NBA Playgrounds

There are so many sports games that it's ridiculous yet a well-done arcade interpretation always seems to stand out. NBA Playgrounds brings a massive roster of caricature ballers to your living room so let's take to the street and shoot some hoops.

Playgrounds certainly has its faults. Some of its mechanics are strangely hidden in mystery as I continue to miss layups that no professional should ever miss. But, in terms of off-the-wall two-on-two basketball, it can be a blast. It has a decent amount of single-player content, online play (with more online modes coming), and a non-microtransaction filled player collection system. If you’re the type of player who enjoys basketball, even if it’s just the “good ol’ days,” and wants to see Anthony Davis hurricane-dunk over Walt Frazier with some friends, NBA Playgrounds offers up a great experi...

NBA Playgrounds isn’t as deep as NBA Street or as beautifully simple as NBA Jam, but the gameplay is still well paced and the controls are still tight. It mixes this gameplay with cartoonish qualities and a retro style that fits an arcade basketball game, and earning new packs of random players is always rewarding. That said, I’ve taken some bad beats from the random power-ups system, and the online options are slimmer than I’d like. But as long as Saber Interactive delivers on its post-release updates, Playgrounds will have enough going for it to keep me coming back for more.

Time to pick up the rock and make your mark on the NBA Playgrounds. This game is fun, wacky, and entertaining to say the least, but it's not withouts its share of flaws and holes that provide a more complete experience.

NBA fans have been spoiled in recent years, being treated to arguably the most accurate virtual sporting experience with the NBA 2K series. However, the rise of realistic sims has seen arcade basketball games become a thing of a bygone era. The 90s were jampacked with these types of games, while the early 2000s saw its fair share of titles like NBA Street and NBA Ballers. In fact, the PlayStation 3 iteration of NBA Jam was the last time we saw arcadey basketball action – until now.

NBA Playgrounds gets so much of the setup right, often reawakening the spirit of the NBA Jam series, but it fumbles some of the finer details with needless complications and lacklustre AI. As a solo experience there are much better ways to spend your money, but when it comes to multiplayer NBA Playgrounds is so very nearly shooting nothing but net.

NBA Playgrounds isn’t a perfect recreation of the NBA Jam greatness of yesteryear, but it’s a pretty good start. Online play is sorely missed on the Switch, with no clue of how long “a few days” really will wind up being. I also feel like it’s lacking in game modes, though I’m hard-pressed to think of what other modes there could be. Online Tournaments are coming in a patch too, which will be fun if it’s anything like the great tournaments on Mario Kart 8 Deluxe.  But the appar...

A shoot and a miss.

NBA Playgrounds isn’t a bad game, but it isn’t great. The fun it offers is found almost exclusively in either co-op or online. The solo experience is lacking and doesn’t keep your attention for too long. The game has a great look, and plays decently well when the AI isn’t bugging out. What will most likely bog down your time with the game is the repetitiveness. With basically one game mode to play, it’s hard to make each outing feel different and fun. Playing locally definitely brought back some good memories, and online always made it interesting, but burning through the tournaments to unlock...

I'd say it's a little steep paying $20 for this one. If you're a hardcore NBA fan you might have an enjoyable time with Playgrounds, I'd recommend most other players stick to the 2K series. It's hard to even recommend the Switch version because 2K seems like it's just on the horizon. If you're looking to play NBA Playgrounds I'd suggest at least waiting until online is available. But if you've really got a basketball itch, this game does a decent job at scratching it.

The Nintendo Switch version of NBA Playgrounds is probably the most inferior. While an entertaining romp with fun mechanics, a lack of content and fundamental patches keep this from being a slam dunk.

NBA Playgrounds is very nice to look at, and its roster has a strong depth that any basketball fan will appreciate. But rather than build a game with hilarious, rollicking action and balance out how that is scored and defended, NBA Playgrounds imposes condition after condition on the users and cripples any chance at consistent fun. Those who pine for the flame-throwing slams of NBA Jam or the outrageous street trickery of NBA Ballers in days past will have their hopes buried under a pile of bricks by NBA Playgrounds, as their gamepad vibrates like an ignored phone call.