NBA 2K2 on Sega Dreamcast

Somewhere along the line I missed out on the 2001 edition, but NBA 2K2 improves upon NBA 2K graphically – a little – and sonically to a degree, but more of that in a mo.

As before, there many an option as well keeping itself as up-to-date as possible and packed with statistic. In fact, in that respect there’s everything a basketball fan could ask for.

There’s many different ways to play the game: Season takes you through a full NBA season if you feel like it but that’s a maximum of 82 games, although options of 14, 28 and 56 are also available, Franchise, which puts you in a game style akin to those football manager games… but as a basketball manager.. obviously. As well as Exhibition matches and Tournaments, there’s a series of Street courts based on real locations and there’s also a Practice option.

You may not understand all the NBA rules but even still you can alter some of them, make substitutions, change the camera views (eg. TV cameras, side-on, isometric and swivel), take timeouts and that’s only just for starters. There’s also an excellent Replay option which allows you to move the viewpoint all around the court as if you were literally a fly-on-the-wall. You can then turn back time or speed it up and view the fully-animated crowd. Brief replays are also viewable when you or your opponents score but these can be skipped.

Whether playing the game or viewing the customisable replay option, the graphics are very good indeed, well-detailed and colourful. The players move quickly around the court and it’s quite something to see a crowd that’s animated and not just sitting there still while making sounds like a ventriloquist’s dummy.

The sound seems better than before and rather atmospheric, while doing everything you’d expect. The crowd cheer when you score (on the odd occasion that I actually shoot a basket that goes in), the ball bounces on the court and there’s a running commentary throughout the game.

While there is a side-on camera view, I’d still like to play a version based on the side-on stick man version a la the old Atari arcade game which would go the way of the ZX Spectrum and bleep out a rendition of “Sweet Georgie Brown”. Oh, how the memories flood back as I remember that sound pouring out of the arcade halls in the early 80’s!

In this version, it’s still too easy to pass to your team-mate. I appreciate that such a game has to introduce an element of arcade into it but as the ball finds its designated player it doesn’t seem to replicate any of the skill that a real basketball player would go through.

Two years on and I’m still finding it impossible to snatch the ball off an opponent. I only managed to accidentally knock them over and pay the penalty of watching them take a penalty shot. Apparently the game has a new steal system and (I quote) “a revamped low post game allowing the player to exploit the defender with lightning quick drop step moves, back him down for a rim-rattling dunk, or shoot a sweet fade away jumper.”

If you can understand that, then you’re a better man than I.

Perhaps I’m just crap at basketball games on consoles, although in the dim and distant past when I was at school I tried a shot from the centre of the indoor court (not quite the size of the NBA one on view here) even though the sun was creeping into the corner of my eye on the right-hand side. Somehow I got the shot perfectly straight and through the hoop it went. Well, that’s my fifteen minutes of fame…

Presumably this will be the last NBA title on the Dreamcast, but no doubt they will appear on other consoles as Sega continue to write games for them and update their sports titles on an annual basis.

GRAPHICS
SOUND EFFECTS AND MUSIC
PLAYABILITY
ORIGINALITY
ENJOYMENT



OVERALL