NBA 2K

"typical Dreamcast game -- lots of pretty graphics masking an otherwise average game"

NBA 2K is a decent game, but there are a number of problems that keep it from being great.

Accessibility -- 2/10

Something just irks me about the way things are set up in NBA 2K. The main menu's are not cleverly layed out and wading through menu screens is impossible with the analog pad, as only the digital pad will actually go where you want it to. Player ratings like 3 point shooting and blocking are not included. You can't determine who your strongest guy is or your best stealing guard. And even created players are impossible to know the ratings of, unless you write them down when you create them. You can't look through just your team's stats, but rather, you have to look up your player's position and scroll through until you find your player.
Then you have to repeat the procedure for each player you want to look up.

Graphics -- 9/10

The game looks great from certain angles(like the default camera view), but in close ups you can see the problems clearly. When you dunk your hands hover over the rim instead of lining up correctly. You often walk through players and their limbs will go right through your back when they block shots. Not any major problems, however, just minor glitches so the graphics are very strong in any case.

Player Animations -- 5/10

Some things look awesome, like Shaq backing a small player into the hole, or Kobe Bryant spinning and dashing to the rim for a dunk. But other things are horrible. Allen Iverson will often dunk on guys, and as a Philadelphia native, I know for a fact that Iverson very rarely if ever dunks the ball in traffic in real life. Small players look as if they don't get any air at all when they jump for rebounds. Any Power Forward or Center, regardless of talent will still be able to dunk like Shaq. The ref throws the ball to the guy on the free throw line at about 1000 miles per hour and he looks retarded catching it sometimes. Coaches walk to half court after games and then just stand there for no reason. The guy attempting a block gets more air than your shooter. Fans are too animated and do things like stand up and then sit down and then stand right back up again. All told things aren't bad in this department, due to the number of cool animations, but a lot of things are still off.

Realism -- 7/10

This game is almost a sim, but old school issues still disrupt the gameplay. Dunks happen a whole lot. Every time a shot goes up and there is a PF or C anywhere near the offensive boards, it's a put-back dunk guaranteed. If you happen to be near a guy dunking, you're called for a foul and the offensive players never get whistled. Centers can't pass for anything and they turn the ball over loads. Players don't catch passes in stride, and a lot of balls are caught without the player even looking in the right direction.

Stat Overlays -- 9/10

Occasionally something stupid will pop up, like a comparison between Kobe Bryant and Elvis Recasner, as if they have the same abilities. But more often then not this is a great game feature. They let you know scoring runs, when a player has hit 8 out of 9 shots, shooting percentages, and other cool statistics regulary. The announcers are the least annoying of any video game I've heard and the minor sound glitches won't distact from this at all.

Special Moments -- 3/10

This is hit or miss. The injuries are spot on perfect. I've seen guys break fingers while dunking, and Shaq getting laid out by a David Robinson dunk. The time for recovery is very realistic and can cost you a season(on all-star mode especially). But other moments aren't done so well. The player of the game goes to the guy with the most rounded categories, so Brent Barry scoring 56 points doesn't get it, but Tim Duncan getting 12 boards and 12 points does. They announce the player of the game too early in the game(with over 1 minute left to go), and you have to read the overlay while the action is still going on(and quite often you miss the player's stats altogether). When you win the NBA Championship(on rookie) you are treated to watching your player's trot off the court with the audience sitting quietly in their chairs, hardly a victory celebration. On All-Star I don't know what happens, but on rookie the championship is un-spectacular. Rookie Watch has stats for all of the rookies in the NBA and it is an awesome category to have, but All-Star Voting doesn't seem to match players statistics very well, so you might have a great player who doesn't get lots of votes, which is frustrating.

Create A Player -- 4/10

It's a great feature, but other than WWF Warzone for N64, I haven't ever been impressed with create a player. They always announce you by your number and your team never wins games when you simulate if you have created players on your team. Great feature to have around, I just don't personally care for it that much.

Cameras -- 1/10

Cameras aren't very good in sports games. You're either real far from the action with vision, or close up with no idea as to what is going on. Now I'm not saying the camera is bad, but the camera view I need just isn't there. I need a camera that's third person directly behind the player I'm controlling. So I can see my guy close up and always see everything in front of him. So instead of staring at my player's chest all game long on defense, I'll actually have the ability to line up a block from behind my defender. Is that asking too much? But this game doesn't have this camera view that I'm speaking of(no sports game does).

Replay Value -- 7/10

I know I've given the game low ratings, but it is addictive. Even though the realism isn't as great as other reviewer's claim and even with a lot of things that I don't care for, it's fun to play. You just have to get used to it. Once you accept the button layout, get used to how the game is played, and start getting into a season, you'll find yourself wanting to play just one more game. And you more often than not will squeeze in one more game before you quit.

Summation --

Is this a true basketball sim?

No, lots of things will strike you as being different from what's normally seen in games. A guy getting hot on three pointers will almost never come up in NBA 2K and blocking dunks happens with mad frequency. This in addition to problems I've already mentioned earlier.

The stats won't always look real either. The points per game leader which everyone knows will be Allen Iverson(in real life) is often a surprise and most of the time the leader has only 20 points per game as an average, instead of a more realistic 25 to 30 points per game. Assists per game is also way out of proportion.

Is this game fun?

Yes, you'll enjoy the computer AI and difficulty levels, in addition to the graphics.

Should you buy this game?

Yes.

I bought this game and do not regret it. The graphics and overlays lend very well to the overall presentation of the game and keep you tuned into the action. But if you strip away the flashy graphics, you'll find that it's not much better than a 1st generation Playstation game. In fact, lots of things are worse(specifically player ratings being mysteriously absent). But since the graphics act as the glue that holds the game together, you'll learn to forgive the games downfalls and will probably enjoy the presentation of the game enough to not even notice some of the things I've mentioned.

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 02/25/00, Updated 02/25/00