The number one question readers have asked me regarding NBA 2K, is whether or not it contains a Franchise Mode. Well it doesn't, so get over it. Next year all of VC's sports titles are scheduled to include the feature, but for now, we have no choice. Specifically, if you have seen NFL 2K, you pretty much know what to expect in terms of general options, features and user interface. It's literally identical. Despite the lack of a Franchise Mode, NBA 2K still contains enough modes to keep most basketball fans happy. You have your obligatory Season, Playoff and Exhibition modes in addition to the ever useful Practice mode. Practice allows you to choose a team, and just play around on an open court. You can test your offensive and defensive moves, familiarize yourself with the controls, set up plays, practice slamming, ally-ooping, full court shots, etc. Think of it as a fighting game style training mode, adapted for Basketball.

One of the coolest features in NBA 2K is the Team/Player Creation mode. The game gives you the freedom to create your own team, with totally customized players that you "build" yourself. You choose from different heads, arms, legs, skin, hair, accessories, sizes, weights and shapes. When you have a player together, you can then tweak each body part individually, to create either a realistic looking human, or some freaky 7" alien with huge hands, pencil thin arms, and large bulging knees. Visual Concepts basically gives you access to their own character production tools. Player creation doesn't just stop there. You then need to choose and adjust individual attributes, and there are most definitely enough to go through.

Play control is a point at which most people seem to disagree on. NBA 2K plays really well, in my opinion. But it may be a bit too arcade-like (in the same way as NFL 2K) for those expecting a sim. By arcade, I mean centered around offensive. I am not sure if it is done on purpose or not, but to keep players away from the paint, you have to play near perfect defense. If you don't, expect your opponent to make many drives to the hoop. In general, most Offensive and Defensive moves are pulled off with relative ease. There are two issues however; Directional Passing and Play Calling. Directional Passing with accuracy is tricky. You have to be pretty precise when pointing towards the intended ball receiver with the analog stick. If you are sloppy, chances of passing in the wrong direction or throwing it away, are great. You are given the option to Icon Pass anytime in the game. Just hit "Y", and press the button that corresponds with the icon above the player's heads. This may be preferred by those that aren't crazy about the Directional Passing scheme. Play Calling, which some people don't even bother using, is called up by tapping the direction pad on the controller. You are given a small option box with offensive or defensive plays, and you must then quickly choose one. The Play Calling is real time, meaning you must deal with the above sequence as you dribble the ball and navigate the court. The problem is, trying to tap the d-pad while controlling the player with the analog stick is tricky. The DC controller does not give easy access to both d-pad and analog simultaneously, and it can screw you up.

Those are honestly my only issues with NBA 2K, and they can't obviously be overlooked. The rest of the game is just perfection. As many have already heard, the graphics are among the best ever. Silky smooth 60fps, an insane amount of animation, and beautifully rendered and textured arenas. The players are really well modeled, and the faces are just perfect. Seeing Shaq smile, frown, blink, look around, and make a victorious expression while and after dunking, is surreal. All the players have their own real-life faces, tattoos, goggles and accessories. Detail is the key word here.

The people in the crowd, while not polygonal are hands down, the best I have ever seen. Visual Concepts used a ton of individual, well animated character sprites and populated each and every seat in the arenas with them. The best part is, they don't just sit there cycling through three boring frames of animation. Depending on the situation, they individually, stand up, cheer, wave their arms, sit down, etc. The crowd truly looks alive, and was at least worth a mention.

As with NFL 2K, the audio is near perfect. The commentators have a large vocabulary, and do a good job at covering the game and filling in where there would be only white noise. Occasionally, they can't keep up with an especially speedy sequence, but it is not too often.