NBA Playgrounds is nothing but a party game. It tries to live up to NBA Jam, but the lack of content and clunky controls make it an unworthy follow up.
The spiritual successor/follow up (or whatever you want to call it) to NBA Jam is officially out. NBA Playgrounds looked very promising from the start. After watching tons of footage, we thought we would have as much as we did with NBA Jam back in the day. Unfortunately, that doesn’t seem to be the case.
(This version of NBA Playgrounds was played on the Nintendo Switch)
At its core, you can find enjoyment with this game, especially if you’re playing with friends. Unfortunately, that’s about it. As of right now, there are far too many flaws with this game. We’re sure it’ll get better as time goes on since developer Saber Interactive has stated that they plan on updating it and improving various aspects of the game. However, in its current state, it isn’t very good and not even worth the cheap price tag of $20.
At the start, you realize that you can’t even pick the players you want to play with because you have to unlock them. You get player packs, which unlock five random players from different NBA teams. If you were hoping to choose whoever you desired, you’re going to have to grind out a couple of exhibition matches and hope that you can unlock the player you want.
It seems like you have to unlock everything else in this game as well, such as different courts to play on and whatnot. Variety in a game like this is
Speaking on exhibition matches, that’s the only mode that’s available to play as of right now. You can’t create tournaments to play with friends or even yourself against the computer, and online play is currently unavailable. Playing exhibition matches over and over in order to unlock players and improve attributes is just about the only thing you can do right now. It gets repetitive and boring fairly quickly.
When it comes to gameplay, you have wait quite a bit before even getting into the actual game. The loading times are pretty long. We waited longer than necessary after choosing our players before the game actually started. It’s not like the game has game-changing graphics or incredible performance. We don’t understand what all the loading is about.
The gameplay is also very clunky. The controls are easy to catch up on, but it takes a bit to get used to and it feels unnatural. When you play a sports game, especially a party game like this one, everything should flow smoothly. You find yourself trying to remember all the buttons and figure out how to do certain things with this game, though. It can be very frustrating. We feels there’s certain delays in-game as well, such as inbounding the ball.
Touching on an earlier point, this game excels as a party game. Truthfully, the best version is the Switch version. We can’t see how someone can play this over and over again without an online mode. Local co-op can be fun, though, especially on the Switch, where you can take it on the go and simply detach a Joy-Con controller and give it to a friend.
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Verdict
Despite all the flaws in its current state, we do believe that this game will get better over time. Like we said, the developer plans on supporting this game, which is always encouraging.
As of right now though, it isn’t worth your time. The lack of content is the biggest turnoff. The controls are clunky, but that’s easy to overlook once you get used to them. We truly hope it gets better so that we can have an overall better experience with the game.
Score: 5.5/10