Customer Reviews

NBA 2K1

5 star:		(42)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

Maybe I just got spoiled with the winning streaks I could amass in NBA2K. I don't know, I just don't enjoy 2K1 for the simple fact that it regresses in as many areas as it moves forward. Game play may be much more realistic, but it's not as much fun. The pace is slower unless you bump the game speed to "fast", then it seems a bit too fast. The graphics are still top-notch for the players and court, but the crowd has gotten much more pixellated. Play issues include players who no longer run close enough to the basket to dunk when the ball is passed to them (remember in 2K, they'd stand right under the thing?). Now they run to within a couple feet of the hoop then move back out a couple more, meaning you have to have to drive around the ridiculously adept defenders to do anything but take short jumpers. It's all but impossible to drive the lane against any but the worst teams. Those guys come out of nowhere to block your path! I'm usually able to blow out the 2K guys by 20-30 even on all-star difficulty. On pro difficulty in 2K1 I can barely win against the loser teams.

What I like a lot: - Illegal defense calls are done correctly! No longer can the center just lurk right under the basket waiting for blocks. (Drat, there went half my strategy :-))

- The street courts. They simply rock! The ambient sounds in the background and the crowd make it feel very real.

- Internet play! And it really works nicely. I was worried about lag, but it's a non-issue and the connections seem to be stable.

- Swat blocks

- The old teams....but why on earth doesn't the 80's West team include Kareem?!

What I don't like at all: - Head coaches no longer get their names called during the courtside intro! Why for crying out loud on a 1 GB disc couldn't they include 60 more little .wavs for the announcer instead of "And introducing...the HEAAAAAD COACH!"? Very lame.

- The commentary on star players. Living in Utah, I play the Jazz a lot and I'm already sick of the extended comments by Rod about Karl Malone's perfect physique....ugh! It happens every game.

- Bad crowd graphics. They add to the atmosphere as usual while playing, but you sure don't want to get close with the zoom on a reply.

- A number of players don't seem to have names during the commentary. John Starks is one, and few rookies get announced as anything but a number.

- The rosters are not completely accurate, although this shouldn't be too big an issue if they stick to their promise and have downloadable updates.

I wish there was a 3½ star rating, because I just can't call it 4. I like the game and the series very much, but this one just rubbed me wrong. Maybe it just needs to grow on me ;-).

Amazing game!This game has it all. I bought it yesterday and have been playing it ever since. I have been playing video games since intellivision, atari,colecovision ect. I love sports games the most because of the replayability value. Until now I have easily mastered all basketball games. This is a very deep game and alot of fun. After watching my Blazers get beat in their home opener against the Lakers I immediately went out the next day to buy NBA2K1. I then proceeded to make the match-ups the same on my game and go to work. I can't believe it! The Lakers are just as hard to beat on this game as they are in real life. It took me a few hours to beat them only on the pro level. Of course I was trying new moves and getting used to the new plays. The defense in this game is phenomenal! No more blocking every shot and massive dunks. You have to look for the open man, call for screens, and think more like an NBA player. There is all new player animations, over 140 different types of dunks. Rosters are updated as of October 14th, 2000. This is the first basketball game I've ever played that actually makes me feel I'm there. The only thing I didn't like was the computer players tend to hold onto the ball for a long period of time. A small flaw, but hey I'm picky. With massive options, amazing game play, realistic graphics, on-line play, and incredible AI this may be the best sports game ever made. Gotta go, want to try and beat the Lakers on the all star level with my Blazers. Oh, and hey, I still have to make my own teams and players. Looks like I'll be taking a few days off from work.

I'm a huge sports fan and I went out and got NBA2K the day it came out last year. After giving them suggestions and emailing them they put me as a tester for nfl2k1 and nba2k1 (NHL2K was so pathetic i didn't want the followup even if it was prerelease) Just today I got in my copy and it was working pretty good. The new additions for this year are a franchise mode, a street mode and i think there will be a working network mode, but since it's not released mine doesn't work online yet. Franchise mode was pretty cool since it's my first basketball game there's not much to say about this that makes it different from other games franchise modes except its finally on dreamcast. The streat mode was my absolute favorite part. You pick how many ppl on each team (1-5) and you can custimize your team with legendary or current players. You also play on one of severall cool street courts. So far I don't know if you can play street mode online (1 3v3 with 3 ppl on each dreamcast + 2 keyboards would be awesome) because when i hit the network mode it crashes. About graphics, they improved slightly, but the sound is much better with good comentary. Anyways buy it in November when it comes out (I'll buy a retail one just so i can play online) and have fun.

This is by far the greatest game i've ever played. And i'm sure it will be for you too if your a big basketball fan. This game is the reason I bought a dreamcast in the first place. This game is the first to play like real basketball. Players cut towards the basket and run off screens and you can actually back people down on the post if you have a larger man. I have played both Nba live 2001 (playstation2) and obviously Nba 2k1 (dreamcast) and there is no comparison. Alright the gameplay on nba live is simply boring, the spin moves are tremendously slow, the crossovers don't work, and you can't back down mugsy bougues with shaq on the post. Nba 2k1 has far superior dunks and blocked shots as nba live. Live reminds me of bulls v.s. blazers where the only way to get into the paint is off a screen that usually doesn't work. Plus nba 2k1's gameplay is so much faster as well. And if you want to play a basketball game for a while nba 2k1 is what you need. Nba 2k1 has a franchise mode where you draft new players after the season ends, and live does not.Nba 2k1 also has more legends like Benard King, Bob McAdoo, etc. it has an east and west all legends team of the decade, but still no kareem. If your a die hard basketball fan such as I, you'll absolutely love this game. So look out Ea sports because sega sports is taking over the basketball giant. But please sega sports why can't you give us a college basketball game as well.

Finally got my copy of this little gem yesterday and so instead of worrying about the future leader of the country I hooped it up all day. If you played NBA2K half as much as I did, you'll love this game. Some of the complaints I've read are true: the computer does hold on to the ball a little long (on Pro difficulty at least) and the lack of a low post spin move is frustrating. However, everything else is perfect. The create-a-player is fantastic and really allows and unprecedented amount of freedom in choosing how your player looks. My favorite touch is the finger tape, although being able to make a brother with blonde dreads is definitely up there. The crossover is actually useful this year! And very true to life: if you pull it off well, you'll leave the d on it's heels, but if you start pulling it out all the time you won't have to worry about your momma; they'll take you school. Plus, Iverson doesn't dunk when he gets a breakaway, which is a nice change from last year. Lastly, my favorite little touch is when they replay a swat block and the ball heads straight for the camera and knocks it askew. Very nice. All in all, despite some minor flaws, this a dramatic improvement on last year's edition; quite a feat considering how much I loved 2K.

Pros
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Great graphics
Tons of options
The announcers can say certain names of created players.

Cons
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Play by play and commentator isn't as good as 2K
Weak AI (computer controlled players spend alot of time out at the three point line when they have the ball, even if they have an open drive to the hoop. they wait until there are a few seconds left on the shot clock, and then pop it up.)

Verdict
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It's pretty good. For the price, I'd say get it. I haven't played 2K2 so I can't compare 2K1 to it. All I can do is compare it to 2K. Compared to 2K, it falls a little short. That's not to say it's a bad game, it just has a few short commings.

This game is pretty, and perhaps the multi-player modes are excellent, but I have to give it 2 stars for the terrible 1 player mode. The controls are confusing and often over-complicated. (To pass you have to first hit "Y" to view your teammates, then hit another button to pass to them. This is obviously extremely difficult in a quick run-and-shoot game. Nevermind, give and goes!)

Unfortunately, the game play still doesn't correspond with reality. For instance, after playing tough defense for 23 seconds and trapping the other team's center in the corner, he merely turns and drops in the three with 1 second left. Much to my chagrin, this play was repeated 8 or 9 times in a game. I couldn't see any logic (or point) in trying to force the other team to take hurried or low-percentage shots. Their shooting percentage remains the same regardless of what I do.

Also, the computer-controlled aspects of my team are terrible. When I take a shot, the other 4 guys just stand around without making any attempt to rebound. The defense is sloppy (kind of like the real NBA.) I'll be struggling to keep the ball out on the perimeter, only to have one of my teammates stop covering his man (who of course is standing wide-open under the basket.)

My team's shooting percentage is sooo bad. My players routinely miss wide-open shots, sometimes right under the basket. Sometimes they refuse to shot the ball too. I press the shoot button repeatedly, only to have them stand there for 3 or 4 seconds, and then try to shoot (and by this point the entire other team is covering them.)

And what are people talking about with the commentary? The commentary is very frequently 2 or 3 sentences behind the play. Sometimes they even say everything twice in a row, which is amazingly annoying. Also, often what they say makes no sense, like "That's real trouble for him this early in the game" with 20 seconds left in the 4th!

All in all, this game is more fun to watch then to play. If you are going to buy it, make sure to go online for opponents, because playing the computer is just toooo frustrating.

If you don"t have this game buy it! It is the best basketball video game there is. I used to think the NBA Live games were the best basketball games ever and they still are, on PlayStation but NBA 2K1 on Dreamcast is way better. I have never played a better basketball game than this! Comparing it to Live the graphics are just so much better. They are more detailed and look much more realistic. The crowd is louder, react to shots and calls and they even wave balloons and make noise when people shoot free throws. The anouncers talk about stats, players, free throws, and everything like in real life even though they'll sometimes make mistakes. You can also play franchise mode and be like in season mode only you can keep playing as a team for several seasons and see veterans retire and draft rookies. The other thing this game has no other basketball game has is you don't need to have a friend over to play against somebody else you can just play against people from anywhere in the US online anytime! To me this is THE BEST GAME ON DREAMCAST.

I played nba line 2000 and 2001 they .... The cameras on 2K1 are unreal. The arenas are almost exact and the crowd tries to destract you when you shoot free throws by waving ballons at you. The street courts are the best. I love to play ball with the old school boys. you can play with the best players of the 50s 60s 70s and 80s. the only bad part about this game is it don't have jordan but that is not a loss. Practice mode is cool because you can practice your dunks free throws and half court bombs. the dunks on this game are endless. Create player and team is another good feture. Franchise mode is awsome i took the bulls and trded some player to some good ones and won it all like 10 time. the refs like to call elligal defense alot and on allstar it's almost imposible to beat the other team by more than tweenty unless you are playing the bulls or the Clippers. If you have a DC and not this game you should get it now.

It is too boring and the dunks are stupid because it make lil people be able to dunk. Jus plain horrible