Nobody enjoys spending hard-earned cash on a new game only to beat or tire of it too quickly. Gamers who have stopped buying sports titles due to stagnant gameplay and new features whose biggest asset is the updated rosters might want to reconsider for NBA 2K9. 2K's latest is one of the deepest sports games ever.
While the concept of including some 'street' modes in a basketball game is nothing new, 2K9's NBA Blacktop is almost a separate game within the game. Blacktop houses five modes of its own and a deep roster of players; including celebrities and past NBA legends alongside the current players. The obvious 'pickup games' mode gives you more options than you might think, from one on one upwards to five on five. The gameplay does not change much from the normal sim-style NBA game, but there are no fouls called. Without revised gameplay mechanics, the simulation style of the league games is not what you expect, or want, in a playground setting. 21 has the similar problems. Lacking the rapid speed of an arcade style game, players seem sluggish when defending or tracking down rebounds. The two modes work as a minor diversion, but you will likely move on after trying them each once or twice.
Outside of a game environment, the three-point and dunk contests fare much better. The three-point contest allows up to four players to test their long-range accuracy, with the familiar ball rack and money ball format. It forces you to work with the 'skill shot', turning off the standard buttons. You pull back on the right stick and release when the player is at the top of their jump. The different camera angles and shooting styles of the players give you plenty of practice with the controls. Skill shot is child's play compared to the dunk contest controls. What starts as very frustrating does have a great payoff, yielding a fantastic variety of dunks.
The lack of dribbling makes the drive to the hole awkward, but pressing the right stick in any direction as you approach the basket starts your jump. Before your player actually leaves the ground, you push the same stick in another direction to decide your in-air style. If successful, you will leap towards the rim, at which time you must hit the right-trigger when the vertical dunk meter is in the target zone. Pull all three pieces off successfully, and you have yourself a dunk. Failing to do any of the three pieces correctly results missed dunks and failed take-offs. Brave souls who master the controls will find props to jump over, further impressing the judges. Thankfully, there is a dunk school mode for struggling ballers to practice.
Once you are done on the playground, you have a couple of more indoor modes to attack. The season mode is standard, allowing up to eight players and an optional fantasy draft to kick the season off. You have the ability to set your team's rotation by assigning minutes of gametime to each player, but most of the other coaching and general manager duties are absent; including free agency and trades. What the season mode lacks, The Association makes up for. The Association is 2K9's franchise mode, delivering a rich, detailed experience as deep as you want it to be. You can easily assign tasks for the computer to handle instead, for those who just want to play the games. Even the most veteran sports game fans may turn off a task or two, as the level of detail packed into the general manager duties is jaw dropping.
Contract negotiations have never felt so real, with high-level concepts like the NBA’s ‘Bird years’ rules making it into the game. You can offer team or player options at the end of a contract, to either entice them to sign or give your team a chance to hold onto a possible breakout player. Each contract offer carries a role on the team, to set expectations on playing time and workload. Promising a player a starting role and then parking them on the bench will lead to an unhappy player, and a negative hit to their attributes. You also have the task of hiring and firing all your staff, including the trainer and scouts to judge upcoming college talent. Just before the draft, you can run the players through various workouts. From general shootarounds to five on five scrimmages, you have a full week worth of activities to test drive the players you are targeting for the draft. The workouts and pre-draft scouting makes the draft itself more realistic and less of a crapshoot.
The Association's main page is a faux version of NBA.com, serving as your central hub for all standings, statistics, and news involving all the league's players and teams. You can view news items by league or team, giving you access to every team’s box scores and player news. Stats for just about every category are easily accessible, including season and playoff game records for each team. More impressive are the individual player cards, giving you a deep look into the stats, attributes, and contract desires of each player in the league. Players will voice their concerns or happiness, and inform you if they are going to test the free agency market when their contract expires. Trades are now available between three teams, giving you more flexibility when dealing with the complexities of the NBA salary cap.
