career open the door to a variety of opportunities. You still earn VC (the virtual currency that is the backbone of the NBA 2K series, for better or for worse – as you use it for things like buying packs of cards in MyTeam or improving your stats in MyCareer. As one would expect, it’s a microtransaction currency that can be earned through gameplay – but also purchased as an accelerator) by playing games, and your play on the court enables you to unlock badges and other perks along the way, but your style of play trickles into some categories of your player as well.
Admittedly, I wish this was a bit better explained, but it feels like something that could be fleshed out in the years to come to really have an impact on things like conversations, or even on-court interactions with other players. There is some very cool RPG-like potential to this system, though currently it’s primary focus is a means of gatekeeping endorsement opportunities for things like shoe companies. Simply put: the progression was a lot of fun this year, though the grind is real for those who don’t want to spend real life money on VC.
The actual gameplay itself has gotten a kick in the pants this year too. I enjoyed the PS5 version of NBA 2K21, but the AI was incredibly sketchy at times – especially in pick and roll scenarios. I was easily abusing the AI time and time again. Shooting never quite felt right to me either. Also an over-reliance on sprinting had me in the old Madden mindset where you hold the sprint trigger far more often than I should have been. A lot of that is cleaned up this year.
For one, the AI is definitely peskier on defense. Also relying on sprinting too much has a notable impact on things like shot accuracy and your ability to handle the ball. This slows the pace down from last year’s game, but I am okay with it. I tend to lean towards two builds – a three point ace / slick passing point guard and a rugged defensive player with no shooting range but dunking ability for days around the rim. I’ve been building out these two archetypes for a few years now, and did so again this year. I would say that my athletic big man performs similarly to last year, but the gameplay for my point guard is certainly different and requires me to be more thoughtful and strategic than in recent memory. I was happy to see that some of the little tricks I had developed in years past that felt less authentic but more effective are subtly getting worked out of the game.
Summary
NBA 2K22 is a successful return to form for the series. An extra year on the hardware has certainly helped, and the developers continue to blend lightweight RPG elements with action-packed basketball for an end result that I have sunk a ton of time into already, and will no doubt continue to play throughout the rest of the year. The focus is still on the Career mode, with minor tweaks to Franchise, WNBA and MyTeam, but that’s okay by me – MyCareer is where I’m usually at. There’s still room to improve, but this year’s iteration of the series is worth playing for hoops fans.
Score: 8.25 / 10
NBA 2K14 - PlayStation 4 Review
I love the NBA. I have been following it for decades now, from playing basketball growing up, to collecting packs of cards and walloping AI opponents in NBA video games since Double Dribble on the NES. Over the years the NFL has slowly become my most-watched sport, but the NBA still has a soft spot for me.
Gaming thoughts 2/9/12 - Pistons and lots of gaming
So last Friday, my wife took me out to a basketball game - Pistons vs. Bucks. Her perspective of it was more from the 90's night music and Vanilla Ice halftime show. I wish I was making that up, but she has the (Internet archive link) proof here on her blog (and while this post is tame, some of her others? Not so much - you've been warned).
For me? There was a basketball game, and lots of throwback to the 90's Pistons, which was awesome. Oh, and we wont the game too:
So that was fun. This week? Yeah - I get to go again. My wife's gotten me even better seats to the Nets game (whom we beat last night away)
This has of course led me to playing countless hours of:
Yeah. A lot of hours. Just finished my first season with my created player. This is without a doubt my favorite mode. Franchise/association is cool too. Online would be better if I knew more people who played it because I would rather just have a few friends w/ teams and not a full roster of people I don't know which makes getting games played a pain in the arse.
I've been pretty busy as well - I got that promotion, and have decided to hold off on the tv for now, but wound up getting a slew of new games. The one I've been playing the most so far is Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning. I know there's been some mixed reviews on this game, but so far I'm really enjoying it. This + Skyrim does mean I'm not playing much else. Oh, and NBA 2K12. And some NBA Jam and Mario Kart... okay, so I'm playing a few games, and that's a quick list of the ones that come to mind, but I'm sure there's more.
The career mode in NBA 2K12 made me think though - what are the gaming 'activities' that chew up the largest amount of time? Is it the online component to a FPS like Call of Duty or Battlefield? Getting through seasons in a sports title (NFL? Not as bad. 16 game regular season. NBA? 82 games. And that's not as bad as MLB...). Grinding for experience in an RPG title?
Being that I play a lot of different game genres, these were the 3 biggest 'time sinks' that jumped out at me, but of them I have to give the nod to a sports game's seasonal grind. Don't get me wrong, I love it, but the trophies/acheivements are usually spread out in such a way that you spend forever getting them (make 5 All-Star games! That means you're going to play over 350 games! Get your created player to an 80 overall. That could take 2 - 3 seasons. And then there's the different modes like franchise, online, career...) I think perhaps the trophies take much longer to get in most of these titles than in others.
A case could be made for FPS games, but the sense of progression I think breaks things up more, and you have different modes, maps - there's just a bit more variety. In RPG's the grinding never really bugs me either, but it feels more incremental. You get to a point in the game where you might grind a bit for a few hours. I have no idea how many hours I spent getting through a season of NBA 2K12, but I'd guess at least 10.
I'll have to detail some of my new titles when they actually arrive and get to play them. I will no doubt be plugging away heavily at Skyrim and Amular for the next week or two to try and wrap those up and review them soon.
What are you playing? Any game types you feel have a really long, grind-like time-sink to them? Anyone out there as a big of an NBA or NFL fan as me? Let me know in the comments!
For me? There was a basketball game, and lots of throwback to the 90's Pistons, which was awesome. Oh, and we wont the game too:
Yeah. A lot of hours. Just finished my first season with my created player. This is without a doubt my favorite mode. Franchise/association is cool too. Online would be better if I knew more people who played it because I would rather just have a few friends w/ teams and not a full roster of people I don't know which makes getting games played a pain in the arse.
I've been pretty busy as well - I got that promotion, and have decided to hold off on the tv for now, but wound up getting a slew of new games. The one I've been playing the most so far is Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning. I know there's been some mixed reviews on this game, but so far I'm really enjoying it. This + Skyrim does mean I'm not playing much else. Oh, and NBA 2K12. And some NBA Jam and Mario Kart... okay, so I'm playing a few games, and that's a quick list of the ones that come to mind, but I'm sure there's more.
The career mode in NBA 2K12 made me think though - what are the gaming 'activities' that chew up the largest amount of time? Is it the online component to a FPS like Call of Duty or Battlefield? Getting through seasons in a sports title (NFL? Not as bad. 16 game regular season. NBA? 82 games. And that's not as bad as MLB...). Grinding for experience in an RPG title?
Being that I play a lot of different game genres, these were the 3 biggest 'time sinks' that jumped out at me, but of them I have to give the nod to a sports game's seasonal grind. Don't get me wrong, I love it, but the trophies/acheivements are usually spread out in such a way that you spend forever getting them (make 5 All-Star games! That means you're going to play over 350 games! Get your created player to an 80 overall. That could take 2 - 3 seasons. And then there's the different modes like franchise, online, career...) I think perhaps the trophies take much longer to get in most of these titles than in others.
A case could be made for FPS games, but the sense of progression I think breaks things up more, and you have different modes, maps - there's just a bit more variety. In RPG's the grinding never really bugs me either, but it feels more incremental. You get to a point in the game where you might grind a bit for a few hours. I have no idea how many hours I spent getting through a season of NBA 2K12, but I'd guess at least 10.
I'll have to detail some of my new titles when they actually arrive and get to play them. I will no doubt be plugging away heavily at Skyrim and Amular for the next week or two to try and wrap those up and review them soon.
What are you playing? Any game types you feel have a really long, grind-like time-sink to them? Anyone out there as a big of an NBA or NFL fan as me? Let me know in the comments!
NBA 2K12 - Playstation 3 Review
I've been playing sports games for a very long time. It's funny, but I was a bit backwards - I grew interested in the video game versions of sports first, and then started an interest in the real thing afterward. I cut my teeth on Tecmo Bowl, Double Dribble, RBI Baseball and more before really diving into the Tecmo Super Bowl and Basketball games, Madden and EA's NBA offerings.
Over the last few years however, the NBA 2K series has really taken over the market share from Electronic Arts and their NBA titles - so much so that they did not even release a proper NBA title this year. Normally - I'm all for a bit of competition. I think it would be great if the NFL license was out there for other companies to combat Madden with. That said? Just as well EA stayed home this year, because NBA 2K12 is one of the best sports titles I have ever had the pleasure of playing - and that's saying something because I really liked the last two iterations of this series, and they are nowhere near as polished as this season's outing.
The NBA season got off to a late start - finally tipping off on Christmas Day. Ironically enough, I got this title from my wife the same day and fired it up. Let's break this thing down, shall we?
Over the last few years however, the NBA 2K series has really taken over the market share from Electronic Arts and their NBA titles - so much so that they did not even release a proper NBA title this year. Normally - I'm all for a bit of competition. I think it would be great if the NFL license was out there for other companies to combat Madden with. That said? Just as well EA stayed home this year, because NBA 2K12 is one of the best sports titles I have ever had the pleasure of playing - and that's saying something because I really liked the last two iterations of this series, and they are nowhere near as polished as this season's outing.
The NBA season got off to a late start - finally tipping off on Christmas Day. Ironically enough, I got this title from my wife the same day and fired it up. Let's break this thing down, shall we?
NBA Jam - Retro Reflections
Continuing my weekend NBA theme (couldn't the Pistons have at least put up a fight Friday night?) - here's my Retro Reflection.
So I posted the NBA Jam review for the Wii already, and that got me thinking to the SNES version. Now, I'll be honest - I've owned a few copies of NBA Jam over the last 15 years or so, but had completely forgotten we owned it for the Super Nintendo. Most of my older gaming systems have made their way upstairs to the "kids' living room", and I have probably forgotten at least half the games we own. I was always a bit of a gaming packrat - I kept boxes, booklets and I even stored them in alphabetical order. There was no easily accessible used game trading store when I was a kid, like Gamestop now, which keeps my current gen games going through a bit more of a revolving door.
Anyway - after having spent so much time lately with the Wii version of the game, I was a bit surprised by a few things when I fired up the Tournament Edition on the SNES. For starters, I recall playing the Wii game thinking: These graphics are pretty old-school. Gameplay is pretty much what I remembered it to be. The announcer is as awesome as ever. That sort of thing.
Maybe I should have done the reviews in opposite order? The Wii version is much improved on so many fronts - as one would honestly expect with a decade's difference between the releases. Still, the graphics were okay on the SNES version, but you could not really say: Oh yeah, that's Joe Dumars I'm using. Looks just like him. And while it's the same announcer, he has a whole lot more to say with the current iteration as well. It was interesting last weekend when I played the Ninja Gaiden games, and found them to be pretty much how I remembered them, and then to put in NBA Jam here on my SNES and realize - I remembered this game a lot more fondly than it may have deserved. It was still fun to poke around with, and some of the roster combinations cracked me up (like Pippen and... BJ Armstrong for the Bulls). There's some fun to be had here: both of these games are fast paced and have that same over-the-top style of action, but honestly if I have a craving for NBA Jam, I'm going to pick up and play the new Wii version first.
Screencast version of the video:
Youtube version.
So I posted the NBA Jam review for the Wii already, and that got me thinking to the SNES version. Now, I'll be honest - I've owned a few copies of NBA Jam over the last 15 years or so, but had completely forgotten we owned it for the Super Nintendo. Most of my older gaming systems have made their way upstairs to the "kids' living room", and I have probably forgotten at least half the games we own. I was always a bit of a gaming packrat - I kept boxes, booklets and I even stored them in alphabetical order. There was no easily accessible used game trading store when I was a kid, like Gamestop now, which keeps my current gen games going through a bit more of a revolving door.
Anyway - after having spent so much time lately with the Wii version of the game, I was a bit surprised by a few things when I fired up the Tournament Edition on the SNES. For starters, I recall playing the Wii game thinking: These graphics are pretty old-school. Gameplay is pretty much what I remembered it to be. The announcer is as awesome as ever. That sort of thing.
Maybe I should have done the reviews in opposite order? The Wii version is much improved on so many fronts - as one would honestly expect with a decade's difference between the releases. Still, the graphics were okay on the SNES version, but you could not really say: Oh yeah, that's Joe Dumars I'm using. Looks just like him. And while it's the same announcer, he has a whole lot more to say with the current iteration as well. It was interesting last weekend when I played the Ninja Gaiden games, and found them to be pretty much how I remembered them, and then to put in NBA Jam here on my SNES and realize - I remembered this game a lot more fondly than it may have deserved. It was still fun to poke around with, and some of the roster combinations cracked me up (like Pippen and... BJ Armstrong for the Bulls). There's some fun to be had here: both of these games are fast paced and have that same over-the-top style of action, but honestly if I have a craving for NBA Jam, I'm going to pick up and play the new Wii version first.
Screencast version of the video:
Youtube version.
NBA Jam - Wii Review
Going to theme again this weekend. Got free tickets to a Pistons/Heat game last night. Seats were high, Pistons got drilled - but it was still a load of fun, so NBA is my theme this weekend. :)
EA Sports did not get around to releasing its "EA Elite" basketball series (based off of its longstanding "Live" series) this year. For the last several years, 2K sports has been releasing an NBA series that has been receiving better reviews and sales. Thankfully, EA had another NBA game in the works, and while it does not try to contend with 2K as a realistic sports simulation, NBA Jam is a game that brings back a lot of memories while being a whole lot of fun.
NBA Jam has been around for aged - I remember it from late high school/early college. It was a quarter muncher in the arcades, and it was a blast when it was brought to home systems. We still have a version of it bouncing around on one of our Nintendo systems - I want to say our Super Nintendo. I may have to look that one up for my Retro Reflections this weekend.
I imagine most people have at least seen or played a round of NBA Jam in one form or another over the years, but for the uninitiated it is an over the top 2 vs 2 arcade hoops game. Defense consists of soaring ridiculously high in the air to block shots, or to try and steal the ball - or to simply shove the ball handler in an effort to knock them down and take the ball, or maybe knock them out of the air on a shot or dunk attempt (which sort of reminds me of Arch Rivals now that I think about it).
Offense consists of dribbling, passing and shooting. Oh, and dunking. Lots of ridiculous, high-flying dunking. You can amp these options up, doing some fancy dribbling to try and ankle-break your defender. You can throw elbows to clear space around you (Bill Laimbeer and Charles Barkley would be proud of these swinging limbs) and are capable of flipping behind the back passes to your teammate. This is all well and good, but you play this game for the insane dunks and hope to hit 3 shots with one of your players while the defender does not score. Do this, and the insanity ratchets up a few more levels as you hear the announcer let everyone know that your player is "on fire!". You gain a tremendous bump to your shooting percentage, allowing you to rain down three pointers and perform roof-scraping dunks that leave the net burning when the ball passes through it. Flying alley-opps, summersault dunks and more are not only fun to watch, but something you see occur in almost every game as well.
There are some other modes as well. You can play the classic game, but we have a remix mode where it is NBA with Power-ups (like ones that make you really strong, really fast or really small for example). There's a backboard smash where the goal is to deplete the basket's 'health' and the win. Obviously picking high flying dunkers over three point shooters or nimble guards works best. There's 'boss battles' where you play against NBA legends like Magic Johnson or Larry Bird - I thought these were cool, but a bit frustrating at times, 21 - which is three guys doing what they can to be the first one to reach 21 points. So, how does the entire package hold up?
Graphics - 8:
The visuals themselves are fairly throwback - but I loved that about the game. There are Photoshopped heads tacked onto the bodies. No fancy 3D rendering of heads here - you get faces that are looking this way or that way; they're comical and fun (especially in Big Head mode). There's plenty of things going on in the background, and while none of it is rendered in incredible detail, the graphics all animate very smoothly. I am sure from a technical standpoint it's easier to craft an engine that only has four players on a court instead of ten like an actual NBA sim, but the quality was excellent all the same. The game oozes style, and it feels like one big highlight reel.
Sound and Music - 6:
You know, I don't recall most of the music. I recall a few tunes here and there that were okay, never really heard anything that made me go: wow - that doesn't fit. But the sound effects were good and the announcer was a treat. In the old games he rattled off comments and one-liners and they still did not get old for me. The enthusiastic presentation kept me grinning and I was looking forward to certain catch phrases - knowing they would inevitably occur. Obviously it's not amazing tech on display here - it's not as detailed as the kinds of audio you find in a game like NBA 2K11 or Madden, but it gets the job done and helps set the mood. Still, a bit more variety wouldn't have hurt, especially given how many games you do play to get through a 'season', and it really does not have the depth of a game like NBA 2k where you get a lot of color commentary about a player's background.
Gameplay - 8:
You can navigate the menus easily enough. There's several modes here. Still, none of it works if you don't have a smooth controls and a fun game to play. Luckily NBA Jam delivered this. The pacing is fast, and sure - sometimes it feels a bit cheap when you get laid out near the end of the game and the cpu hits a near-half court shot to win the game *ahem*, but pulling off huge dunks never gets old and watching a basketball that's on fire swish through the net, setting it ablaze from beyond the three point line is a great feeling. There are a few different control schemes too, for people who just want to use the Wii remote on its side, or use a more active scheme that takes advantage of the motion, or a classic controller hooked up to the Wii remote (I usually used the last option myself, but all of them worked quite well in my opinion).
Intangibles - 7:
The game is a hoot. When I first put it in, I played for nearly 3 straight hours. All three of my kids stopped to watch and ask questions. My oldest, who doesn't really care for sports or play many video games sat out on the sofa chatting with me and getting excited at some of the bigger dunks for nearly an hour. My son doesn't really play sports games, but he enjoys this one too. He's not interested in a post game that mirrors real life, or if Blake Griffon's dunk ability is an 80 or 90 or how his players will progress. Games like NBA 2k11, as well as they are made, have never piqued his interest once, but he wanted to play this - on his own and with/against me. This game really plays and feels like the classic game - right down to having a bunch of unlockable content, which is a lot of fun to find as well.
That said, there are some limitations here. The game does not offer a great deal of depth to the core game. There are obviously differences in the players, but really Lebron James never felt that much different to me than using Wade. Bed Gordon and Rodney Stuckey were just fine, but not much different either. The additional modes are interesting, but don't live up to the primary game for the most part. Playing locally is fine... but there's no online, and that feels like a tremendous missed opportunity. That would have added a ton of life to this title in my opinion.
Overall - 7.25:
I've really been enjoying NBA Jam. It was a Christmas present that I've finally had a chance to sit down and spend some time with, and overall I have to say it is one that I am going to enjoy playing through another season or two with. But, I suspect it will wind up in my trade-ins pile before spring, and that's a shame because a few more decisions would have furthered its value - like adding online support. However, when it's said and done, NBA 2K11 will be getting put back into my 360 sometime this summer when I get an itch to play some basketball again, because the year by year progression and online options will be there. Then again, consider the audience I suppose. None of my 3 kids will playing NBA 2K11, but at least 2 have played NBA Jam. It facilitated some discussion between my daughter and me about the NBA, some of my favorite players - and that probably would not have happened without this game. That will no doubt keep me thinking favorably about NBA Jam for the Wii, much as I have fond memories of it from the arcade and Super Nintendo days.
EA Sports did not get around to releasing its "EA Elite" basketball series (based off of its longstanding "Live" series) this year. For the last several years, 2K sports has been releasing an NBA series that has been receiving better reviews and sales. Thankfully, EA had another NBA game in the works, and while it does not try to contend with 2K as a realistic sports simulation, NBA Jam is a game that brings back a lot of memories while being a whole lot of fun.
NBA Jam has been around for aged - I remember it from late high school/early college. It was a quarter muncher in the arcades, and it was a blast when it was brought to home systems. We still have a version of it bouncing around on one of our Nintendo systems - I want to say our Super Nintendo. I may have to look that one up for my Retro Reflections this weekend.
I imagine most people have at least seen or played a round of NBA Jam in one form or another over the years, but for the uninitiated it is an over the top 2 vs 2 arcade hoops game. Defense consists of soaring ridiculously high in the air to block shots, or to try and steal the ball - or to simply shove the ball handler in an effort to knock them down and take the ball, or maybe knock them out of the air on a shot or dunk attempt (which sort of reminds me of Arch Rivals now that I think about it).
Offense consists of dribbling, passing and shooting. Oh, and dunking. Lots of ridiculous, high-flying dunking. You can amp these options up, doing some fancy dribbling to try and ankle-break your defender. You can throw elbows to clear space around you (Bill Laimbeer and Charles Barkley would be proud of these swinging limbs) and are capable of flipping behind the back passes to your teammate. This is all well and good, but you play this game for the insane dunks and hope to hit 3 shots with one of your players while the defender does not score. Do this, and the insanity ratchets up a few more levels as you hear the announcer let everyone know that your player is "on fire!". You gain a tremendous bump to your shooting percentage, allowing you to rain down three pointers and perform roof-scraping dunks that leave the net burning when the ball passes through it. Flying alley-opps, summersault dunks and more are not only fun to watch, but something you see occur in almost every game as well.
There are some other modes as well. You can play the classic game, but we have a remix mode where it is NBA with Power-ups (like ones that make you really strong, really fast or really small for example). There's a backboard smash where the goal is to deplete the basket's 'health' and the win. Obviously picking high flying dunkers over three point shooters or nimble guards works best. There's 'boss battles' where you play against NBA legends like Magic Johnson or Larry Bird - I thought these were cool, but a bit frustrating at times, 21 - which is three guys doing what they can to be the first one to reach 21 points. So, how does the entire package hold up?
Graphics - 8:
The visuals themselves are fairly throwback - but I loved that about the game. There are Photoshopped heads tacked onto the bodies. No fancy 3D rendering of heads here - you get faces that are looking this way or that way; they're comical and fun (especially in Big Head mode). There's plenty of things going on in the background, and while none of it is rendered in incredible detail, the graphics all animate very smoothly. I am sure from a technical standpoint it's easier to craft an engine that only has four players on a court instead of ten like an actual NBA sim, but the quality was excellent all the same. The game oozes style, and it feels like one big highlight reel.
Sound and Music - 6:
You know, I don't recall most of the music. I recall a few tunes here and there that were okay, never really heard anything that made me go: wow - that doesn't fit. But the sound effects were good and the announcer was a treat. In the old games he rattled off comments and one-liners and they still did not get old for me. The enthusiastic presentation kept me grinning and I was looking forward to certain catch phrases - knowing they would inevitably occur. Obviously it's not amazing tech on display here - it's not as detailed as the kinds of audio you find in a game like NBA 2K11 or Madden, but it gets the job done and helps set the mood. Still, a bit more variety wouldn't have hurt, especially given how many games you do play to get through a 'season', and it really does not have the depth of a game like NBA 2k where you get a lot of color commentary about a player's background.
Gameplay - 8:
You can navigate the menus easily enough. There's several modes here. Still, none of it works if you don't have a smooth controls and a fun game to play. Luckily NBA Jam delivered this. The pacing is fast, and sure - sometimes it feels a bit cheap when you get laid out near the end of the game and the cpu hits a near-half court shot to win the game *ahem*, but pulling off huge dunks never gets old and watching a basketball that's on fire swish through the net, setting it ablaze from beyond the three point line is a great feeling. There are a few different control schemes too, for people who just want to use the Wii remote on its side, or use a more active scheme that takes advantage of the motion, or a classic controller hooked up to the Wii remote (I usually used the last option myself, but all of them worked quite well in my opinion).
Intangibles - 7:
The game is a hoot. When I first put it in, I played for nearly 3 straight hours. All three of my kids stopped to watch and ask questions. My oldest, who doesn't really care for sports or play many video games sat out on the sofa chatting with me and getting excited at some of the bigger dunks for nearly an hour. My son doesn't really play sports games, but he enjoys this one too. He's not interested in a post game that mirrors real life, or if Blake Griffon's dunk ability is an 80 or 90 or how his players will progress. Games like NBA 2k11, as well as they are made, have never piqued his interest once, but he wanted to play this - on his own and with/against me. This game really plays and feels like the classic game - right down to having a bunch of unlockable content, which is a lot of fun to find as well.
That said, there are some limitations here. The game does not offer a great deal of depth to the core game. There are obviously differences in the players, but really Lebron James never felt that much different to me than using Wade. Bed Gordon and Rodney Stuckey were just fine, but not much different either. The additional modes are interesting, but don't live up to the primary game for the most part. Playing locally is fine... but there's no online, and that feels like a tremendous missed opportunity. That would have added a ton of life to this title in my opinion.
Overall - 7.25:
I've really been enjoying NBA Jam. It was a Christmas present that I've finally had a chance to sit down and spend some time with, and overall I have to say it is one that I am going to enjoy playing through another season or two with. But, I suspect it will wind up in my trade-ins pile before spring, and that's a shame because a few more decisions would have furthered its value - like adding online support. However, when it's said and done, NBA 2K11 will be getting put back into my 360 sometime this summer when I get an itch to play some basketball again, because the year by year progression and online options will be there. Then again, consider the audience I suppose. None of my 3 kids will playing NBA 2K11, but at least 2 have played NBA Jam. It facilitated some discussion between my daughter and me about the NBA, some of my favorite players - and that probably would not have happened without this game. That will no doubt keep me thinking favorably about NBA Jam for the Wii, much as I have fond memories of it from the arcade and Super Nintendo days.
NBA 2K11 Review for Xbox 360 and Playstation 3
I’ve already detailed in length about my interest in sports games, with the Madden series being a long-standing favorite of mine. NBA games however, have always come in at something of a close second for me. It started with the old Tecmo Basketball, which to my knowledge was the first time an NBA game had full seasons, stat keeping and playoffs. Later there were NBA games by EA Sports that captured more unique aspects of the players and their likenesses, and eventually they introduced franchise modes complete with the kind of player progressions that really hooked me into most sports games. EA’s brand was the strongest for years, but then the 2k series started to show up strong around 2k5 (back when my Pistons were on top of the league), and the sales and reviews began to swing in favor of the 2K series. This year, EA was going to scrape its prior recipe for the NBA games and release a new series called “Elite” – that unfortunately got derailed for reasons of timeliness and – according to some sources – quality. So with NBA 2k11 the only contender in the space, did they put forth an All-Star effort or mail it in?
Graphics – 9:
The animations are generally very smooth. NBA games are some of the trickiest of any sport to model. In football or hockey, you tend to be a bit further from the action, so face and hair models don’t generally have to be as precise. They also tend to be covered with bulky gear. Baseball games still show less of the players’ physiques and the number of animations really are not as varied either. People have a tendency to play in space by themselves. This makes what the 2K series’ graphics so impressive –they have to account for facial models, physical accuracy (and things like tattoos), as well as varying playing styles and work it all into the context of a game where these already difficult to manager characters are jostling around and interacting with each other constantly. Sure, it’s not perfect, sometimes slightly canned animations do odd things like have you step out of bounds when you shouldn’t be, and some faces really give you pause.
The arenas look great overall. Crowds don’t do much, but they fill space and look convincing enough. Lighting, floors – all of it just feels very authentic. I also need to give a nod to the replay features. The Sprite Slam Cams, Gatorade Moment of the Game, and Jordan Brand Player of the Game replays all look very slick (I love the player of the game one, which shows various cuts of action from the game, played out against various filters. Rodney’s Stuckey’s whirlwind layup in my last game looked amazing).
Sound and Music – 9:
There is a very good mix of songs that make up the music in this game. In what my wife and her friend once called the greatest invention in a sports game, years ago many games started adding actual songs to the tracklists (apparently my buddy’s wife and mine got tired of the same old music playing over and over and over for hours on end when we were tweaking our Madden or hoops rosters. Who knew?) Hearing The Alan Parsons Project's "Sirius" play when you first fire up the game and take control of Jordan as he enters the court was an amazing video game moment.
The announcing is quite good as well. Of course these games do tend to get a bit redundant. I wish they could work in more variety, and while the contexts are usually quite good, I could only stand to hear the same thing said about my team so many times. If you play as the Wizards, you’ll hear about John Wall a lot – which makes sense, but they have 2 or 3 canned dialogs about him, and odds are, you will hear them each and every game of his rookie season. I haven’t gotten through enough seasons yet to be sure, but I’m curious if they’ll still be talking about him as some hot prospect in 8 years on there or not. Still, overall, the graphics, sound and music bits work wonderfully to create a live TV game environment.
Gameplay 8:
Overall, it handles really well. The movements are pretty good, and it’s easy to navigate around the various menus. There are some quirks though that can get annoying. You take too many shots down low that tend to hit the sides or backside of the backboard, and some of the canned animations can have you stepping out of bounds even if you’re pushing away from the baseline the entire time. Also, there are way too many steals and blocks. I don’t mind tight defense, but using the Pistons I’m getting at least 8-10 blocks a game, and while my steals are only around 5 a game, my opponents pick off at least a dozen a game. If anyone but a guard is dribbling, or you try to throw an outlet pass or a cross court pass regularly, you will be lucky to complete 2 or 3 a game, which is a bit frustrating as I prefer up-tempo (as do most players, which is probably why they’ve added this artificial layer of defense). The post game however is solid – probably the best I’ve seen it in awhile.
In the create a player mode, there’s a lot to do, but the game judges your actions oddly. If my opponent scores a bucket, I can lose an entire bar of ‘grade’ – but if I score one I barely see an increase. And it encourages you to play somewhat selfishly. For example it comes up with 3 challenges for you each game, and when my 7-3 center is asked to take 4 jump shots in the game? That’s hurting my team because it’s not my style, but if I want those 100 skill points, I’ll go ahead and force a few up anyway.
Intangibles – 10:
The integration of Michael Jordan is amazing. I grew up a Pistons fan. As such, I grew up disliking the Bulls a lot. But over the years I’ve come to really appreciate what Jordan did for the game and just how amazing he was, and the Jordan challenges are very cool. The additional Jordan sneakers for completing certain things in game, and then being able to apply them to your create a person is cool too.
There’s a ton of drills and practice modes, and the online is solid too, though it can get a bit laggy at times, and I’ve always felt like it hurts the NBA games more than NFL, NHL and MLB titles just due to the constant action and motion. With timing on jumpers being so critical, any lag can really mess with you – especially if you happen to be playing a perimeter based team.
I really enjoyed the crate a player mode. I sunk a ton of time into last year’s version doing that, and I’m at it again this year. It’s addicting getting those few points to spend where you want them, and telling yourself you’ll get even more on your next outing. The various goals and achievements you can earn by hitting milestones can be cool too.
Most people will spend the majority of their time in The Association/Franchise mode. It’s a solid game of hoops there, with lots to do as both the coach and manager. And the computer seems a lot smarter this year too. I remember last year’s game when the Bucks wound up with something like 5 point guards and 3 shooting guards and were just unable to field a proper team. The trades from what I have seen so far in 2k11 are made with better overall team awareness – from both a positional standpoint and respecting a player’s potential to improve. The trade finder is a cool new innovation too, that can be a real time-saver when you’re trying to tweak your roster or draft picks.
In case this isn’t enough game for your buck, there’s also the blacktop mode with 3-point shootouts and dunk contests too. There’s also quite a few classic teams out there. You won’t run out of things to do any time soon.
Overall – 9:
There’s still a few glitches here and there, and when they happen they can become very frustrating. Overall though, they don’t happen very often and what you do get is a great game of hoops that is brought to you a lot of different ways that help to keep the proceedings fresh and entertaining. At first I was worried that the Jordan stuff would be minimal or gimmicky – just an excuse to slap him on the cover and get a few extra sales, but it really looks like they put the work in this year. If EA’s Elite is hoping to come to market next year, they better bring their best playoff game, because right now 2K looks like the reigning champ for the foreseeable future.
Graphics – 9:
The animations are generally very smooth. NBA games are some of the trickiest of any sport to model. In football or hockey, you tend to be a bit further from the action, so face and hair models don’t generally have to be as precise. They also tend to be covered with bulky gear. Baseball games still show less of the players’ physiques and the number of animations really are not as varied either. People have a tendency to play in space by themselves. This makes what the 2K series’ graphics so impressive –they have to account for facial models, physical accuracy (and things like tattoos), as well as varying playing styles and work it all into the context of a game where these already difficult to manager characters are jostling around and interacting with each other constantly. Sure, it’s not perfect, sometimes slightly canned animations do odd things like have you step out of bounds when you shouldn’t be, and some faces really give you pause.
The arenas look great overall. Crowds don’t do much, but they fill space and look convincing enough. Lighting, floors – all of it just feels very authentic. I also need to give a nod to the replay features. The Sprite Slam Cams, Gatorade Moment of the Game, and Jordan Brand Player of the Game replays all look very slick (I love the player of the game one, which shows various cuts of action from the game, played out against various filters. Rodney’s Stuckey’s whirlwind layup in my last game looked amazing).
Sound and Music – 9:
There is a very good mix of songs that make up the music in this game. In what my wife and her friend once called the greatest invention in a sports game, years ago many games started adding actual songs to the tracklists (apparently my buddy’s wife and mine got tired of the same old music playing over and over and over for hours on end when we were tweaking our Madden or hoops rosters. Who knew?) Hearing The Alan Parsons Project's "Sirius" play when you first fire up the game and take control of Jordan as he enters the court was an amazing video game moment.
The announcing is quite good as well. Of course these games do tend to get a bit redundant. I wish they could work in more variety, and while the contexts are usually quite good, I could only stand to hear the same thing said about my team so many times. If you play as the Wizards, you’ll hear about John Wall a lot – which makes sense, but they have 2 or 3 canned dialogs about him, and odds are, you will hear them each and every game of his rookie season. I haven’t gotten through enough seasons yet to be sure, but I’m curious if they’ll still be talking about him as some hot prospect in 8 years on there or not. Still, overall, the graphics, sound and music bits work wonderfully to create a live TV game environment.
Gameplay 8:
Overall, it handles really well. The movements are pretty good, and it’s easy to navigate around the various menus. There are some quirks though that can get annoying. You take too many shots down low that tend to hit the sides or backside of the backboard, and some of the canned animations can have you stepping out of bounds even if you’re pushing away from the baseline the entire time. Also, there are way too many steals and blocks. I don’t mind tight defense, but using the Pistons I’m getting at least 8-10 blocks a game, and while my steals are only around 5 a game, my opponents pick off at least a dozen a game. If anyone but a guard is dribbling, or you try to throw an outlet pass or a cross court pass regularly, you will be lucky to complete 2 or 3 a game, which is a bit frustrating as I prefer up-tempo (as do most players, which is probably why they’ve added this artificial layer of defense). The post game however is solid – probably the best I’ve seen it in awhile.
In the create a player mode, there’s a lot to do, but the game judges your actions oddly. If my opponent scores a bucket, I can lose an entire bar of ‘grade’ – but if I score one I barely see an increase. And it encourages you to play somewhat selfishly. For example it comes up with 3 challenges for you each game, and when my 7-3 center is asked to take 4 jump shots in the game? That’s hurting my team because it’s not my style, but if I want those 100 skill points, I’ll go ahead and force a few up anyway.
Intangibles – 10:
The integration of Michael Jordan is amazing. I grew up a Pistons fan. As such, I grew up disliking the Bulls a lot. But over the years I’ve come to really appreciate what Jordan did for the game and just how amazing he was, and the Jordan challenges are very cool. The additional Jordan sneakers for completing certain things in game, and then being able to apply them to your create a person is cool too.
There’s a ton of drills and practice modes, and the online is solid too, though it can get a bit laggy at times, and I’ve always felt like it hurts the NBA games more than NFL, NHL and MLB titles just due to the constant action and motion. With timing on jumpers being so critical, any lag can really mess with you – especially if you happen to be playing a perimeter based team.
I really enjoyed the crate a player mode. I sunk a ton of time into last year’s version doing that, and I’m at it again this year. It’s addicting getting those few points to spend where you want them, and telling yourself you’ll get even more on your next outing. The various goals and achievements you can earn by hitting milestones can be cool too.
Most people will spend the majority of their time in The Association/Franchise mode. It’s a solid game of hoops there, with lots to do as both the coach and manager. And the computer seems a lot smarter this year too. I remember last year’s game when the Bucks wound up with something like 5 point guards and 3 shooting guards and were just unable to field a proper team. The trades from what I have seen so far in 2k11 are made with better overall team awareness – from both a positional standpoint and respecting a player’s potential to improve. The trade finder is a cool new innovation too, that can be a real time-saver when you’re trying to tweak your roster or draft picks.
In case this isn’t enough game for your buck, there’s also the blacktop mode with 3-point shootouts and dunk contests too. There’s also quite a few classic teams out there. You won’t run out of things to do any time soon.
Overall – 9:
There’s still a few glitches here and there, and when they happen they can become very frustrating. Overall though, they don’t happen very often and what you do get is a great game of hoops that is brought to you a lot of different ways that help to keep the proceedings fresh and entertaining. At first I was worried that the Jordan stuff would be minimal or gimmicky – just an excuse to slap him on the cover and get a few extra sales, but it really looks like they put the work in this year. If EA’s Elite is hoping to come to market next year, they better bring their best playoff game, because right now 2K looks like the reigning champ for the foreseeable future.
