Pong and Beyond

669th played so far

Genre: Sports
Platform: Various
Year of Release: 2009
Developer: Visual Concepts
Publisher: 2K Sports

I’ll be honest, I feel like a lot of these sports games are ones I have to cover – the yearly entry of the time was put on the list as the best representative of football, hockey, baseball or football, but it’s partially because that happens to be the one that was out then, rather than completely the best. It’s fine, but not being a big player of sports games, they are always a bit more awkward.

I’ve already played NBA Jam, which was an older, but seemingly streamlined basketball game. This is years later, of course, but I’ll see how this works out.

Our Thoughts

So as all sports game do to me, I had to take my time to get into it. Unlike other games in the genre, though, I did get there. I mean, I started off with big name teams I recognised – like the Chicago Bulls – so the game was clearly on my side, but that’s what I needed to start. The controls and gameplay felt incredibly intuitive, and while I’m sure I missed some tricks, I managed to do okay getting through the game – far better than I expected and certainly better than I did in other sports games.

I didn’t jump into career mode as much, which is mostly again because I’m worried about not making it, and not being able to make it through these is what put me off the games earlier. The quick play mode feels so good to play and really rewarding, which was a good reinforcement and a good way to show how these sports game can stay accessible, even to first time players – and it’s something that carries through to these game modes.

It still feels like a good basketball game as well – at least as far as I can judge – and from other games, I feel like they might be perfect as an introduction to the genre. Here, however, it’s pulled off well in a way that doesn’t force you to deal with a legacy of years.