With nearly 20 releases under its belt, NBA 2K has nestled into an elite category of game franchises. When the new Grand Theft Auto, Metal Gear Solid, or Uncharted releases, fans automatically expect greatness. The same can be said of NBA 2K. For the folks over at 2K, it’s a wonderful problem to have -- a much better problem than the alternative.

But it still does present a problem, because once a franchise achieves greatness, each release can feel a bit stale. How do you improve a game many consider to be nearly flawless? Games with huge, glaring issues can at least point to the obvious of what didn’t work and what they are doing to fix the issues for the next release. But that wasn’t the case as we approached the NBA 2K16 release date.

So how did the game stack up against the usual weight of its expectations? How do I feel this season went as we now begin to look ahead to NBA 2K17? Well...

 

 

Gameplay

Few basketball purists would question how well NBA 2K represents the game of basketball. Aside from MLB: The Show, there really isn’t another sports video game franchise that can touch 2K in terms of realism. Which is why there really isn’t a whole lot to point to in 2K16, gameplay wise, that needs a major overhaul. This year’s release played fairly well right out of the box, but as is the case each year, slider tweaks can make it so it’s difficult to tell whether you’re watching a real game.

If I had to nitpick, some fine tuning of rebounding and CPU help defense wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world. Shooting free throws also feels a little bit stale. It also felt a bit too easy to block shots this year, particularly from behind. These are somewhat minor gripes, but improvements here would help tighten things up a bit. But overall, the gameplay is phenomenal. After 17 releases, it’s natural to take this for granted, but the 2K team deserves all the credit in the world for achieving gameplay nirvana on the virtual court this year.

 

 

Game Modes

With gameplay as far along as it is, the 2K team’s focus should be on improving the different game modes available to players. One of the big focuses this year was MyPlayer with the Spike Lee directed story mode. I give 2K all the credit in the world with thinking outside the box here, but the storyline seemed to fall a bit flat. I hope they revamp it for next year because watching your MyPlayer progress is one of the more enjoyable single-player aspects of this game, and a stronger story would help things along. Story issues aside, MyPlayer continues to have a lot of replay value.

MyGM and MyLeague are similar modes that share a lot of the same traits, so what impacts one mode is likely to impact the other. One issue this year is player progression. Simulate a few seasons into MyLeague, and your team will likely be stacked with a bunch of high 80s and low 90s players, assuming you don’t trade away all your draft picks like the Knicks of a few seasons ago. The player progression system feels a bit outdated, as scheduling practices and a few offseason workouts doesn’t give the user a lot of control. Free agent negotiations were improved this year, but it does still feel a bit bare bones with little else involved other than simply submitting an offer. Adding a feature where users could map out an offseason plan and even court multiple players together would be a nice addition.

 

With MyGM, 2K has steered the typical franchise mode into a more involved version. The execution is a bit lacking, however. In my trial run as Pistons GM, a large focus of my job was to surround Andre Drummond with a supporting cast while keeping him happy. Sounds a lot like Stan Van Gundy’s job, doesn’t it? And in many ways, that’s exactly what it felt like.

 

 

But some of Drummond’s comments were a bit off base from what you would find in real life. For instance, he basically made me promise to not trade for or sign a free-agent center. This isn’t a ridiculous statement on the surface, but it’s lacking nuance as the game saw no difference in me trying to sign Boogie Cousins versus, say, Jordan Hill. Clearly, bringing Cousins to Detroit would create some conflict as to who really is the franchise center. But Jordan Hill? I am obviously bringing him in to be a backup, but doing so would cause Drummond’s morale to substantially drop. The framework for a really addicting mode is here, but it needs some definite refining.

I’ve written extensively on the MyTeam mode this season. As a first-time user, I experienced both the highs and lows. To be fair, I did not play this mode in 2K15 or prior seasons, but from what I’ve read, this year’s MyTeam felt a bit stale to a lot of people. Which is disappointing, because this mode has a lot of potential.

 

 

Many people, including myself, have suggested increasing pack odds to help improve this mode. But to take things a step further, it may be worth re-thinking the "challenges" part of this mode. With the sheer number of players available in this mode, the matchup possibilities are endless. For example, why not take on the 1996 Bulls with prime Derrick Rose subbed in for Ron Harper? Some more single-player variety would do wonders for this mode.

I almost wonder if 2K nailed the gameplay so well it makes the accompanying game modes feel somewhat flat, but only by comparison. Yes, this is an apples to oranges comparison, but what I mean by that is when I am playing an actual game, I find virtually no flaws. It completely sucks you in and you can’t help but be amazed at how realistic this game is. If this would cause you to give the gameplay a 10/10, then a MyTeam mode that is maybe an 8/10 or MyGM that is 7/10 would be more difficult to get into. To that end, I find myself playing the computer or a friend in exhibition modes more than I do anything else in the game.

 

 

Wrapping Up

There are many 2K fans who insist 2K11 or 2K13 are the best to ever be released. And in the sense that those years offered huge leaps in gameplay, I get the argument. But for me, particularly when it comes to gameplay, you can’t do any better than NBA 2K16. It is the most realistic, complete game 2K has released. It’s not just the best basketball game around because the competition is lacking. It’s the best because it feels and plays like a real game of basketball. For true hoops fans, there is nothing better.