NBA 2K2
- January 09, 2002 10:34 AM PST
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Sega?s latest NBA 2K franchise hits the hardwood of the PlayStation 2 and hopes to be king of the court.
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Now with Emotion
The graphics are a noticeable improvement over the Dreamcast version?s with higher polygon counts, better textures, and new facial animations. The sideline folks are now well represented?although it would have been nice to see the cheerleaders get a bit more active. The major standout, though, is the silky smooth animation that creates a more natural-looking game than Live. The player motions never interfere with the controls and always put the sole responsibility of good and bad plays in your hands.
Fans concerned that the PS2 controller might mess up the intuitive Dreamcast layout can rest assured that it works just as well, if not better, than the Dreamcast pad. The Triangle button puts you in control of the player closest to the basket, and the L1 button stands in for the Left shoulder trigger for backing down opponents. The two major changes are the use of both analog sticks for free throws and the Right Analog Stick to bring up the play call menu. Having to use the digital pad on the Dreamcast to call plays forced you to move your thumb away from the action, but now it?s all good, enabling you to stay in the game. Thankfully, the easy alley-oop button has been done away with for a savvier "pass to the man driving the lane" method, which is the way it should be.
You Said That Already
The audio is one area that suffers from the most uneven effort. The commentaries during the replays are just brilliant and, for the most, part are very well done, highlighting very specific actions. During the game however, the play-by-play starts to get repetitive after just a few games, and it gets only worse the deeper you get into your season. It would have been really nice to hear a lot more "big game" specific references during play-offs or during the last crucial games of a close season, but that could be asking for too much at this point.
The bonus Street mode is one area where sounds could have been given a boost, but that?s forgivable seeing as it?s a cool bonus that?s great fun to play. As an even greater treat, there are four new courts for a total of nine areas to play in.
2K or Not 2K
Saving the best for last, the real star of the game is the stellar A.I. No game rewards you so much for playing smart basketball or punishes you so badly for playing high school ball. It makes all the difference in the world as far as really getting you into the game when your opponent is making timely substitutions and calling shrewd time-outs. In a sense, the A.I. is too good and won?t let a player under its control to be all that bad even if he?s a career bench warmer. He?ll still play as if he came of a 10-year funk and suddenly became Tracy McGrady.
Without a doubt NBA 2K2, is the game to get for PS2-owning simulation fans, but it all seems like a warm-up for a fully revamped return next year. Still, that?s a long way off ,and it?s hard to resist the total package of pretty graphics, solid controls, and a challenging game of round ball that you can pick up today.
