NBA 2K2

"More 1337 than you'd think."

I never have been a person who was into sports games. I always thought that they were pointless, bland, and boring. I always thought I needed a more exciting game. But, I had never played a sports game… Until my 13th birthday. My mom had rented two games, NBA 2K2 and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. Being obviously biased against sports games, I picked Harry Potter first. Of course, I felt sorry for the poor NBA 2K2, so I decided to give it a chance. I, despite what I thought in the past, ended up liking it.

But this isn’t my biography, is it? I’m supposed to be reviewing the game. So… the graphics are okay, yet not all that great. The backgrounds are nice. The floor is shiny, and realistic, the walls are nice, I like the basketball hoops, when the ball goes in, it’s very detailed. The only complaint I really had was with the audience, which is all blocky and weird. But what I didn’t like were the characters. The characters weren’t detailed enough, the walking animation looked funny, and in addition, when their faces move, there’s no smoothness, they just go from face to face with no animation. Overall, I guess I’d give the graphics a 7/10, which would be higher if the characters looked better.

The music… um, the only music is in street mode and during the menus, and it’s just rap, but for some reason I think it’s the only rap I can stand. The sound is nice, and realistic. The ball bouncing, the swish of the ball going into the hoop, the sound of the players’ shoes rubbing against the floor… It comes in at exactly the right time. But, of course, there are the announcers. They’re good, at the start… but after a few games it gets old, fast. But if you don’t like it, you can always turn it off. Overall, the sound gets an 8/10 without the voice, 4/10 otherwise.

The controls are responsive, but complicated. It takes a lot of time to learn, and the button layout could have been more comfortable. And then there’s the camera. It’s nice, really. I like the flipping when teams change, so you know what teams turn it is. But, if you don’t like the camera, it’s completely customizable. You can choose from a ton of different angles, and customize more settings, so hey, it’s all good. The controls get a 7/10. Bad controls, good camera.

But we shan’t forget the most important part of the game, shan’t we? The actual gameplay is great. Really. In the game, you get to choose from 30+ teams, and even make your own. There’s gotta be 100+ characters, and you can make your own there too. So, in the actual game, you get to choose. Are you going to make different strategies, follow the rules, and beat the opponent using your brain? Or, are you going to play freeform, be creative, be different, and just throw the ball, and defend? Complex or simple, Brain or brawn, it’s your choice. It’s a typical basketball game, but SEGA SPORTS makes a really fun game out of it.

Most of all, there’s customization. There’s the create a player mode, and create a team mode. I LOVE the create a player mode. Almost everything is customizable, from size, to skin color, to how good of a player he is, to jersey number, to design, and even what hand he is! I’ve used this to make original character. Both realistic, ‘gee I wish that were a real NBA player’ type characters, to wacky, weird, unusual character designs. And sometimes, I’ve recreated people from other games, and people from real life. The create a team mode is your basic, and simple create a team mode, but there’s really not that much to make in teams, then again. The lack of creating custom team colors sort of annoys me. Overall, the gameplay gets a 10/10. It’s just that awesome.

And then, there’s the replay value. Most likely, you’ll be coming back for more. The great gameplay doesn’t get old fast, and the custom create a team and player modes are easy to learn, yet very big. Mostly, game will keep you playing for a while. Heck, even I play it still sometimes.

Overall, the game is a really great game, but with many minor inconsistencies that make the experience a little less exciting. But, it’s very fun… if you’re a fan of sports, or basketball, definitely buy, and even not you should at least rent. Overall, the game itself gets a nine out of ten. A very good game.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 11/09/03