I first came to know the joy of two on two arcade basketball back in the 1900s. Those were simpler times when all one needed was a turbo button, a shoot button and a digital rim to catch your player after somersaulting six or seven times on the way to a fiery monster dunk. I remember I once literally broke the mind of a friend’s younger brother with a full court buzzer beater to win by one. That kid was never the same. And honestly, arcade basketball has not been the same since either. This is a good thing, though. Where once we only had a fairly thin but flashy experience, new titles have fleshed out the potential of the genre. Now we have a greater depth of control, power ups and even online play. All that and just a smidge more are awaiting you in NBA 2K Playgrounds 2.
Those who enjoyed the original NBA Playgrounds will be pleased to see the core formula remains intact. Take to the court with a couple of ballers making use of fantastical acrobatics to cross up, lay up and of course dunk on digital hoopsters. All of these feats are fairly easy to accomplish thanks to a largely simple, responsive control scheme. These flashy scoring displays not only add points to the scoreboard, they also earn you in-game currency called Baller Bucks. You need the Baller Bucks to purchase card packs. And you need the card packs to unlock players for each of the rosters in the game. Not just one or two players, mind you. The majority of the rosters will be empty when you first start the game. Folks who do not mind the steady grind of working through successive matches to scrape together enough Baller Bucks to open packs will find a cornucopia of delight awaiting them in NBA 2K Playgrounds 2. Should you prefer immediate gratification, though, you can spend an additional $9.99 in the in-game store to unlock all rosters. Earning Baller Bucks is not terribly difficult. You earn a steady clip per game so that after two or three games, you are able to at least grab a bronze level pack.
Your pursuit of Baller Bucks will lead you through one of a handful of game options in NBA 2K Playgrounds 2. The obligatory exhibition mode that is a staple of all sports titles is included. So any time you need a quick one-off game you can easily scratch that itch. The new season mode lets you take a team through a short season of 14 games. Should you make the playoffs, you will play best of three series each round. And if you win the championship, you then get to unlock a legendary player for your team. When I completed my undefeated romp through the regular season with Utah’s Donovan Mitchell and Ricky Rubio, my triumph over the Heat in the finals unlocked Jazz legend ‘Pistol’ Pete Maravich. His shooting prowess will be a welcome addition to the roster.
In addition to the exhibition and season modes, you also get the Three Point Contest and Playground Championship. The former is exactly what you expect. A three point contest. Not a lot to it really. But the latter is your ranked multiplayer option. Take your squad online and test your skills against ballers. You can go it solo with CPU assistance or jump into a match with three other friends. Same core experience. Now with leaderboards. And maybe friends!
So speaking of the basic, core gameplay, it does deliver. Most of the time. Where it occasionally hits a snag is with the CPU controlled players. Whether they are on your team or not. The game AI can suddenly go out to lunch leaving you with strange situations. The most common of which for me was the pull up jumper where a dunk was expected. Charging the lane, no defender in sight and when I should see dunk…I see jump shot. This would almost invariably be followed by a possession in which the same player would somehow pull off a spinning, rolling, sparking lay-up. From the top of the key. With a defender smothering him. Another head scratcher for me was when I first encountered Lakers Legend Shaquille O’Neal during my barnstorming tour of the regular season with the Utah Jazz. The real Shaq made only one three point shot in his entire career. You can imagine my surprise when the in-game Shaq, presumably modeled on the real Shaq, hit a three. On his first possession. Not long after this, the in-game Shaq whose real life counterpart is eighth all time in blocks completely whiffs when going to swat a lazy, slow flying lay-up. I mean, I get this is an arcade title. But Shaq making a three before missing a block should not be possible. In any game. Arcade or not.
One other glaring issue with the game is the lack of a theater mode or even a simple instant replay. NBA 2K Playgrounds 2 is beautiful. The stylish, exaggerated player designs and the colorful environments are truly a treat to see. The wild, over the top dunks are also a feast for the eyes. So why not give players a means by which they can pause and review the spectacle? I would have truly loved being able to savor my more memorable moments. Sure, my console has a way to capture video. But it often has its own issues. And I do not want to have to kick out to a system app just to get a second look at a monster jam.
Let’s break it down:
SUMMARY – NBA 2K Playgrounds 2 offers a solid arcade experience. This title does not yield any significant advancements for the genre or the series itself. Instead, it takes elements from other sports titles, scales them down and wraps it all up in a fetching, exaggerated aesthetic.
GAMEPLAY – Straight forward, accessible arcade basketball. The game plays just slightly down tempo than NBA Jam. But not enough that it seems slow. Great controls enhance the enjoyment.
PRESENTATION – Solidly solid. The art style is the strongest aspect of the presentation. The caricature style designs of the players are very well down and often amusing.
VALUE – So this depends a lot on the type of person playing the game. If you are the sort of gamer driven by the desire to unlock items, upgrades, etc., you will find this title is worth a healthy amount of attention. You start out with so few players that you will have to invest a nice chunk of time unlocking every player for each roster. Then again, if you are the sort that is fine ponying up the extra ten bucks to have all rosters unlocked, there is little here beyond a the chance to twirl in the air for a few minutes at a time.
FUN FACTOR – NBA 2K Playgrounds 2 is pure pick-up and play fun. Best enjoyed in short stints, the experience can wear thin quickly as the different game modes offer little variety.
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