Quick Look: NBA Playgrounds

@hazyship: He's still one of the best in the world.

@csl316:It's the worst NBA Street game.

From what I've heard you have to release really early in this game, earlier than you'd think. To the point where you are practically just pressing and letting go as normal with a regular button press. I always see them way off with shot timing with 2K and this one has weird timing.

I mean, they aren't sports guys and I think they just got it wrong like every time. That one possession where Dan missed 12 layups or whatever and they couldn't get a defensive rebound sums it up.

Basketball "match?" Did Ted Cruz write this?

Every time I see the title of this game my brain immediately parses it as NBA Battlegrounds.

This is a hot mess.

Sooo if I am looking for an NBA jam experience like the boom shakalaka that I remember on my Genesis when it was ON FIRE but on my computer (as I do not have consoles) which game should I choose? This certainly does not seem like the one..

This game reminds me how fun nba street was back in the 00s. My childhood. Also reminded me how many game series i fell off of like tony hawk after 4 and street after 3. Looked them up and the games really never got bad just reached my peak i guess. Funny how today assassins creed needs to take a break cause bad sales or buggy games making people quit buying it. Makes me think how sometimes even if a series is good we just move on. Anyway I think Dan would love knowing mario took people to the streets a few times in his day. Mario looks strange around normal humans as usual not just in that new mario oddessy game with men in business suits. Even peach looks...off.

Those heads are unnecessary.

Kawhi Leonard not being playable at the start is a major failure. I agree with Vinny. It is lame for a sports game that you can't play your favorite team right way and that you have to go through a random draw to unlock them. The UI not displaying a scoreboard is dumb. Looking at the background to know what the score was or how much time was left takes away focus from the game. The attempt at cartoon like character design is awful. At best they are terribly made bobble heads. I would like NBA Street or NBA Jam to make another comeback. Now here is a reason why people should pay attention to Kawhi Leonard.

This art style is horrifying.

"Give me that basketball."

That was my catchprase when I played basketball.

Goddamnit Dan.

@hazyship: considering that Steph is one of the top 10 NBA players it's pretty safe to say he's one of the best in the world.

@seijur0: he also likes wrestling and hates real sports even though real sports are basically like wrestling but, ya know, real.

I actually really dig the look, the player unlock/leveling structure, and the ability to make a team out of any two dudes, but the powerups and extra points for timing may kill it for me. The general soundscape of this game seems to be an issue too. I'll probably check it out though considering we're probably ages away from another Jam.

Speaking of which, that NBA Jam game from a few years ago is fantastic and made me care about basketball again. Perhaps this could do the same.

Is Muggsy Bogues in it?

Someone dabbed in the crowd.

I don't think I have to buy this one.

This game really plumbs the depths of the uncanny valley.

@zleunamme it makes sense for a team building mode like Diamond Dynasty. completely doesn't make sense for an arcady slam dunk game with limited rosters to begin with.

@alex I can't tell if I love or hate the description of Carmelo Anthony as "not very good". He's been my favorite player to watch over the past decade, even over LeBron, Duncan, Kobe, Dirk and Wade, and he still posted like a 19PER last year despite playing on an aimless team with no clear roster construction or hopes of making the playoffs. But saying Melo isn't very good is so quintessentially New York basketball that I kind of love it whether it came from an informed angle or a brief misalignment of memory.

For those that rather play NBA Jam, there is a sweet rom patch out that updates game with current NBA roster so you can get your fix that way if you'd like.

As someone who loved NBA Jam: TE on SNES, I think I'm the only one that actually has a lot of fun with NBA Playgrounds. Everyone is trashing it, I love it. I am weird?
It's $20, and the value for the money is great.

I don't mind the art style.
I don't mind the arcade-ness (4 point perfect shots, lottery picks).

Don't mind the over-the-top commentators.
My only gripe is the stamina meter is hard as fuck for my old ass eyes to see.

And ok the cross-overs, etc, are a little dodgy, but I think it makes it more of a challenge to master the timing.

@mvhvtmv: I don't think you know what uncanny Valley means if you would use that phrase in regards to these graphics. Uncanny Valley means the thing looks almost as close to a real person. This is hideous Valley.

Also in regards to the dan not knowing whomthat curry guy is I don't know who Stephen curry is or any of these people who Cares? Dan and many people have knowledge of things they like, not the things you necessarily like. I didn't know who Kanye West was until 2 years ago I heard his name but thought he was a comedian but did it Matter? I still haven't heard his music and I couldnt name a single current basketball star but I could name the entire ufc roster practically. It's weird when people get mad at Dan for not knowing things ....it doesn't affect your life at all.

@steveurkel: I was actually being a bit facetious, trying to avoid straight up saying: "Yo, this game is mad ugly."

But since you mentioned it... The uncanny valley isn't necessarily just a matter of something looking slightly wrong, it's a pretty vague hypothesis that encompasses a number of different ideas in aesthetics.

I think in this case it's not so much a failing of "quality" so much as it is the blending of realistic and unrealistic proportions. As in, each body part is clearly defined and relatively normal when you look at them individually, but all combined they make a horrible monster. IMO it fits pretty well into the uncanny valley, because they'd probably be less creepy if they just had spaghetti arms or something.

Is the PS4's share play feature an option to get Jeff to play with them? I've done it, and it's pretty seemless. It's obviously too late for this game, but they could keep it in mind in the future.

I was ready to throw my money at this. Fuck.

Stockton's shorts are not short enough /fail

I really appreciate the crew doing more of these East-coast-meets-West-coast Quick Looks!

I looooove them balls.

I think it looks great but it somehow looks harder to play than NBA 2k..

@jsnebben: yes it would.

Sick Vinny sounds kinda like Ben

Well that was disappointing. They should just re-do NBA Jam for the PS4 and Xbox. Probably would have been better.

Update on my previous comment: I bought this, and fuck this game. The rubber-banding is worse than NBA Jam has EVER been, thanks in large part to shot timing bonuses and power-ups. If I have a modest lead, I can always count on the CPU hitting a 4 or 5 point shot to catch up. This leads to me just picking the best three-point shooters and shoving CPUs out of their possession. That is not a fun play style to get locked into. Challenges baked into career matches quickly become impossible. How am I supposed to get SEVEN steals in three minutes when neither opponent player ever exhibits a vulnerability to steals? It's got promise, but it whiffs so hard on concepts that have already been refined.

It's always so sad that nobody seems to manage to succeed with arcade sports.

Ah, yes, of course, the storied franchise, the Stockton Stone Rocks.

ALSO, JUST REMAKE NBA STREET VOLUME 2 EVERY YEAR FOREVER. ( I mean, it has T.R.O.Y. as the TITLE SONG!) God that game is a masterpiece.

Sidenote: Fuck Steph Curry, LeBron is far and away the best player right now.

@darksagus: Just remake Vol. 2 forever. One of my favorite games ever. Great art, INCREDIBLE gameplay, ridiculous soundtrack, the best collection of basketball players ever, and let's not forget ALL JORDAN TEAM ('85, '96,'03)!!!

@hazyship: Absolutely. Pretty sure none of the GB guys watch any basketball right now. I think Alex is just using what he knows by osmosis, that Curry is a great player, but not the best, not at all.

Shame about the online MP and that Jeff couldn't play.

those character models are going to give me nightmares.

I never like to be critical of ideas that are different or break out from what came before. ..But a four point shot? No, I think that was a less than sterling idea. The shape of the models where the head is long and the trapezius muscles are from extra on a ST:TNG

I think Saber really started off the design of this game on the wrong foot. I can 'appreciate' the effort they made to try to not copy NBA JAM, but I think they made some early mistakes in design. Anything JAM did not have nailed down with copyright or trademark should have just reappeared in their game.

This head and face are just scary! They are going for a stylized look, or a caricature look; but many of the players come off as unsettling to look upon.

@monkeyking1969 said:

... and the trapezius muscles are from extra on a ST:TNG

That's Damar from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, though Cardassians did appear from time to time on The Next Generation.

Poor Vinny sounds so sick. :(

Lasagna on the grill!

2-year-old pro tip: You can turn on a meter that will show you when to release the shot.