From Dr. J vs. Larry Bird all the way through to last year’s release of NBA Now, the years have been kind to gamers who are fans of NBA titles. In fact, it’s quite possibly the world’s most popular sports league in terms of associated video game titles. And with so many games to choose from, deciding on the best of the best is no mean feat. But as you can guess by the title of this post, that’s exactly what we’ve tried to do.
You might not agree with some of our choices and you may even feel enraged by a few significant omissions, but here are our choices for the best NBA video games of all time. One thing to note is that they’re all so good that we found them impossible to rank in order of preference. We’ll leave that up to you.
One on One: Dr. J vs. Larry Bird
Yes, we’re starting with an all-time classic. People of a certain age will remember the simplicity of this game with fondness though at the time, it was cutting edge stuff. This was a 1v1 game between Dr. J who we all know as Julius Erving and the one and only Larry Bird.
This game was the game of the time. No self-respecting gamer didn’t have a copy at home and it sold out as soon as it hit the shelves. Players could play to a specified score or against the clock and while simple, it led the way for 1v1 gameplay for years to come. It may not be as fast and glitch-free as newer titles, but it’s certainly one of the best.
NBA 2K11
Right, so we’re going to follow that up with the game that many people consider one of the best sports video games of all time. NBA 2K11 was such a hyped up release that many worried the game wouldn’t live up to expectations. How wrong they were. The game was built around Michael Jordan so it was always going to be good, but it was better than good; it was a masterpiece.
The ability to drop Jordan into virtually any team to see how they fared was insane and made this an all-time classic that will never be beat. Playing with that classic Bulls team was, and still is amazing, but it must be hard to stomach for Bulls’ fans. They always seem to be the long shot in NBA betting tips and that’s not going to change any time soon. How Jim Boylen must wish for a bit of Jordan magic right about now.
While One on One opened up the genre, NBA 2K11 set the benchmark for graphics and gameplay on modern consoles and in our opinion, nothing has ever come close since.
NBA Live 2000
This was another groundbreaking game. NBA Live 2000 was the first to officially include Michael Jordan and the first to feature NBA legends of the past alongside current players. This was incredible stuff and although it has become a staple of many video games in multiple sports, NBA Live 2000 was our first taste of legends vs. the players we watch every week.
Like One on One, the gameplay and graphics weren’t all that special by today’s standards, but when this game came out, it really was ahead of the curve in so many ways. The head to head games in the park were obviously inspired by the first title on our list, and they were an instant success. Jordan vs. James head to head? Who wouldn’t want to play that?
NBA Jam: Tournament Edition
What can we say? Yes, we absolutely loved NBA Jam and everything about it, but this edition is better in just about every way imaginable. You may not agree, but if you really think about it, you’ll see what we mean.
There was faster gameplay and better features. The roster was updated and you could now choose three player on each team and not just two. The audio was better, the graphics were better too, even the in-game substitutions made a huge difference. If you loved basketball in any way, then this was your jam and probably still is. You see, while NBA Jam was a great release, it didn’t age very well. This version, on the other hand, did just about everything right.
Like we said, there are some huge omissions from this list, but it is what it is. As far as we’re concerned these four titles are by far and away, the best NBA video games of all time.
I'm a published author and proud US Army veteran who happens to be a gamer, so I decided to combine the two and love every minute of it! Feel free to contact me with any questions or comments and I'll be sure to get back to you.
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