NBA Playgrounds Review: Shooting Woes Ruin Otherwise Fun Time

Obviously inspired by NBA Jam, Saber Interactive’s NBA Playgrounds does so many things right, but is unable to truly cash in on a desperately desolate arcade basketball genre that needs to be filled thanks to subpar shooting mechanics. The end result is a basketball game that sometimes can be fun but is ultimately mediocre.

With a wild cast of NBA regulars and legends, NBA Playgrounds has an impressive amount of polish away from its actual gameplay. Opening up packs of cards and unlocking players is one of the most enjoyable parts of the game. Add in solid commentary and a few different parks to play in and the series has a plethora of potential.

However, once on the court, the game isn’t able to hold its own.

Overall, the game’s control is solid as players move around the court effortlessly. The Wallace and Gromit meets California Raisins-inspired look gets the job done too as modern players the likes of Dwight Howard and legends Bill Walton and Patrick Ewing all look cool. On the court, moving the ball up and down the court is seamless as well. Crossovers are fun, the blocking mechanic works well and alley-oops are just as cool as they are in NBA Jam. Shooting, however, is an absolute drag. After a dozen games or so, it feels almost impossible at times to know how to nail a three-pointer without the support of a power-up. Even the game’s dunks, which look awesome are ruined by a timing mechanic that is wonky and hard to read. While it gets easier in time, the game isn’t as accessible as it could have been. The fact that your stamina meter plays such a huge role also takes away from what could have been an arcade masterpiece.

As a result, you have a basketball game that could have been wonderful instead be annoying and frustrating. While it could obviously be fixed in a series of patches, it’s the second sports game from an indie developer this year (Old Time Hockey, being the first) that came so close to becoming something special before being ruined thanks to a fail that tarnished all the hard work.

On its merits, NBA Playgrounds could have been great, but with its shooting woes, it’s just barely playable. Requiring far less skill than it should, it’ll best be enjoyed by someone who wants to introduce someone to basketball video games, instead of its true target audience- someone who loves them.

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About Patrick Hickey Jr. 13819 Articles
Patrick Hickey Jr. is a full-time Assistant Professor of Communication & Performing Arts and Director of the Journalism program at Kingsborough Community College and is the chairman of the City University of New York Journalism Council. He is the Founder and Editor-In-Chief of ReviewFix.com. He's also a former News Editor at NBC Local Integrated Media and National Video Games Writer at Examiner.com where his work was mentioned in National Ad campaigns by Disney, Nintendo and EA Sports. Hickey was also the Editor-In-Chief of two College Newspapers before he received his BA in Journalism from Brooklyn College. Hickey's work has been published in The New York Daily News, The New York Times, Complex, The Hockey Writers, Yahoo!, Broadway World, Examiner, NYSportScene Magazine, ProHockeyNews.com, GothamBaseball.com, The Syracuse Post-Standard, Scout.com and the official sites of the Brooklyn Aces and New York Islanders. His first book, The Minds Behind the Games: Interviews With Cult And Classic Video Game Developers was released in April 2018 and is chock full of interviews with legendary developers. His second book in the series, The Minds Behind Adventures Games, was released in December 2019. His third book, The Minds Behind Sports Games, was released in September 2020. His fourth book, The Minds Behind Shooter Games, was released in March 2021. The Minds Behind Sega Genesis Games and The Minds Behind PlayStation Games were released in 2022 and The Minds Behind PlayStation 2 was published in January 2023. Hickey is also a contracted comic book writer, currently penning his original series, "Condrey," as well as "The Job," "Brooklyn Bleeds" "Dem Gulls" and "KROOM" for Legacy Comix, where he serves as founder, owner and Editor-in-Chief. Hickey Jr. is also a voice actor, having starred in the 2018 indie hit and 2019 Switch, PS4 and Xbox One release, The Padre (also serving as English language Story Editor), from Shotgun With Glitters. The sequel, The Padre: One Shell Straight to Hell was released in February 2021- Hickey also served as a Story Editor and Lead Voiceover performer. He has also done narration and trailers for several other titles including The Kaiju Offensive, Relentless Rex and Roniu’s Tale. Hickey is also the lead voiceover performer on Mega Cat Studios’ upcoming title WrestleQuest, responsible for nearly 90 characters in the game, as well as Skybound's Renfield: Bring Your Own Blood, where he voices both Dracula and Renfield, as well as several other characters. He also stars in Ziggurat Interactive’s World Championship Boxing Manager 2, where he performs the VO of nearly every male character in the game. He also worked on the Atari VCS’s BPM Boy.

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