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NBA 2K15 Review

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Yes guys, it is Basketball time once more! I’m still not the biggest 2K fan out there, but I will admit that they spared no expense with this one. There’s even more content than usual and of course the graphics are really good as always. There’s really nothing to dislike here so as long as you like Basketball then you’re gonna be in for a pretty great experience.

As always I started out with the classic Play Now mode. It’s always a good way to quickly get used to the controls and just get yourself acquainted with the game. I’m still not quite ready to take on the higher difficulties here as normal mode is enough for the computers to start to overwhelm me. I was doing pretty good, but gradually the small lead the computer had kept getting bigger and bigger. By the end of the game it was a genuine blowout. I tried adjusting mid-game but it’s definitely easier said than done.

The main issue here is the fact that on offense I am definitely not guaranteed to score and that’s always a bad thing since I can’t really stop the computer all that consistently. Sure, I can stop them here and there, but they score almost every time and I’m typically scoring 50% of the time. It’s odd that I’m missing so much so In know that I’m getting something wrong as opposed to the shot% just being really low here. It seems like there is some kind of shot meter like in some of the newer NBA games only it is invisible unlike those. So make sure you’re timing your shots since that seems important.

Even with that it is tough to get the shots because you need to learn how the mechanics work for all the various situations. A lot of times I would try to get a shot off but the player would try to dodge someone so the shot didn’t go off. It definitely takes a lot of practice. You also can’t get away with the risky passes you might have tried in the normal NBA games because here they’ll steal the ball almost every time. The defense is relentless.

On the other hand, it’s hard to stop the team when they’re on offense. Most of the time you’re just hoping that they’ll miss the shot and you can get the rebound. Of course, rebounds are really tough here. On one hand I almost always got the rebounds when I would miss a shot, but by the same token they would tend to get their own rebounds as well. Defense just felt almost impossible at times, but that’s usually how it is for me.

So, I decided to play some more of the bonus content here that I usually don’t really touch upon. One of these was the franchise mode. In this one you start out as a new recruit in college and you play one game before the actual draft starts. It’s pretty interesting since you’re an actual player so you can’t just keep on jumping around like you would in a normal game. You have to just play the game as a selfish player constantly asking for the ball or just waiting for your opportunity. I tried being selfish since it’s not like I was going to be playing this for a long time anyway. I ended up getting an F grade….so that didn’t work out well.

From there you go to the draft and then some actual interviews which was pretty interesting. I do love the concept as this makes the realism grow to even greater heights. It’s hard to imagine the games getting even more realistic than this. It’s the full draft experience, but the one thing I don’t like is that you can’t skip the cutcenes. You get 3 interviews back to back and I like how you have different options for your answers, but it is very long so if you don’t care and just want to get into the action you’ll be waiting for quite a while.

Meanwhile the graphics are naturally top tier as always. You won’t have any complaints here for sure. The players are naturally on point and on model. The court is clear and a lot of effort was put in here as per usual. The soundtrack is definitely less inspired. It’s pretty much the same as per usual but either way you’re in it for the Basketball right? The soundtrack would just be a bonus.

There’s pretty much endless replay value here as you can keep on playing the various basketball matches or you can jump into these various franchise modes. I probably prefer the classic Basketball gameplay the best, but I do think the novelty of sticking to one player could definitely be a lot of fun as well. I don’t know about being pulled out of the game though, that seems like it would be annoying pretty quick. Then of course you’ve also got the PS3 trophies to earn so you’ll definitely be here for a while. I didn’t try the online, but since this is 2K15 I wonder if the servers are still up. I definitely don’t know for sure though so don’t count on the online still being active just in case.

Overall, NBA 2K15 is probably the definitive installment in the 2K series. At least from the ones I’ve played. The gameplay still isn’t quite as fast paced or intense as the NBA ones in my opinion. It’s definitely a very different take and for longtime fans of the 2K series I’m sure they’ll love it. It’ll take a little longer for the normal NBA fans to get into it of course, but once you do then you’ll see the great amount of depth that is to be found here. I’d recommend picking this one up and soon I’ll be playing the older installments so it’ll be fun to see how the game has evolved over the years.

Overall 8/10

College Hoops 2K7 Review

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It’s time to play my first 2k title in quite a while. People really tend to like this series quite a bit even though I’ve never been a particularly big fan of it. 2k definitely feels more realistic with its controls but as a result it is a lot slower and less intuitive. You won’t be able to just run up to the basket and score here. Instead you will be having to think or plays and strategies if you want to win.

Despite being a different series 2k has most of the usual modes that you would expect to see. One of these is a simple quick match of course and then you’ve got the season mode. You can practice your skills as well and as you play you will unlock achievements. This was a welcome addition to the game even if the achievements don’t necessarily translate into trophies. This may have been before that era as I don’t think I got any trophies despite beating quite a few achievements. Hey, it’s not easy landing 3 3 point shots in a row!

The graphics definitely look pretty good here as well. I’d say that 2K is going for a bit of a grittier look than the NBA titles and since it’s a college title it makes sense that it would be a little less refined than the NBA stadiums. The game definitely still holds up though. There’s not much of a soundtrack as per usual but that’s not a really big deal.

As I mentioned earlier the gameplay is a lot more difficult here. Don’t expect to jump to the highest difficulty level and take names as you might in the other version. Here even the default difficulty will show you no mercy as it goes in for the win. I found that the best thing to do if you can stop the opponent at times is to simply go for 3 point shots. You’ll make more than you miss and the fact that you get more points than the basic shot will balance things out. Of course the key part here is being able to stop the computer consistently. If you can’t do that then this will only lead to your inevitable demise. If you can’t stop them and have to resort to a shoot out then you need to win the battles inside the paint. Go with quick passes to dunks or close shots. Those have a good success rate and at that point you just have to watch out for steals. I don’t really know how to prevent them but the quicker you release the ball the more likely it is that you’ll be okay.

I’m not all that familiar with how college basketball rules differ from the NBA but it does seem like there are only two quarters (called halfs) rather than 4. Maybe that’s just a game thing but I feel like it’s unlikely the video game would change up the rules like that. It’s a lot more likely that at the college level they just switched it up. This may also determine how much you enjoy the game since a lot of NBA fans don’t necessarily care about the college level and vice versa. You may not be quite as invested in a game that has the same gameplay as one of your favorites but without the character. As long as you’re just a big fan of the sport in general you should be fine though.

Overall, This is a pretty solid Basketball game. As always you can play this for a long time without getting bored as there is a good amount of replay value and every match is a little different. At the same time if you are a casual basketball player then this game will likely get frustrating at times because of how relentless the computer is. They definitely won’t be cutting you a break here that’s for sure. You can buy the game for a buck or two so check it out and let me know if it does best the NBA titles for you.

Overall 7/10

NCAA 08 March Madness Review

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It’s time to look at another basketball game. This one takes us to the college level of the sport rather than the NBA. Maybe this was intentional although I’m not sure, but the pace of the game is a lot slower. The players don’t move as quickly and you won’t be nailing the 3 point shots with ease. I’m guessing a whole lot of this is just placebo, but it’s definitely something that I felt like I noticed. I didn’t like it as much as the NBA games, but it’s still Basketball so you really can’t go wrong here.

There are the usual assortment of modes here, but you’ll probably want to get right into the matches. A new gimmick here is that before the game starts you can play a minigame where you try to score as many points as possible on your own and see if you can pass the total that the other team got. I was able to win the first minigame but then when trying to top the score from the final difficulty I couldn’t even get all that close. You need a lot of crazy skills to really go that far. It’s a fun little thing to make the game more unique.

Then we’ve got the actual basketball gameplay which is basically what you would expect from the others. You run up and down the field and try to make as many baskets as possible. Whoever scores the most wins. Passing and shooting is pretty basic and there are no meters so you just have to try and get the timing done. I really do prefer it that way so no meter is definitely fine by me. As I mentioned the speed is a bit slower so you’re going to want to do more passing here. Just running up the middle is definitely not going to cut it here. They’ll steal the ball like it’s nobody’s business.

Defense definitely feels extremely important here. I had a hard time stealing the ball, but the other team was definitely really good at it. There’s also a new technique you can do where you just lunge for the opponent’s ball. 9/10 times this will just result in a foul, but otherwise it is a guaranteed steal. Seems way too risky to be reliable, but maybe there’s actually a way to do it safely. If so, then that’s definitely a game changing move and you’re gonna want to have that one when you face off against real opponents.

This is usually where I’d throw in a tip but I basically got steamrolled when I fought the computer on the hardest difficulty. I won on the weaker one no prob, but on this mode I just couldn’t stop them and they would stop me about half the time. As a result the gap in the score just kept on growing. I guess your best bet is to try and anticipate who the computer is going to pass it to and make the steal that way. Otherwise they definitely aren’t going to miss many shots and even when they do their guy is always ready on the rebound. Stealing is always a tempting option of course, but foul them too many times and you’re going to see their free throws going up. Just as you won’t miss those (because they’re easy) the computer won’t either. Winning in a full on shootout like that is probably not going to work.

The graphics here are definitely pretty good. I’d say that they hold up pretty well personally. You won’t be distracted during the game or anything like that. If anything it’ll just hone your focus even more and make you ready for the sport. The songs aren’t memorable or catchy though so there’s not much to say on the soundtrack. This is par for the course with basketball games in general though. You’re not exactly buying a game like this to listen to the soundtrack.

As far as replay value goes there is a lot to do here. You can play basketball games for hours and starting a franchise is definitely not something that will end over night. That being said, as long as NBA exists there isn’t a whole lot of reason to play this one. I suppose if you’re just really into College Basketball in particular then it makes sense to get this one. Otherwise I just don’t imagine there will be a large audience for these games over the NBA ones. While it’s a minor point, I also like the NBA’s faster pace for the gameplay.

Overall, This was a fun game. It’s not exactly a game changer, but it’s always fun to have another sport title. I don’t really see this series around anymore so I get the feeling that it probably ended. I definitely have at least one more college basketball game coming up though so we’ll see how it stacks up to this one. It may feel like the sport games never end, but I only have around 30 left. Once Basketball ends it’ll probably slow down quite a bit though as I just don’t enjoy the other sports quite as well. All in all, I recommend this game, but you’re better off just sticking to NBA for the definitive basketball experience. That or 2K, that one is also supposed to be really good although I’ll find out for myself soon.

Overall 7/10

NBA Live 09 Review

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It’s time for another NBA game! This one’s actually a bit of a jump since the last one I played was 07 and this one is 09. The reason for that is I own two versions of 08 and I’m trying to find out if it is actually the same game or if they differ at all. If they are the same then I’ll only play one of them. On the whole I actually preferred 09 to 07 although the A.I. definitely is a little odd here.

It’s the classic Basketball rules so I can skim over that. The main gameplay difference here is the removal of the big wheel before each shot from 07. Instead you do have a bit of a meter on the ground, but it’s really hard to see it. It seems to be more of an acknowledgement that you made the shot or didn’t. So, in this way it feels a lot more like the older Basketball games which works for me. It just feels a lot more natural to just go for the shot instead of looking at a meter to see if it’s the right timing for it. I made less shots of course, but I think it was worth it.

In my first game the computer was surprisingly beating me. At first the score was very close as I was keeping pace but the gap gradually got larger as I couldn’t stop them at all and eventually they would start to stop me from scoring. I was mainly shocked because I thought that I had set the difficulty to the lowest setting for the first game. For the sport titles I like starting off easy and then increasing the difficulty. However, it turns out that I chose the second difficulty level instead of the first. So, I guess I felt a little better about keeping it even.

However, here’s where it got a little weird. For the second game I jumped to the highest difficulty level to see how badly they would be swatting me around. Instead I actually was up by around 30 points when the game wrapped up. How is this possible? Well, there were probably a few factors here. On one hand, I had more experience on both sides of the ball now. On defense I wasn’t going to be stealing any balls so I just stuck to the defender. On this difficulty the computer goes for quite a lot of shots, but surprisingly their accuracy didn’t get any better so they miss a lot and then I’d get the ball. Then on offense I wouldn’t go for anything fancy. I’d just try for shots when I was close and most of them would land.

The main difference here is that on lower difficulties the computer would just go for the easy shots while on this mode they seemed to take the shot as soon as they were within range of the 3 pointer. They made some of them, but missed the rest. I assume this has to not be intentional since there’s no way you should lose to the equivalent of standard mode and then take down very hard. Maybe if I was better at the game I would have done worse in the final difficulty, similar to how it is in Super Smash Bros. It’s better in that game to spam smash attacks against level 9 computers then going for combos. Whatever the case, I will admit that it was pretty cool to take down the A.I. for the count.

The graphics are definitely pretty sharp as always. The presentation is a little more elaborate here than in the other one. At the same time, it’s all pretty skippable so I think the game did a good job with that. It feels professional but very optional which I think is always the perfect balance for sport games like this to have the presentation but not to make it mandatory. If it’s too long then it’ll take away from the fun.

As always it goes without saying that there is a whole lot of replay value to be found here. The Basketball games are all unique so you can do a bunch of matches and not get bored. Furthermore, there are minigames to consider and you can start a franchise. It’s always pretty much the same modes but they’re all the core content you would expect. There’s only so much you can do in a Basketball game…or only so much you would want to do. That being said, I wouldn’t mind some spinoff modes like having the basketball players play with a Football or a Baseball as they try to land it in the hoop. Little mini modes like that would be fun for the novelty.

Overall, NBA 09 is definitely a powerful entry in the series. Longtime fans of the NBA games may not see a whole lot of new content which is a fair point against the game. However, it’s not good to change these titles just for the sake of changing them so to that end I’m glad that it’s still the same ole game that I remember. It’s consistent gameplay and win or lose it is a blast to play. I look forward to playing the next few NBA titles and seeing how they stack up as well.

Overall 8/10

NBA 07 Review

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All right! It’s finally time to get into some of the Basketball titles! Next to Football this sport has always fought it out with Tennis for being the next most enjoyable one. There’s just a lot of fun to be had in Basketball and the games are always nice and fast paced. I feel like my fundamentals from 2003 hold up fairly well although there have definitely been some changes to the gameplay since then. I can’t say that they are for the better, but they are the kinds of changes that make the game deeper so I’m sure I would like them if I played more often.

If you know the game of Basketball then you basically already know how the gameplay is gonna work. The goal here is to score more points than your opponent. You score points by firing the ball into the basket and naturally you want to prevent the opponent from doing this as well. To that end the controls are a little more straight forward than the other games. Also, it’s only 5 on 5 I believe so the court never feels all that packed. You can just go in and get the stuff done. That being said, don’t expect to just run up to the opponent and start firing off shots though. You could do that back in the day, but times have changed.

One new addition to the series (At least it wasn’t around in 2003) is a new accuracy meter. When you shoot you need to time the button release just right so you shoot when it’s in the green. That will result in an automatic basket. If it’s yellow then you’ll make the basket more times than not. Any darker color and that’s it for you. This adds an extra layer of difficulty because now even shots that you would normally make won’t be so easy now. On the other hand, if you master it then there’s no way you’ll be losing to the average player. I can respect the developers wanting to give this game a higher skill ceiling, but it is tough for us casuals.

I got the gameplay down pretty well by the end though. I came back from what was a 60 point deficit and only ended up losing by 3 points. It was pretty emotional I’ll admit and I would have been tempted to upload a replay if I had gone further. I went for a high risk approach by the end and just kept going for 3 point shots. I felt like I was getting the timing down pretty well too. Defense is where I really turned it up though. Initially I couldn’t stop the opponent for beans. The problem is that it’s very hard to stay with your man in this game.

The opponent can spin or pass at any given time. If you over extent in trying to stop the opponent then you’ll just end up being stuck behind as they score. I found that the best defensive strategy was to not really do anything. Just let them miss the shot as you stick by or force them to pass and try to intercept. It may not be as exciting, but I found that to be the best way to go. My usual tricks weren’t working otherwise. So that does mean that the defensive side of the game is a little less exciting than usual. I also feel like the game is less explosive in general as you don’t get knocked over when trying to block and there’s less contact. Maybe it’s trying to be like the modern NBA in that respect as all of the sports have less contact now.

Aside from the main mode there are minigames and franchises to start. Pretty much the usual sport modes as those don’t really change from game to game. There’s a lot of content to keep you busy here and in theory just playing the Basketball games is enough to really hold you all the way til the end. Even when I was getting schooled it was just a lot of fun to play the games. In that respect sport games have always been high tier because you’re guaranteed to have a fun time. It’s hard to imagine a Basketball or Football game ever being bad.

Of course the graphics are pretty solid here. There are less cinematics and presentation compared to some of the other sport games, but I wouldn’t be surprised if that starts to change as we get more caught up in the years. This was all the way back with 07 after all so you can only imagine that an NBA 16 will be a lot more modern. The soundtrack is less impressive as it’s your standard EA tunes. They’re fast enough to get you ready I suppose, but that’s about it. Once you’re in the actual matches you don’t have time for such things anyway. You’re 100% focused on winning at that point.

Overall, NBA 07 is definitely a game I highly recommend. I think you can get it for under a dollar nowadays so that’s basically a steal if you ask me. Of course, realistically there isn’t much reason to buy this game when you can probably get 08 or 09 for basically the same price. It’s a solid title, but one that is basically nullified by the newer entries. It’ll definitely be fun to see how the newer titles stack up though. I’ll be playing NBA 08 shortly as I continue this sport marathon.

Overall 8/10