NBA 2K2

by Nintendo

Product Features

• For Play on Your Gamecube
• Published by Sega
• Game Genre: Sports, Game Sub-Genre: Basketball

Product Details

• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B000060NPY
• Item Weight: 4.5 ounces
• Media: Video Game
• Release Date: March 19, 2002
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #32,710 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)

Product Description

Platform: GameCube

Amazon.com Review

When Sega decided to discontinue the Dreamcast, it opted to make its excellent sports titles available for other consoles. And not a moment too soon. Competition is always a good thing, and Sega Sports titles, including NBA 2K2, are some of the best in the business.

NBA 2K2 features all the teams, rosters, and, most importantly, rule changes (like the now-legal zone defense) found in the real NBA. Player faces have been mapped to realistic body types (complete with tattoos), so you can identify a big man like Shaq and a speedster like Iverson without looking at their numbers. The game takes full advantage of the graphics-rendering power of advanced consoles by including better texturing, lighting effects, and facial animations, along with a higher polygon count, to ensure all the jukes, spins, jumps, and dunks are as realistic as possible. The audio is also good, particularly the play-by-play, which is accurate and speedy.

The controls are intuitive--even for people used to the Dreamcast--especially in the area of on-the-fly play calling. The controls let you quickly and fluidly box out your opponent, spin, shoot, pass, fake, and dunk.

There are also eight street-ball courts, and this addition makes for an almost entirely new game. In this respect, it is the equal of the NBA Live series from EA Sports. But NBA 2K2 surpasses EA's titles with its excellent AI. This game is challenging, satisfying, and fun in both single and multiplayer modes. --Bob Andrews

Note: This text refers to the PlayStation2 version of this game.

Pros:

• Gorgeous graphics
• Intuitive controls
• Great AI

Cons:

• A release date too long after the start of the NBA season

Product Description

When Sega decided to discontinue the Dreamcast, it opted to make its excellent sports titles available for other consoles. And not a moment too soon. Competition is always a good thing, and Sega Sports titles, including <I>NBA 2K2</I>, are some of the best in the business. <p> <I>NBA 2K2</I> features all the teams, rosters, and, most importantly, rule changes (like the now-legal zone defense) found in the real NBA. Player faces have been mapped to realistic body types (complete with tattoos), so you can identify a big man like Shaq and a speedster like Iverson without looking at their numbers. The game takes full advantage of the graphics-rendering power of advanced consoles by including better texturing, lighting effects, and facial animations, along with a higher polygon count, to ensure all the jukes, spins, jumps, and dunks are as realistic as possible. The audio is also good, particularly the play-by-play, which is accurate and speedy. <p> The controls are intuitive--even for people used to the Dreamcast--especially in the area of on-the-fly play calling. The controls let you quickly and fluidly box out your opponent, spin, shoot, pass, fake, and dunk. <p> There are also eight street-ball courts, and this addition makes for an almost entirely new game. In this respect, it is the equal of the NBA Live series from EA Sports. But <I>NBA 2K2</I> surpasses EA's titles with its excellent AI. This game is challenging, satisfying, and fun in both single and multiplayer modes. <I>--Bob Andrews</I> <p> <I>Note: This text refers to the PlayStation2 version of this game.</I> <p> <B>Pros:</B> <ul> <li>Gorgeous graphics <li>Intuitive controls <li>Great AI </ul> <B>Cons:</B> <ul> <li>A release date too long after the start of the NBA season </ul>

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good gameplay, but lacks in some areas, March 29, 2002

By 

"cmonzo" (Morris Plains, NJ United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: NBA 2K2 (Video Game)

NBA 2K2 is a great addition to the Nintendo Game Cube lineup. It has a variety of modes including franchise, season, practice, and street (where you can play 2v2, 3v3, 4v4, or 5v5 and on a variety of street courts). The franchise mode is good because not only do you control the team during games, but you also act as their general manager, which is pretty fun. The whole game is great except for a few areas:

1) COMPUTER PLAYRS ALWAYS SCORE FROM INSIDE THE PAINT
The first game I played in NBA 2K2 was an exhibition between the Denver Nuggets (me) and the Houston Rockets (CPU). Almost everytime the Rockets got the ball, their point guard (S. Francis) would always dribble by my point guard and get an easy layup. Even if I had three or four defenders in the paint, Francis would still drive and score. Occasionally, Francis would pass it off to another player in the paint and they would post up and get the bucket. During the course of the game, the computer player only attempted 2 or 3 three-pointers. For this particular game, I thought it was just a fluke or that maybe it was just for Francis or the Rockets. But as I progressed on in Franchise mode, I noticed that the computer team almost always scored from the paint. There were practically no three pointers. This makes the game somewhat less fun to play.

2) COMMENTARY IS VERY LOW
The commentary in this game is so soft, that you need to jack your volume level up to a unnecessary level just to hear the commmentary. This commentary isn't the best, but it still makes the game more appealing. So, if you don't want to make your TV volume a lot louder, adjust the volume in the options menu and sit closer to the TV.

3) HARD TO FIND A GOOD CAMERA ANGLE
The camera angle that is default in the game does not give you a full view of the court. So you have to go to the camera options menu, play around with the general camera angle, field of view, zoom, and height until you can finally get a clear view of the whole width of the court and the basket. If you don't, then it will be very hard to play this game.

These are my only problems with NBA 2K2. But get this game anyway, the game play is great and so are the updated rosters. Overall, NBA 2K2 is a very realistic and down-to-earth basketball game, so don't expect any Hot-Spots (NBA Courtside 2002) or other arcade-style basketball games.

I hope this review helps you with your decision.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars NBA 2K2 IS AWESOME!, April 26, 2002

By 

ffootballguru27 - See all my reviews

This review is from: NBA 2K2 (Video Game)

This is by far the best Sega Sports game and a great game considering this is Segas first for the GameCube. Basketball is my game and Sega's NBA 2K2 is definitely the best basketball video game available for any system. This game is plagued by only a few minor flaws, which barely affect the game at all.

The gameplay is simply amazing. I like the idea of having a direct pass button on offense, and a button on defense to play defense like in real life shuffling your feet and all. Shooting is very easy and effective especially if you release the ball at the top of your jump shot.

The graphics are great although not as good as EA's NBA Live 2002. The players are easily identified to their NBA counterpart and Allen Iverson has his Iverson shoes.

The rosters are very up-to-date and if a trade happens don't worry about the game being out of date just go to customize to do the trade yourself. And when draft time comes around just create that player onto their new team.

The Franchise mode is great. You get to lead your team through multiple seasons with trades, free agency, and retirements. You can also choose to play with the teams NBA rosters or do a fantasy draft where you can have any NBA players.

The announcing is great although repetitive more times than not. When Iverson scores a lot they always say the same thing and are always saying the same thing usually twice a game, but they are still very realistic and actually seem to be watching the game unlike other games announcers.

The only thing about this game that could have been made a little better are the graphics and the gameplay because when you post up you almost always get a wide open layup or step out of bounds for no reason at all.

Overall this is the best basketball game available for the GameCube right now. This game for the GameCube is better than Live and is also available on the PS2, XBOX and Dreamcast.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars one of the best, June 27, 2003

By 

SAMER HAMADE "SAM SAYS..." (Dubai, UAE) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: NBA 2K2 (Video Game)

in very simple words, if you are looking for a good game to keep you and your friends hooked for ages, pick this up. 1- its 10 bucks, 2- its probably one of the best basketball games out there. solid gameplay, solid options, solid game!

2115|R1ALAGJ37MABUF;2115|R17TE5ZTURI480;2115|R3F0RMMIWYC8RQ;