The new NBA season is almost upon us, kicking off around seven months of hoops action featuring the best players in the world. If you are a basketball fan you will be eagerly awaiting that first game to see whether the Boston Celtics can repeat their championship win and if there will be any surprises when it comes to playoff time.
One of those “upsets” last year was the Pacers overcoming a resurgent New York Knicks in the conference semifinals. Fans will have to see whether all the ideal Indiana betting apps think there is much chance of that happening again – but in the meantime, they can attempt to recreate the action with a whole host of video games.
Basketball titles always prove popular, with realistic graphics, on-trend soundtracks, and impressive gameplay. But even some of the older games are fondly remembered and still played to this day. Here are some of the best-ever basketball video games to reminisce about as you wait for the upcoming NBA season.
NBA 2K
Before we start looking at the best hoops titles, we thought we would set some parameters. We decided not to include individual annual updates of the biggest series because we would end up with a list consisting of just NBA 2K titles. Quite frankly, it is consistently the best game on the market and delivers each and every year.
Fans will have their own favorites but you know exactly what you are getting when you hand over your money for the latest version. Ultra-realistic graphics that improve every year, with some of the best gameplay of just about any sports game available. NBA 2K is always going to be the benchmark for basketball video games.
College Hoops
It is almost guaranteed that if 2K decided to look into college basketball licensing rights again, it would have a surefire hit on its hands. The College Hoops series ended in 2007 with the 2K8 title, considered to be the best of the lot. Think NBA 2K but with the added attraction of the excitement of NCAA hoops.
Players could take their own favorite school or alma mater and try to win a championship. The March Madness feature was just as chaotic and appealing as the real thing and the look and gameplay were just as good as any of the best NBA games. The College football game has just been brought back, so hopefully a basketball version is also in the works.
NBA Jam
These days sports games all seem to value realism above everything else. But there was a time when an arcade feel was just as prized. NBA Jam fell neatly between the two types of game and was undoubtedly one of the finest examples of elite 16-bit gaming. NBA 2K might be fun but this game was the jam.
Dispensing with actual basketball rules was the first genius move. Changing play to two-on-two and some great cartoon-y graphics was perfect. There was a great “on fire” feature attributed to players after hitting three consecutive buckets and this fast-paced game was just simply an incredibly fun way to spend your time with friends.
NBA Street
A lot of pro ballers tell stories about the even better players that they used to hang with on the courts in the neighborhood but never made it to the NBA. NBA Street provided a setting for those kind of local stars with a different kind of basketball that valued tricks and attitude as much as points scored.
The second version of NBA Street, released in 2003, was probably the best of the series allowing players to choose a team of three Michael Jordans if they so desired. The soundtrack to this game was predictably excellent and there was even a game mode that allowed you to play the career of an up-and-coming baller. A revival of this title would go down very well.
Arch Rivals
NBA Jam may have been a good combination of arcade and realism but if you wanted an outright dose of arcade craziness, Arch Rivals was the basketball game for you. This one dispensed with actual rules entirely and had more of an “anything goes” attitude. Fouls, punching, and a distinct lack of penalties were obviously very attractive.
The 16-bit era version of this game is the best, allowing the cartoon graphics to work to their best effect. As much as more modern NBA games are good to play with friends, Arch Rivals was designed to be the central focus of you and your fellow ballers. There was no way that you could play this without a smile on your face.
Figure 2 Many of the best games are multi-player
NBA Live
The first versions of NBA Live came out at about the same time as Arch Rivals but the gameplay could not have been more different. Taking a much more realistic approach, Live gave players the chance to control real teams and players and compete in a realistic environment that we now see everywhere.
Later versions in the series were also the first to introduce game modes centered on the Slam Dunk contest and the All-Star Weekend. These added features went down really well and kept EA Sports in contention with the more popular 2K title for a while. The competition was too fierce though and the last version of Live came out in 2018. But it is still a favorite of basketball gamers to this day.
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