Trailer Impressions: Playgrounds 2: Ball Without Limits

While sport games have become a yearly franchise, something that has disappeared is arcade sport titles. These are games meant for people who are fans of the sport, but only play video games on occasion, or for people who want to play the sports without the realism. The last recent arcade basketball game I played was NBA Jam: On Fire Edition back in 2011. Thankfully, the game is backwards compatible on my Xbox One, but the outdated roster had me stop playing. I have heard of NBA Playgrounds to mixed reactions, but the sequel looks to be improved with 2K coming aboard. One thing this game has done that NBA Jam never managed to achieve is having “Air Jordan” himself in the game.

The gameplay looks slow compared to the fast action of NBA Jam and NBA Street. I’m only hoping the card packs are for show, because I’m not a fan of microtransactions. The trailer looks impressive and colorful with cartoony looks of NBA players, taking the game outdoors with multiple outdoor basketball courts. Since EA is holding the NBA Jam license hostage, it’ll be interesting to see if NBA 2K Playgrounds 2 can deliver.