Arcade sports games have always been more appealing to me than their straight simulation counterparts, as there’s often much more creativity contained within them. After dozens upon dozens of straight simulation sports games of sports like football, baseball and so on, you know pretty much exactly what you’re getting into with each annually-released game. NBA Playgrounds attempts to be the refreshing change of pace from the main basketball games on the market, though it doesn’t quite make the shot.
The game takes on the two-on-two formula that other arcade basketball games have taken in the past, as you play in a mini version of a basketball court and are allowed to rough up your opponents as much as you want. Just like NBA Jam, the gameplay here is much more flashy and stylized as characters go soaring through the air to perform impossible alley-oops and slam dunks. Matches are relatively quick and can be customized in the options menu, making jumping in and getting a game going quick and painless.
It’s in short bursts where Playgrounds is the most enjoyable, but those who are looking for a deeper experience will likely be disappointed. There’s only two modes that the game currently offers, which are Exhibition and Tournament. Considering that Exhibition is essentially a practice mode, the bulk of your time with the game will be spent in the Tournament mode. Here you will be facing off against dozens of other teams to try and become the champion, with each tournament win granting you new courts and player-card packs that unlock more of the game’s roster. There’s only six courts available and each tournament is a pretty similar four round affair, meaning that extended play sessions can grow tiresome.
The game plays relatively well for what it sets out to do, which is offer quick and crazy arcade basketball. Despite there only being four players on the court, there’s still a decent amount of strategy that goes into how you progress along the court. The game features a stamina gauge that depletes when doing things like sprinting or trying to swipe the ball away from an opponent, with a low stamina bar making it harder for you to make it down the court and make a shot yourself.
The act of actually shooting the ball is something that takes a decent amount of skill in its own right, which is good to see and stops this game’s gameplay from becoming mindless. The core of the game’s mechanics focus on timing, as initiating a shot by pressing the shot button then requires you to release said button at the perfect time in order to have a better change at the ball going in. This is something that’s actually very tricky when you’re first picking the game up, with a lot of missed shots forcing you to play a little more methodically.
The AI of the opposing team will also put up a decent fight, as well, making sure that any laziness on your part will be punished. They’ll regularly steal the ball from you, juke around your attacks and pull off some impressive alley-oops to keep matches competitive. Unfortunately, the AI of your teammate leaves something to be desired, as some delays when trying to do things like initiate an alley-oop can lead to a lot of frustration. This is something that you’ll eventually learn to work around, but it nevertheless results in you having to babysit the AI a little.
As you get better at the game and pull off flashy moves while scoring, your team’s special meter will begin to increase. When this meter eventually fills up, your team will be rewarded with a random “lottery pick.” These are essentially power-ups for your team that make life a heck of a lot easier for a little while, such as making all of your shots go in or giving you a speed boost. Considering the competitiveness of the game and the fact that matches are often close, utilizing a well-timed lottery pick can quickly turn the tides of the match in your favor.
Unlocking new characters seems to be what the developers hoped would provide longevity for the game, but that really isn’t the case here. Unlocking new characters isn’t as exciting as it could be, seeing as you’ll likely find players that you like to play with and stick with them. Your own skill often dictates whether or not you’ll win a match rather than the stats of your individual characters (to an extent), so there’s not as much of a reason to really experiment as there otherwise could have been.
Outside of a lack of content, where the game stumbles the most is in its presentation. While the visuals aren’t terrible by any means, they definitely have a budget feel to them that makes the game appear a little dated. This issue is even more apparent when scrolling through the menus, with everything from the layout to the background music feeling very slapped together. Considering that the game requires you to do a decent amount of menu surfing as you regularly unlock new characters, this becomes a very apparent problem.
The worst part of the presentation definitely comes in the sound department, however. The game’s commentators are the same ones that you’ll hear during each and every match, and they quickly got on my nerves. The commentary is filled with repetitive dialogue and downright annoying delivery on the commentators’ parts, making it something that actually detracts from the experience rather than adding to it.
You can also take these matches online to face off against opponents around the world, but it also is pretty light in what it offers at the moment. You can only play in two-player competitive matches online, even though the game allows you to play four-player co-op matches. This is a bizarre omission, as it could have resulted in some chaotic online matches if you got the right people together. There are leaderboards and rankings for those looking to become the best in the world, but other than that you’re really only playing to get more card packs.
If you’re craving some arcade basketball action, then you can do worse than NBA Playgrounds. It’s easy to pick up and get a match going, yet also requires enough skill to make the matches regularly enjoyable. It’s the lack of content and underwhelming presentation that ultimately knocks it down several notches though, making it hard to recommend to anyone other than die-hard fans of the sport. Hopefully the developers will add more modes and courts to the game down the road, because right now the game simply doesn’t have enough to sink your teeth into.
RSS