The outdated sports game made to last

Very few sports games hold up to the test of time.  As a video game collector this becomes very evident as I have doubles of every John Madden football game since 1994 and I can't get rid of a single one.  Every sports game depreciates up to 60% of their value after the first year and gradually continues to depreciate over time until they slowly become a burden on society and clog up sections of Goodwill and used game stores.  For a new version of a sports game, usually all that takes place is a roster tweak and some mode tweak that ultimately either really sucks or has no effect on the game.  It's a vicious cycle of the consumer catching the shaft and some people like me just can't seem to resist it.

Sports games are my guilty pleasure.  I violate the stereotype that gamers who play sports games are typically casual gamers.  I'm a hardcore gamer and I also love the occasional sports game if it's done right.  In college, I fell into the EA trap of buying updated versions of their games yearly for a while only to be disappointed and left without $60 to buy more Ramen with.  Three years ago when 2K Sports promised that NBA 2K11 would be revolutionary, I wasn't overly eager to believe the hype.

But Holy Shit.

I've had this game for three years and I've been playing it for three years.  2K12 and 2K13 are undoubtedly better upgrades but I wouldn't know because I can't put this one down long enough to find out.  The My Player mode is like an RPG for sports.  An RPG for SPORTS.  It's fantastic.  It made me rejoice when I found out that EA will no longer have exclusive licenses to make sports games (I believe for college football but maybe NFL.. maybe neither.. maybe both... I don't remember).  If 2K Sports gets on the bandwagon, we as sports games fans might be in for a treat!

This game looks so good.  I've fooled many of my friends into believing they're watching a game on television when I'm playing.  And before this, I wasn't even big on basketball games; I'm more of a football guy.  But this game is so fun and full of replayability.  I played through a full 82 game NBA season in My Player mode and missed the playoffs by one game.  Without hesitation I moved onto the next season and fully intend to play through all 82 and bring home the championship.  I'm sickened by how long this will take but also can't wait to do it.

The AI is very good.  When in My Player mode you can rely on your teammates to make the right decision most of the time.  Sometimes a player will become a ball-hog and instead of passing it right away, they might take a shot that you wouldn't approve of but that's the beauty of it.  Players like that exist on teams and you have to deal with it; however, your team can build team chemistry that lessens the likelihood that a player will neglect passing around the rock.  You shape your own image via press conferences and shape your own character by your performances and play style.

You can also play as Michael Jordan and do Michael Jordan-y things as Michael Jordan did.  There are a few challenges you can take on to see if you have what it takes to match Jordan's most memorable performances.

My key complaint is the passing.  To pass simply the passing button and the directional stick never seems to go where you want it to.  Unless there is only one player in a direction, I would advise using selective passing which might slow you down a bit but it's better than throwing a dud pass that gets intercepted clear across the court where you didn't want it to go.  I've punched the hell out of my arm rest after letting a pass fly right into the hands of a defender who was no where near my wide open teammate. 

This game holds up and it's getting in the way of my backlog but I'm okay with that.  When the Grizzlies finally win the championship this season with My Player at the helm then maybe I'll take an early retirement.  We'll see.

image source in order:  amazon.com, operationsports.com, wired.com, thatgamerhub.com