NBA 2K11 Review

It's fitting that NBA 2K11 prominently features Michael Jordan. After all, His Airness is the greatest basketball player of all time and NBA 2K11 is the greatest basketball game ever made.

2K Sports has delivered the most finely polished and fully featured sports game I've ever played -- and I've played a lot of sports games. The amount of work put into 2K11 is staggering -- perfect recreations of Jordan's historic games, streamlined controls, NBA teams that play and feel like their real-life counterparts, a franchise mode that includes sensible GM logic and intelligent team building.

This is one of the most incredible year-over-year improvements of a game imaginable. Madden, EA's NHL series, MLB 2K, and just about everyone else has been served notice. There are no more excuses for half-assed annual updates. Bring it every year or you will get booed out of the building.

NBA 2K11 is where amazing happens. When you first start the game, you get a slick visual treat hyping the greatness of Michael Jordan. And then the game transports you into the tunnel of Chicago Stadium for Game 1 of the 1991 NBA Championship. Jordan turns to look into the camera, right at you, and asks, "Are you ready?" Then he turns, runs out onto the court and the magic of NBA 2K11 begins. Before you ever see a menu, ever create a franchise, ever even get a whiff of all that 2K11 has to offer, you're playing in the finals with the Bulls, battling Magic Johnson and ushering in a new era in NBA history.





Unquestionably, the highlight of NBA 2K11 are the Jordan Challenges. MJ's greatest games are legendary and you get to relive them, tasked with equaling his stat lines. Can you average 11 assists in the '91 series against the Lakers? Or drop six treys and score at least 35 points in the first half against Drexler and the Trail Blazers to earn the famous Jordan shrug? Or light up the Knicks for 55 points in Jordan's return from retirement?

2K Sports created each of these 10 memorable moments with a surprising level of detail. The commentary for every game is custom-fitted with discussions on Jordan's potential in "The Arrival" game and talk of how much John Starks has frustrated Jordan in the "Double Nickel" game in Madison Square Garden. Each game is a window into NBA history and won't just give you an appreciation for No. 23's greatness but the quality of teams he went up against. Magic, Ewing, Dominque -- they play as they did in their prime. No opponent is a chump, even if Michael is destined to beat them all.

Complete all 10 Jordan Challenges and you can play a special version of the My Player career mode, bringing a rookie Michael Jordan into the current League to develop his talent and see how he stacks up against today's greats. Put him on the Heat if you want to be really unfair to the rest of the League.

The quality presentation continues outside of the Jordan-specific elements. There's a slick half-time show that accurately sums up the game and a really hot Player of the Game presentation when the final buzzer sounds. My favorite, though, is a fairly hidden (but awesome) feature you can find at the end of games called Pressbook. This is a slideshow gallery of photos (usually around 50) from the game. These snapshots often pick the best moments at compelling angles and can be uploaded for others to see. Posterize someone online? You've got a snapshot of it waiting for you at the end of the game.


More importantly, most of the NBA has been accurately captured. There are hundreds of unique animations for players and so many nice little touches that a big-time hoops fan like myself couldn't have loved the experience more. I was playing against the Lakers, and Kobe threw down a slam but landed off-balance. As he regained his balance, he extended his arms and did his little airplane move he throws out on very rare occasions. I watched Greg Oden shuffle down the court like an old man who'd lost his cane. I'm not trying to knock on Oden, but that's exactly how he checks out of plays when he's crashed the boards on the other end!

This isn't the first hoops game to throw in some flair on marquee players, but the unique traits extend to the bench. I know we toss around the phrase, "It looks like a real game" too often, but this time I mean it -- I watch probably a hundred NBA regular-season games a year (I'm hardcore, baby), and 2K Sports got this right.

Sure, there are a few mishaps along the way. Don Nelson looks like a melted marshmallow and Kobe looks like an alien, but the good far outpaces the bad. Add to the mix dynamic crowds that slowly fill in during the first quarter or don't even show for a Bobcat's game and you have the most accurate portrait of the NBA to date. And that 2K Sports got not only the current era but a decade's worth of MJ's history right is pretty impressive.