The strong combo of Sega and Visual Concepts brings the best hoops game to the PS2.
For the last few years it has been undeniable what the best Basketball franchise was. Fortunately or unfortunately, depending on if you owned a Dreamcast, you could engulf yourself in the experience that was the NBA 2K series. For all those schmucks who didn't give Sega it's props and missed out on their short lived yet incredible machine, now's your chance to play the game, with NBA 2K2 for the PlayStation 2.
The PS2 visuals show a slight upgrade over the already well done Dreamcast engine, the plus side is that no other PS2 round ball game comes close to this monster. You have it all here, fantastic presentation, incredible player animations, superb player models, great crowd animations, and even real time antics off to the side with coaches, players and cheerleaders. On top of the great overall NBA experience is a nice street ball addition. Unlike those other street titles, this version is genuine sim. No over the top, breaking the sound barrier slam-dunks here, and you can choose from 2 on 2, up to 5 on 5! There are even a good number of actual street venues to play in. There's definitely room for improvement graphically, but nonetheless, 2K2 is still the best-looking PS2 game in town.
Audio is also unmatched with stellar play-by-play commentary. While not as precise as their NFL title, the color man stays pretty informative. All your courtside sounds are present as well, including a very interactive crowd, who's in the game when you are hot, and quiet when you are not. Add in ambiences like trash talking and celebration music and you have a pretty complete package. Heck, if you aren't a fan of play by play, the stadium announcer will do you just fine as well. Off the court the sounds in street ball are wonderful, providing the authentic sounds of the street. (Ambulances, cars, no crowd banter, lots of smack talking) You can't really ask much more of this audio team, as they've got it down. For you fantasy boys, the announcer even calls out create a player names. (Within reason i.e. common names.)
Gameplay is where the 2K2 franchise has always shined. Get ready to meet your maker, as the A.I. is astounding. Anyone who can claim that they can defeat the CPU with great ease on the most difficult level is a God in my opinion. The game lets you in with a subtle challenge on rookie, on pro they will start showing some new techniques, but bump it up one more and they make you their bitch. The computer also makes accurate fouls under the basket and when the game's on the line. One can't blame the controls either as they are spot on. One thing most complain about the series is the free throw shooting, as they find it a little hard. I personally love it, as you aren't always guaranteed the automatic bucket. The game does take into account how well a particular player makes it from the line, but you still have to line it up correctly, which is still done by pressing both analog sticks inward to line up arrows to the basket. Gamers who want to take the ball to the hole every time, look elsewhere as this game will make you think, and make you stink in the process.
NBA 2K2 doesn't skimp in the options department either, providing a slew of game play modes. Exhibition, Season, Practice, Street Ball, Creating players and teams, and Franchise modes give up a near complete package. Next year let's add the All Star competition games like the Slam Dunk and 3 Point Shootout. Like NFL 2K2 my one MAJOR complaint is you still can't incorporate your create a player, or team for that matter, into the franchise mode. Why the need for this omission? You'd figure after 3 tries they'd get it right? Oh well, that is a small quibble to some, but to fantasy fans like myself it's a biggie. If the game wasn't so damn good, I would have been harsher on the final score. As is though, NBA 2K2 offers more than you could want in a game to keep you happy till next year.
Overall NBA 2K2 has set the bar for the rest of those basketball titles. No one has even come close to capturing the fundamentals of the game like this series does. If you are a fan, by all means stop reading this and grab this title if you haven't already.
