NBA 2K1

Pros • Mostly very tight AI • Pacing of individual games is fairly realistic • Excellent player control that has barely changed from last year • Decent GM options • Internet play is the best feature on console games this year	Cons • Highly questionable auto substitutions • Hyper active defense that may bewilder many a gamer • Netplay is still somewhat choppy, but is quite workable with patience • Minor but annoying loose ball and ball handling issues
Bottom Line If you have a Dreamcast then you have a modem. If you have a Dreamcast and this basketball game, internet multiplay is only a few clicks away. And it’s a great single player game too. NBA 2K was a good but flawed game that helped people get a glimpse of what 128 bit roundball was all about. This year the gameplay and graphics are better, most bugs are squished and, with net play, opponents will be plentiful. This year every coach’s favorite play will be internet play.

Last year Sega scored the proverbial slam-dunk on most of its console competition by simply being the first 128-bit basketball title. To make the game still sweeter, 2K’s graphics were lush, gameplay was fairly easy to get into and the play-play delivered everything a casual NBA and video game fan could possibly want. Unfortunately, it also threw a few costly bricks (enough to build a public housing project? No!) that kept it from being the truly stunning world beater it should’ve been.

After a year of toning and conditioning NBA 2K1 is in fact a better game than last year’s and is for now (read: I have yet to see NBA Live for the PC or PS2) the best looking and best playing basketball game this season has to offer. Of course, its biggest selling point has more to do with the brilliant introduction of internet roundball multiplay- something the more powerful PS2 box just won’t see this year. That alone might be enough for many a hoop fan, fortunately the game stands up quite decently as a single and two player game.

To The Hoop!

Like any good yearly sports game update NBA 2K1 has brought the graphics to a new level of greatness on the Dreamcast. Last year’s game featured player models that for the most part were very faithful to the flesh 'n' bone players they tried to emulate. Faithful, provided you were a big name marquee player, many of the lesser (but no less important) names were noticeably less detailed.

This season, the graphics have been touched up slightly. The arms and heads seem a tad more natural looking with forearms and shoulders that aren’t nearly as blocky looking as they were last year. Necks blend well into torsos, losing some of the robotic look of 2K. Just about all of the player faces are nice detailed even if they bear stiff looking expressions that make them look as if they had died during the off season. Still, Visual Concepts’ attention to detail with little things like perma-stubble and tattoos make help make this one of the best looking games ever seen.

Whether you’re visiting the Key Arena or Madison Square Garden, you’ll find that the stadium graphics are nothing less than fantastic. The floors don’t look over-waxed and the flat 2D crowd is well animated- for scenery most gamers will never notice. Even the crowds waving those stupid foam sticks used for distracting players standing at the line for a free throw add a little of the distinctive NBA flavor.

The announcing and color of 2K1 is for the most interesting and varied and almost never lags behind the on-court action. Yes, it does get repetitive after a while ( if I hear "Player X should be ready return after a long rest" again I’ll go nuts), but the actors do their jobs with enough enthusiasm to make it worth hearing through a few games. Only the crowd seems to disappoint sonically. They’re a bit lethargic no matter what takes place on the court.

Wannabe GM’s will generally be pleased with the team management options and dynasty modes seen in 2K1. Thankfully the play performance numbers the stats in 2K1 produced were generally close (barring injury and other issues) to the real thing. If you’re feeling nostalgic, there’s also a basketball park mode for playing with and against some of the NBA legends of yore. Ones with names like The Stilt, Bird and Magic are all there to score on you for days at a time. It’s an interesting feature that is good for a few laughs.

Get Dunked on Locally

If you played last year’s game or any console basket sim, you’ll basically know what to expect, as this game has barely evolved the genre. If not, you’ll learn the action moves at a good clip, but seems a bit slower and controlled than most console games, with the Dreamcast playing a tight defensive game.

Defensive players will play post so closely you call almost smell their foul breath on your neck. Whomever you control, chances are they will be covered by an opposing team-mate almost instantly. So, unlike most EA Sports or Sony games, spectacular dunks and amazing jumps are just not the order of the day. 2K1 doesn’t play that game. Rather, you must keep passing the ball around the court like a madman while trying to draw defenders into a double team situation. Then, with a little skill and good fortune the open man will be able to sink a two or (rarely) a three.

I’ve never seen such high powered, ultra aggressive defence from all NBA teams before (both real and virtual) and at first I found it incredibly weird… Even awful teams like the Mavs or the Hawks (well, I don’t like Hawks at least) showed much more spunk and interest in slowing down my strides towards a friendly net than what most gamers may be used to, which isn’t to say that the game is completely unrealistic- just different.

I also found myself getting called for charging a lot more than usual, especially in higher difficulty levels. This probably was due to my natural inclination to quickly spin way from a defender when near the basket and attempt a dunk, if only for my own self esteem. With guarding so strong in 2K1, expect games to be a tad slower in pacing than most of the arcade based console brethren. If you can’t play down low, your season is basically over. If you’re a highlight film (read: SportsCenter) junkie this may be a bit disorienting or even terrifying, but purists and those who consider basketball more a thinking man’s game may find this to be a welcome surprise.

Last year one of the main problems with NBA 2K was the computer’s handling of loose balls. Way too often a ball being checked in would sail out of the court and almost into the stands causing possession to bounce back and forth between squads at a maddening clip. Players would stand about completely oblivious to the fact a large round orange object (worth a whole lotta sneaker endorsements) was flying past them. It was embarrassing to say the least. I wouldn’t say this issue has been completely cleaned up but it has been lessened drastically. However, now players will occasionally freeze or stutter step when about to receive an especially long pass, resulting in missed catches and sometimes turnovers. It can be disheartening, but doesn’t upset me nearly as much as the occasionally shoddy AI of 2K1.

Another point that that raises an eyebrow, is the sometimes bizarre substitutions called in the closing minutes of a game. It seems that while 2K1 knows how to handle the clock (based on the number of quickly applied intentional fouls I’ve seen), the Dreamcast sends in new players based either purely on their energy levels or on a pre-set playing time. More than once a red hot Mourning (he’s quite healthy in my league) was yanked with less than four minutes in a game and a less than ten point lead. Yes, he was probably tired, but this is not the time for bench warming. I need my star center (or any marquee player) on the floor during the closing ticks of a game; unfortunately the auto-subbing may sometimes not recognize my coaching and time management issues. Again, not a killer bug, but genuinely irritating when time is precious and the game is on the line.

Get Dunked on Nationally

The internet play in NBA 2K1 is fantastic and is surely the stand out feature of Sega basketball. Once your Dreamcast’s modem is plugged in and your account set up, a net game is easy to get into. However, my experience with netplay was decent at best and unplayable at worst. There was a more noticeable jerkiness in the animation when online compared to NFL 2K1. There were also some missing frames and slowdown to be seen. Yes, the experience was a little better with the Seganet service, but methinks due to the constant fast moving nature of basketball in general, this is to be expected (to a degree) with a 56k modem. Still, I was able to play through a few complete games and the experience was enough to easily recommend the game. With its minor warts and all, this has been the best online basketball game I’ve ever seen or played. Just be prepared to search for a low ping opponent. Still, let’s not fool ourselves, NBA 2K1 is screaming for broadband connectivity.

To use a tired expression, NBA 2K1 most definitely "got game". The on court action is tight, the Dreamcast plays a tough (maybe a little too tough) game and most of the sins from last year’s game have been wiped away or lessened. But if scoring from the paint on a game living across the country is what you crave (and who doesn’t?)- on the consoles, NBA 2K1 has already won the MVP crown. Dreamcast owner must not miss this one.

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