NBA 2K2 (Playstation 2)

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Product Details

• ASIN: B00005NEAI
• Media: Video Game
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (87 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #18,594 in Video Games (See Bestsellers in Video Games)

Product Description

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 or 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, facial animations, and a higher polygon count to make sure 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. You can now use the right analog stick instead of the digital pad, so you don't have to take your thumb off the main controls (left analog stick) to call a new play or change formations. Other 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 EA Sports NBA Live series. But NBA 2K2 surpasses EA's title with its excellent AI. This game is challenging, satisfying, and fun in both single and multiplayer modes. --Bob Andrews

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 or 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, facial animations, and a higher polygon count to make sure 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. You can now use the right analog stick instead of the digital pad, so you don't have to take your thumb off the main controls (left analog stick) to call a new play or change formations. Other 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 EA Sports NBA Live series. But <I>NBA 2K2</I> surpasses EA's title with its excellent AI. This game is challenging, satisfying, and fun in both single and multiplayer modes. <I>--Bob Andrews</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 aft

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Incredible Simulation of the sport of Basketball, February 6, 2002

By	Rodney Rivers "Rod" (SF,CA) - See all my reviews

4.95 stars:
I usually never give a 5 star rating but this game comes very close. This game replicates the best simulation of the game of basketball in ANY level : highschool/college/pro ... even amatuer. I will list the good and bad points of the game below, and help compare the game with others out on the market :

Good Points :

Gameplay :
1.The game defense AI is incredible. The cpu actually plays the passing lanes on defense. There are no cheap passes in the game. Even inbounding the ball is a challange at times.
2.Gameplay flow is true to life. For instance, if you have a hot player shooting lights out, go to him, he'll hit most of his shots, just like in real life. Vice Versa, if the cpu has a hot player, the cpu will also go to him, good AI move by sega.
In addition, the flow of the game reflects team runs more than any other. If the cpu is scoring on a streat, you MUST call a timeout or find a way to stop them or you will be blown out. And the same goes with your team as well!
3.Zone Defenses! Has a variety of zone defesnes that you can choose from that the other products out don't. This helps alot when you go up against perimieter shooting teams.
4.Challanging AI where you cannot really beat this game after a week. Whenever I play, and I have 3-4 wins in a row and think I've figured the game out, the CPU makes adjustments and beats me! Winning one game is a great satisfaction since the game is very difficult.
5.Player ratings count in this game, same as skill sets, just like the real nba.
6.Options are good :Franchise mode is adequte, and NBA STREET COURT mode is fun to play.

Cons :
1.Goaltending bugs : there sometimes are goaltending calls when the ball is clearly below the rim.
2.FreeThrows : Free throws are too easy in this game with the analog sticks. The problem is that you can make free throws regardless of who's shooting. They seem to have forgotten to implement the different player ratings in the free throw code(whereas last years NBA2K1 did). So you can be Shaq who should be terrible in the free throw department but isnt once you figure out how to make free throws.

Compared to the other games on the market, this is the best this year (I have only played the PS2 version). Nbalive2002 doesn't come close is simulating a real nba game as NBA2K2 does. Nbalive2002 is more a simulation/arcade which would probably be better suited for younger kids. NBA2K2 has a large learning curve when trying to be successful at the game.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Flawed, but the best NBA Game Available, February 12, 2002

By	Michael West (Dayton, OH) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Not being satisfied with EA's NBA Live series, I was anticipating the release of NBA 2k2 for the PS2. I'd never played it before, but the reviews of NBA 2K1 for the Dreamcast were so great that I was intrigued by the game. I thought I'd give it a shot, and I've not been disappointed.

GRAPHICS - 9
Although the graphics in NBA Live are slightly better than 2K2, in my opinion, the graphics are still strong in this effort. For the most part the animation is fluid, but as with any console game there are a few minor bugs (e.g. arms passing through other player's bodies.

SOUND - 8
The sound is very realistic, but the play-by-play isn't the best. It's still better than NBA Live, though.

INTERFACE - 8
Somewhat cumbersome, but really not a tremendous obstacle. As a player of EA Sports games it took me a while to grasp the buttons to use for which menus, but this was still a minor problem for me.

GAMEPLAY 9
I have to say that the controls in this game are much tighter than in NBA Live. In NBA Live 2002 I felt like my players were skating and sliding all over the place. In NBA 2K2 I know my players are going to go where I direct them.

The franchise mode in NBA 2K2 is solid also. I like the fact that you can trade future draft picks as well as players. I do wish, however, that Sega would use number ratings to gauge rate players. As it stands now, you're given only a bar graph on about 5-6 different physical traits. The only number you get is in the overall rating.

OVERALL 9
I've thoroughly enjoyed this game. Although I've been a fan of EA sports' products over the last few years, it's been mainly by default. There simply hasn't been strong competition in terms of sports sims. In my opinion, EA has been resting on its laurels lately, and ss Sega continues to develop its software for other consoles, I fully expect them to give EA a run.

In short, if you're looking for an NBA Game, this is the one to get.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Best Basketball game for the PS2, but not perfect, January 24, 2002

By A Customer

I agree that NBA 2K2 is the best basketball game for the PS2, but it is not perfect. First, the good stuff: quite updated rosters and NBA rules, players perform well in accordance to their abilities, the gameplay is smooth, the moves are outstanding, the AI is great, and can be truly challenging at higher levels. The street play mode is also great. You can play 2 on 2, 3 on 3, etc. You can chose on multiplayer to team up together or against each other. You can customize every NBA rule. I also like the attention to detail, franchise mode, etc. Replay value is infinite. You will have lots of fun. It's just so much better than NBA live. Shoes?? I honestly don't care about shoes that much, I think this is just a trivial thing that NBA Live has.

Now for the bad things. First and foremost are the freethrows. Just terrible. Too easy on rookie levels, and impossible on higher levels. No real reflection on players FT abilities. FT's always come in clean or either miss left or right off the rim, thus very little variability. I like it much better in NBA Inside Drive 2000 (PC), much more realistic and less repetitive.

The commentary is also very bad. A shame when you compare it to NBA Inside Drive 2000's, for example. It is faulty and repetitive. For example, you will hear dozens of times during a game after a basket is made that it is only an assist if the shot is made (duh), or the commentators will comment on the 10 unanswered points you have when the computer has scored several times from the free-throw line. And they comment the same "double digit lead" whether you are losing/winning by 10 or by 50.

The automatic coaching's AI is not very good also. You can have players fouling out stupidly in the 3rd quarter, and the AI coach's timeouts, and subs don't make much sense. However, I love to hear the coaches comments from the sidelines, they really help sometimes (warns you about screens, etc.).

If you put the good versus the bad, the balance is for the good. And bad things aside, it is still the best for the PS2. However, I think that NBA Inside Drive for the Xbox is going to be better.