Welcome to another edition of The Friday Five! Every Friday I cover a topic related to basketball gaming, either as a list of five items, or a Top 5 countdown. The topics for these lists and countdowns include everything from fun facts and recollections to commentary and critique. This week’s Five is a list of five reasons why both NBA Playgrounds and NBA 2K Playgrounds 2 fell short of the best NBA Jam titles.

When Saber Interactive announced NBA Playgrounds back in 2017, we were excited and intrigued. EA Sports had allowed the NBA Jam series to fall dormant once again following the masterpiece that was NBA Jam: On Fire Edition, so NBA Playgrounds appeared poised to be a worthy spiritual successor. Both it and NBA 2K Playgrounds 2 reportedly sold quite well, though critical reception was mixed. I did have some fun with both NBA Playgrounds games, but I was definitely somewhat underwhelmed by them. To that point, I’m on record as calling them a poor man’s NBA Jam.

That was once impossible to say without receiving pushback, and accusations of being an NBA Jam fanboy blinded by nostalgia. However, there’s no denying that NBA Jam pioneered the genre of arcade basketball games, setting the bar with success that speaks for itself. There are a few lacklustre releases in its lineage – primarily the ones developed by Acclaim – but the best NBA Jam titles remain the gold standard. NBA Playgrounds had good intentions, but in terms of becoming the NBA Jam of a new generation, both the original and the sequel came up short. Here are five reasons why NBA Playgrounds ultimately failed to equal or surpass the best NBA Jam games.

1. Gameplay Style & Quality

Let’s not delay getting to the main reason that both NBA Playgrounds games fell short of NBA Jam. Simply put, they weren’t nearly as good on the sticks! NBA Jam defined the arcade genre of basketball video games, establishing the standards for quality as well as design principles. To be fair, NBA Playgrounds did get a few things right as far as the latter is concerned. Its gameplay is straightforward and easy to pick up, the system for earning, using, and losing power-ups is uncomplicated, and there are over-the-top moments. Unfortunately, neither NBA Playgrounds game is as fun or polished as the original NBA Jam games that were released more than twenty years earlier.

First of all, the pace is way too slow for an arcade game, even when using turbo. It doesn’t help that turbo runs out way too quickly when running the floor, while also being depleted by steal and shove attempts. The addition of a shot meter – which also applies to dunks and layups – forces a sim game mechanic into an article title. It might have worked, but the timing is way too unforgiving. The lottery pick power-up system is interesting as it provides different modifiers and an incentive to play cleanly, but it isn’t as exciting or balanced as being On Fire. Despite having newer tech to work with and NBA Jam to copy from, the NBA Playgrounds games are inferior on the court.

2. Atmosphere & Commentary

Identity and vibe are something that basketball video games need to nail, and to that end, this is another area where NBA Playgrounds fell short of NBA Jam. Although it’s ostensibly a mash-up of NBA Jam and NBA Street, for the most part it’s inspired by the former. This is a fun idea in theory, but the result is a combination of signature features that aren’t done nearly as well. The result is an awkward mix of NBA Jam wackiness and a cartoony take on venues better suited to NBA Street, with squads that are mostly mixed and matched. It’s trying to incorporate too many different ideas, and the lack of a consistent identity detracts from both the gameplay and the atmosphere.

And then, there’s the commentary. Ian Eagle does his best Tim Kitzrow impression, but whereas Tim Kitzrow is a talented improviser and voice actor, Ian Eagle…is not. His flat delivery and the overuse of rather snarky lines give the commentary in NBA Playgrounds a vibe that’s simultaneously bland and off-putting. Tim’s commentary pumps you up and takes the sting out of misses and mistakes with its good-natured humour, while Ian’s commentary is a cure for insomnia crossed with a terrible, mean-spirited roast. There was merit in borrowing concepts from both NBA Jam and NBA Street, but poor execution makes NBA Playgrounds less than the sum of its parts.

3. Approach to Its Roster

There’s a laughable Steam review of NBA 2K Playgrounds 2 that categorises any criticism of the game’s approach to rosters as whiny complaining. I’ve already made my position on such bootlicking, apologist rhetoric very clear, but it’s particularly myopic here. The approach to unlocking players via ripping open packs in the vein of MyTEAM or Ultimate Team is questionable, even without pushy recurrent revenue mechanics. Whereas NBA Jam has given us immediate access to rosters featuring exciting duos (or indeed, trios), NBA Playgrounds forced us to begin with a random assortment of players, with a low chance of getting major stars right out of the gate.

Not only that, but there’s a progression system that requires us to level up each and every player to their maximum ratings. In other words, you’ve got to collect a bunch of players at random, and then play with them over and over again just to make them as effective as they should be. It’s tiresome busywork akin to the grinding that takes place in MyCAREER, artificially padding out the game and ensuring that you’re sick of it by the time you have a full roster. So no, smug, bootlicking review on Steam. It’s not a case of gamers “whining”, or not being good enough. It’s a shoddy approach that got even worse once microtransactions were involved. And hey, speaking of which…

4. 2K Becoming The Publisher of NBA Playgrounds

This may be a controversial suggestion, because partnering with Take-Two obviously did benefit NBA Playgrounds in some ways. Sure, it gave the sequel the hilariously awkward title of NBA 2K Playgrounds 2, but it also allowed Saber Interactive to get Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar into the rosters. I’m sure that Take-Two publishing the game also helped out with marketing and brand awareness. Unfortunately, as I discussed way back in 2019, this also resulted in the 2K being put into NBA Playgrounds, and not just in the aforementioned clunky title! One of NBA 2K’s most frustrating issues ultimately infiltrated NBA 2K Playgrounds 2 as well.

I am of course talking about microtransactions and general greed. Granted, there had already been talk of microtransactions during the development of the first game, and there was a big content update in the form of paid DLC. Given the lower price point of the first NBA Playgrounds however, it wasn’t quite as controversial. There was no such goodwill in the 2K-branded sequel though, from the introduction of premium currency – which is the only way to unlock parts in the court creator – to the prices of packs and unlocking players. Also, since further sequels to NBA 2K Playgrounds 2 never materialised, you can’t help feeling that 2K got involved to squash a competitor.

5. Modes & Replay Value

On one hand, it’s commendable that NBA Playgrounds didn’t just copy the arcade ladder from NBA Jam and call it a day. On the other hand, by the time the first NBA Playgrounds came out, NBA Jam: On Fire Edition had given us Road Trip; the best mode that an arcade basketball game has ever seen. To NBA Playgrounds’ credit, the Tournaments do try for some more depth with their various challenges, and some of the games can be tough. It’s a short campaign though, with the base game offering ten tournaments comprised of four games apiece, and the Hot ‘N Frosty DLC adding three more locations for twelve new challenges. It’s better than nothing, but it’s not enough.

A three-point shootout was also added post-release, and NBA 2K Playgrounds 2 also introduced season play and an online championship, as well as daily rewards. Season mode is a rather dry though, and the three-point shootout is serviceable at best. This combination of decent-but-lacklustre modes, grindy mechanics to unlock and level up a sizeable roster, and the gameplay not being stellar – especially when compared to NBA Jam – makes both NBA Playgrounds games frustratingly repetitive with poor replay value. As such, while the original NBA Jam games are still a blast to dust off even today, the NBA Playgrounds games lost their audience in less than a decade.

What’s your take on NBA Playgrounds, and the comparisons to NBA Jam? Do you wish that the series continued beyond NBA 2K Playgrounds 2? Have your say in the comments, and as always, feel free to take the discussion to the NLSC Forum! That’s all for this week, so thanks for checking in, have a great weekend, and please join me again next Friday for another Five.

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