NBA 2K12 dropped a couple of weeks ago during a VERY crowded week of video game releases.  Another looming factor in the mix was the current state of the NBA and if the season would commence or not.  As it stands now – the NBA lockout is currently happening and the first two weeks of the NBA season were canceled.  With the NBA still in flux this means that rookies are ‘locked’ out of play in the NBA 2K12 video game (as well as real life basketball).  While hard to prove with statistics, we are seeing a rise in popularity for the video game due to not having the ‘real thing’ available to watch.  With all these things stacked up against it — we’re VERY proud to say that NBA 2K12 is an excellent basketball video game – in fact most will claim it as one of the best!

The last version of the game NBA 2K11 was already a pretty solid game but 2K Games went even further with improvements and added new elements to the game.  The two things that standout are the additions to the post-player moves and position.  Everyone loves being a point guard and doing tricky dribble-drive offense but for those who like a good ‘big man’ game then 2K has heard your prayers.

The other unique addition to NBA 2K12 is the 15 ‘NBA Greatest’ games.  2K went back into the time machine and dug up 15 classic NBA matches dating back to historic players like Jerry West to modern icons like Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson and Larry Bird.  There’s even multiple covers of the box to support your favorite player.  The attention to detail of the ‘greatest’ mode is so insane – the games have a retro look to them, players retain that ‘old school’ feeling about them and the announcers of the game do an excellent job of bridging the two worlds during gameplay.  We’ve had a blast playing through some of the ‘Greatest’ matches thus far and have included a video gameplay from Larry Bird’s Boston Celtics vs Atlanta Hawks (1985-1986) match.

Final thoughts — NBA 2K12 can be simple or complex depending on how advance you want to be with the controls.  The decision to add nostalgic value increases the greatness enough to make us forget about the actual NBA lockout and want to continue hooping it up with our friends online – bravo!