NBA Live 2001

by EA

Product Features

• 2001 NBA basketball game for PS2

Product Details

• ASIN: B00004W4WK
• Product Dimensions: 7.4 x 5.3 x 0.6 inches ; 5.6 ounces
• Media: Video Game
• Average Customer Review: 2.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (128 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #26,393 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)

Product Description

Amazon.com Review

NBA Live 2001 should've been the greatest basketball game on earth, but missing gameplay elements and a few other glitches keep it from superstar status. But despite it all, PS2 owners and longtime NBA Live fans will be hard pressed to find a better hoops game for their console in the foreseeable future.

The first thing players will notice is how the graphics represent such a tremendous leap beyond previous installments of the series. In general, players are nicely animated, and there is a good amount of detail to the arenas. However, the individual-player graphics are uneven. While most of the bodies are well rendered, many of the faces are way off the mark. Virtual Shaquille O'Neal's face looks nothing like the real Shaq's face, and most of the NBA's lesser names are completely unrecognizable. Some marquee players, like Kevin Garnett and Tim Duncan, look fairly authentic.

While the PS2 usually plays an intelligent game of basketball, the controls in NBA Live 2001 have a slightly sluggish feel to them and take some getting used to. Also, EA stripped away both the franchise mode and the NBA challenges (three-point contests, etc.), which had been in previous incarnations of the NBA Live series. There is, however, an excellent one-on-one mode, as well as many legendary NBA players of the past to play with and against.

While NBA Live 2001 doesn't have all we had hoped for in the first pro-basketball PS2 game, it does have enough game to keep you playing all season long. --Mark Brooks

Pros:

• Often brilliant-looking graphics hint at what the PS2 can really do
• Very good hip-hop/funk soundtrack
• Cool one-on-one mode

Cons:

• Many individual players hold no resemblance to their real-world counterparts
• Franchise mode and NBA challenges removed from series
• Somewhat unresponsive controls

Product Description

NBA Live 2001 should've been the greatest basketball game on earth, but missing gameplay elements and a few other glitches keep it from superstar status. But despite it all, PS2 owners and longtime NBA Live fans will be hard pressed to find a better hoops game for their console in the foreseeable future.

The first thing players will notice is how the graphics represent such a tremendous leap beyond previous installments of the series. In general, players are nicely animated, and there is a good amount of detail to the arenas. However, the individual-player graphics are uneven. While most of the bodies are well rendered, many of the faces are way off the mark. Virtual Shaquille O'Neal's face looks nothing like the real Shaq's face, and most of the NBA's lesser names are completely unrecognizable. Some marquee players, like Kevin Garnett and Tim Duncan, look fairly authentic.

While the PS2 usually plays an intelligent game of basketball, the controls in NBA Live 2001 have a slightly sluggish feel to them and take some getting used to. Also, EA stripped away both the franchise mode and the NBA challenges (three-point contests, etc.), which had been in previous incarnations of the NBA Live series. There is, however, an excellent one-on-one mode, as well as many legendary NBA players of the past to play with and against.

While NBA Live 2001 doesn't have all we had hoped for in the first pro-basketball PS2 game, it does have enough game to keep you playing all season long. --Mark Brooks

Pros:

• Often brilliant-looking graphics hint at what the PS2 can really do
• Very good hip-hop/funk soundtrack
• Cool one-on-one mode

Cons:

• Many individual players hold no resemblance to their real-world counterparts
• Franchise mode and NBA challenges removed from series
• Somewhat unresponsive controls

See all Product Description

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars NBA Live 2001 is a bust, NBA 2K1 is really LIVE!, January 26, 2001

By 

"bjbill" (Indianapolis, IN USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: NBA Live 2001 (Video Game)

The real question is what game is really the best. I have been playing EA's NBA Live '95 '96 '00 on Nintendo ever since they came out. My friend has every gaming system ever made and we play games quite frequently. In both of our opinions EA Sports should have never released this game.

The introduction when you turn the game and the menus might be cool, but lets be honest what real people want is gameplay. When it comes to gameplay and camera angles NBA Live 2001 is just plain pathetic. Players move slower and are unable to stop a defender from going around them, it's almost impossible to play defense. The players don't move smoothly and don't look very realistic (they should on a 63" HDTV). NBA 2K1 for Dreamcast has much smoother graphics and realistic gameplay. Player introductions on NBA Live don't even anounce the visiting teams players. In LIVE the players are dancing around in what is supposed to be a laser light show, which is just an attempt to mimic Sega's NBA 2K1 player introductions.

PS2 is supposed to have a faster processor than Dreamcast but we found ourselves waiting for the game to load during free throw shooting and at other times. NBA 2K1 has much more realistic replays and game play than NBA LIVE. In my honest opinion NBA Live '95 for Super Nintendo is far better the NBA Live 2001 for PS2. Is EA Sports ever going to make a good Basketball Game?

I HOPE THIS BRINGS OUT ENOUGH OF THE BAD POINTS ABOUT THIS GAME, PLEASE DON'T THROW YOUR MONEY AWAY! FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO THINK THIS GAME IS THE BEST YOU'VE EVER PLAYED, I ENCOURAGE YOU TO PLAY NBA 2K1 AND DON'T TRY TO FOOL YOURSELF THAT IT IS GOOD...

GOOD GAMING!

19 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Very Disappointing............, January 26, 2001

By 

"sako_the_man" (Northridge, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: NBA Live 2001 (Video Game)

I've been salivating since October for this particular game. To say that I was disappointed is an understatement. There is only one word for this game, WEAK. There are so many flaws in this game that I can't possibly list them all.

First of all, one thing that I dislike are lame Dreamcast fans that bash the PS2 just because the own a Dreamcast. However, the fact is that (and it saddens me to say this) NBA 2K and 2K1 blow this game away. Even though this game was delayed several times, it STILL looks like it was rushed to the market, that really annoys me. Here are a few game flaws (by no means the only flaws)

1: no franchise

2: looks and plays like a PS1 game, the step up in graphics is minimal

3: ALL camera angles are horrible (can't see down the court)

4: commentating is very uninteresting

5: stadiums look fake (compared to NBA2K)

6: Any player on the court can easily make a cross-court pass without ever being off aim or intercepted, whats the use of a point guard?

7: Computer AI is HORRIBLE on defense, they won't ever pick up an open man if the ballhandler beats a defender

It's really a shame that EA, with all of its experience in making sports games (madden for PS2 is awesome) falls so short of the feeling of a real basketball game,

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Wait for 2002, January 29, 2001

By 

Beatle23 "beatle23" (Evanston, IL USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: NBA Live 2001 (Video Game)

This is not a game you want to play season after season. Compared to Madden, this game does not have any type of franchise mode. The graphics are better but this improvement doesn't warrant a purchase. Also, coming out halfway through the current NBA season, we know that NBA Live 2002 will be out sooner than we think this October.

By then, we'll see some major improvements. We'll hopefully have the franchise mode, better game play/graphics, challenge mode, etc... If anything, this game offers less than the PS1 NBA Live 2001. The only new things we're getting is the better graphics and you can view them at your local store display or rent the game to appreciate that. Other than that, there's no reason to own this long term because EA Sports has not provided us a reason to play it long term.

Let's hope NBA Live 2002 is MUCH better.