Up until last week I—like many others—was still playing NBA 2K11. No other sports game has interested me for quite as long, and I was contemplating skipping this year’s version because 2K11 is still fun. That would have been a colossally stupid move. NBA 2K12 took everything I loved about last year’s and made it better, while still taking out the negative glitches in the game.
NBA 2K12 has three different covers highlighting the athletes that define basketball. Although most gamers will see the Michael Jordan cover, marking the second year in a row his “Airness” takes the spot. But it’s about a lot more than MJ this year. In last year’s version, Jordan Challenges were the highlight of the game, but 2K12’s NBA’s Greatest mode trumps it.
Michael Jordan is back, along with Magic Johnson and the legendary Larry Bird. They’re matched-up in games against other basketball legends such as the ’93 Hornets, Dikembe Mutombo and Shaq with the Orlando Magic. Every team you play as and against is an unlocked level, letting you pit the greatest players of the last forty-plus years against the stars of today. Want to see Dwight Howard go head-to-head against Shaq in his prime? Of course you do.
NBA 2K12’s new mode is NBA’s Greatest—a collection of 15 games that features some of the NBA’s most legendary players. Some of these match-ups pit Dominique Wilkins’ 1985 Hawks against Larry Bird’s ’85 Celtics, the ’94 Rockets with Hakeem Olajuwon vs. Dikembe Mutombo’s ’94 Nuggets and even the ’64 Celtics with Bill Russell against the ’64 Lakers and Jerry West.
The developers go through the painstaking task of applying signature styles to each of these legends, recreating these players’ go-to moves. But the authenticity doesn’t stop there. The matchup between the ’64 teams is not in color, but in black-and-white. The stat overlays and graphics also feel like they’ve been pulled from the ’60s.
On the court, your teammates in My Player—another new game mode—perform more in an even more lifelike manner than in previous versions. Any hardcore gamer will notice that the scores are more realistic and the player won’t reel off long winning streaks like in years past. If playing every game is not your thing, you can play only key match-ups, allowing you to play through multiple seasons quickly. If your playing is especially good, that team can make the Hall of Fame within the game.
The only thing 2K needs to improve on is their online game-play because it takes a quite a bit of time to find a single match. I highly recommend this game for anyone looking to have a great time playing a sports game of any type.
The online 2K series has outdone itself once again. The game-play has been given another tune-up, refining the little things that make this my favorite basketball game to date. With a prolonged lockout appearing to be on the horizon, NBA fans can get their hoops fix and more from NBA 2K12.