by:	October 19, 2008

You go for the lay-up, and it is almost as if though everything is in slow-motion— you shine like a star, sweat gleaming in the light, thousands of people in the crowd cheering you on. The announcers are talking about what you could have done better, and how well you have done, perhaps repeating themselves one too many times. The seriousness on your face can be seen as you furrow your brow. Your teammates heads are cocked almost completely opposite of the opponents that they are keeping from thwarting your attempts to get the ball in the hoop. The ball makes it in and, as Kevin Garnett, you win the game for the Celtics against the Lakers with only seconds to go. Dramatics aside, this pretty much sums up NBA2K9; and depending on how Garnett does this season, he could get better or worse assuming that the biggest draw to this year’s outing is worth while.

Where NBA 2K9 falters the most is that it doesn’t bring enough new to the table to warrant a purchase of the title if you bought last year’s game. If nothing more, the series has been finely tuned so that every mode is even more robust from last year. Thanks to constantly being updated depending on how the real-life NBA season is going, the product will feel all the more fresh until, of course, NBA 2K10 is released late next year. This is the game's clearest new addition, and something that has been a long time coming. There are a bevy of franchise options, and more options than probably even a hardcore basketball fan could want. Besides that while there are plenty of gameplay tweaks that are so small that they can barely be seen. The A.I. in the game does act much swifter and like always, NBA 2K9 seems to have a bit more finesse to it than the NBA LIVE series. Still, the controls can be so complicated that some people probably would much rather deal with the stiffness and archaic gameplay in the NBA LIVE series. For example, just to look like you're hot stuff on the court when dunking, you have to pull back the right analog, hold down one button, then when a meter builds up press ‘B’ at the right time, and it probably would be a good idea to be holding down another button to run up to the hoop to pass by the defense. The game is just too complicated with its controls sometimes. Using the right analog to shoot the ball could have been done much better. What the game delivers on the most is giving you a lot of options.

The NBA Blacktop is back, and it gives you everything from a dunking challenge, to games of street B-ball that have a bit looser rules than the NBA regulations. The online mode has improved even more allowing you to have up to five-person teams, and there are plenty of other options allowing you to download stats, replays, and of course user created players.

The variety of options within the game is a double-edged sword however, and it doesn’t seem that even 2K knows how to tackle it. The menus to even start up a game can be confusing, and it takes a good twenty minutes at least just to figure out what the hell is what. Besides the lacking menu presentation however, the rest of the presentation is presented in incredible detail. When you are playing the game, you will get updates by sponsors, with the logos flying across the screen and taking up a corner, something that can be annoying but it really does make you feel like you are playing a broadcast of the game. Visually, the court is alive, with each teammate reacting differently depending on what you are doing. If you are showboating, maybe a teammate will stand there with his hands on his hips waiting for you to quit. The interaction between the teams is all that more realistic as well and in replays the close ups of the reactions, seeing the grimace or the joy in a players face makes it all the more rewarding.

The thumping on bleachers of the crowd, each drawn slightly different than the last, chanting and cheering on, combined with the squeaks of shoes on the hardwood floors and the chatting of the announcers makes for a pretty realistically sounding experience. The game also brings on an incredible soundtrack that is usually only more apparent while navigating the menus, something that you will probably do more than you really want to especially since 2K apparently doesn’t know how to create them right. Those of you whom watch Adult Swim may have heard of the artist Danger Doom, and his song Sofa King, sampling “Aqua Teen Hunger Force” is a great addition. Other notable artist are the Beastie Boys and N.E.R.D. but the soundtrack overall is top-notch and one of the best in a basketball title yet. I don’t think I have enjoyed music from something involved with basketball so much since the movie “Space Jam”.

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If you haven’t picked up the past two 2K games, or are traditionally a NBA LIVE fan looking for something new, then you will not be sorry that you checked out what you have been missing out on. Otherwise you may be disappointed in how little has really changed, and all the small differences in gameplay really don’t amount to a sixty dollar purchase. NBA 2K9 is a fantastic basketball title, and the best to be released this year but it is hard to recommend it when the biggest addition is constantly updated NBA rosters and it’s older counterpart, NBA 2K8 can be found brand new for under twenty dollars.

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