NBA 2K Playgrounds 2 Review

NBA 2K Playgrounds 2 expands on the solid foundation of its predecessor by including two brand-new game modes to keep players coming back to the game. The gameplay hasn’t changed much from the original game. It also doesn’t contain nearly as much depth as my favorite arcade series, NBA Street, but it brings a different style and feel to arcade basketball.

Gameplay

Playgrounds 2 is pretty similar in gameplay to the original. The shooting area has changed from a bar to a semi-circle, but you’re still stopping the moving bar in the green area to hit a shot, so it’s more aesthetic than anything. It’s a challenge to land shots, especially for low-level players, and it’s one of the most challenging arcade games I’ve played. You can’t just jump on the court and dominate; you have to be skilled at your timing, and that sets Playgrounds 2 apart from other like-minded games. The crossover animations are over-the-top, and the layups and dunks make you want to keep doing them repeatedly, with how cool they look. The fun thing is that it doesn’t take much to pull all these awesome moves off, and it’s consistently rewarding.

Defense

The defensive game feels much easier in this game than in the first game. If you’re in the right position, rebounds are easily attainable, and the same goes for blocking. Shoving still drains your power meter, but it’s no longer an overpowered tactic. Unless your teammate is nearby, it’s not necessarily going to cause a turnover; it’ll just pop the ball loose. 

Abilities

A basketball in the bottom corner of the screen now represents the Lottery Picks meter. These give you a unique ability for a short time once they start glowing. Nine different multipliers include unlimited sprint, dunk multipliers, and other minor advantages. In Playgrounds 2, you can now curse the other team as well. You can cover your net in ice, so they can’t score or lower their shooting percentage. I liken these power-ups to those in Mario Kart. They can change the game instantly, and it keeps you on your toes, knowing that something terrible could happen out of nowhere.

Season Mode

Playgrounds 2 features Season Mode, replacing the six tournaments from the original game. Luckily, this isn’t an entire 82-game season; it’s a condensed 14-game schedule with a best-of-three playoff format for the top 8 teams in each conference. It keeps the action fast and fresh without burning you out. The default length of a game is 3 minutes, which means you can knock a whole season out in a couple of hours. You even have the opportunity to play through the season with a friend online or locally. Four difficulty levels are available if you’re looking for more of a challenge, and the CPU players provide some pretty good opposition on even the lighter difficulty levels. Despite these things, I still got bored after 4 or 5 games. It just felt like playing exhibition games over and over.

Cards

Card-collecting ties into the Season Mode, giving you more reason to keep playing through new seasons. As you win championships with each team, you’ll unlock new legends for each one. I picked the Toronto Raptors, and the legend who happened to be on the team was Jakob Poeltl, but there are more notable names, like Magic Johnson, when you win with the Lakers. Most of these legends feature unique animations that enhance their overall appeal. I played through multiple seasons to gain as many new stars as possible. It is worth noting that there are only three save slots, so you can’t have a bunch of seasons going at once without deleting some.

Acquiring Players

You need to open card packs to acquire new players, as in the original. This means that most of the teams will be inaccessible to you until you acquire some of their players to use. You earn in-game currency relatively quickly to buy new packs of cards, but I wouldn’t say I like this method. If I want to use a specific team, why not give me a couple of lesser-known players to start with while I work up to some of the greats? You can spend real-world money to unlock the entire player collection, but that feels like a senseless money grab. At least you can gain new players without grinding too much.

Roster

Playgrounds 2 features quite the mix of current and legendary players, with guys like Shaquille O’Neal and Michael Jordan being some of the most prominent names. I’m guessing that more could be on the way with the new 2K publishing deal. What I found peculiar is that many current players are on the wrong teams, such as Tony Parker on the Spurs. Why not update the roster for release? I’m sure it wouldn’t have taken much time, considering the rosters are so thin. I found it unusual that some teams have a large number of players while others have only a few. I suppose that’s because specific teams haven’t had many notable players in their history, but it still seems unusual. The Lakers have 14 players, while the Pelicans only have 5. That’s quite a difference.

Multiplayer

If you don’t fancy playing against the CPU, there is something called Playgrounds Championship, which features ranked online play with multiple modes and leaderboards. You can play cooperatively against the CPU with an online teammate or competitively with the CPU or an online teammate. You can even do a 3-point contest online if you’d like. This mode is a bit more robust than the previous game, and the online rankings help give you something to strive for. They could have done more here, but it’s a step in the right direction. 

Final thoughts

NBA 2K Playgrounds 2 is a decent successor to the original game, retaining the same over-the-top action that made the first installment so endearing. The new Season Mode helps give players something to come back to while the online Playgrounds Championship caters to the online crowd, but it still doesn’t feel like quite enough. I think an objective-based game mode would go a long way to giving this game some longevity. Check this one out if you’re a big basketball fan; otherwise, it might not be enough to hold your interest.