NBA 2K asks you to do a lot of managing of egos

The NBA 2K franchise is back with the most true-to-life NBA experience to date with NBA 2K16. Guide your MyPLAYER through the complete NBA journey, take control of an entire NBA franchise, or hone your skills online competing against gamers from around the world. With animations that provide smoother movement and more realistic articulation, it's certain to be the most authentic NBA gaming experience yet. The game is lagging on many even high-end phones and all those major sound issues are very annoying. I mean there are bugs that you can live with but the sound is just terrible.

If you guessed UConn would also be one of those nine, my writing has been extremely obvious up to this point. Congratulations, now you're at the point where I talk about UConn! I do have to say the Huskies come off extremely well in-game. Of the nine offers you get - you play three games as a high schooler, receive three offers per game and finally pick your school after you finish the last one - most of their sells are based around their schools' reputations, and the experiences they offer. Conversely, the UConn recruiter doesn't jerk you around. Obviously, anyone with a brain is going to pick the guy who just says "Caron Butler, Rudy Gay, Kemba Walker, Shabazz Napier" and tells you to fill in the blanks. That's a compelling argument, IMO.

A year on and the already gorgeous visuals are just that slightly sharper, the animations that bit more realistic and detailed while an added level of gloss has been added to the in-game and on-screen presentations - including adding Kenny Smith to Shq and Ernie Johnson for pre-game, half-time and post-game analysis. But it’s when the action gets flowing that you’ll notice the fine tuning; it’s much smarter. The AI has been upgraded so opponents will react to your style of play, forcing you to make in-game adjustments and think like a coach. Scoring points is now much more realistic and reliant on set plays and concepts; barreling head-first to the basket will end badly.

My one-on-one online experience has been very good with 2K16. The games seem to flow without any lag. This is imperative with a control scheme as nuanced as 2K16’s, as the slightest hiccups can easily affect baskets. The vehicle to play standard matches is also improved, with Visual Concepts adopting an EA-esque divisions approach, with points determining promotion and relegation. MyTeam (Visual Concepts’ Ultimate Team rival) has also been tweaked, and is slightly more polished than last year. MyPark allows players to play pickup games in a virtual playground with tens of other ballers, though the experience has been far poorer than last year due to overcrowding.

MyTeam is one of those baffling card modes that is in every sports game. I don’t know why anyone plays them. MyGM puts you in the driver’s seat of an NBA team. NBA 2K asks you to do a lot of managing of egos, which is a fun challenge that actively gives you something to work on during the long 82-game season. Sure, you can beat the Nets, but can you beat them while getting Zach LaVine the minutes he thinks he deserves? It was an interesting spin on a sports career mode and I found myself investing more time into it than I thought I would.

Other things will remain the same, such as the NBA 2K Store where you can purchase equipment, courts, VC, etc. NBA 2K16 will also feature a soundtrack curated by rapper DJ Khaled, as well as producers DJ Mustard and DJ Premier, and new teams from the Euroleague basketball system. Developed by Visual Concepts, 2K's latest sports mobile game is available for iOS devices running on iOS 9.0 or later (but reportedly won't work on the iPad 2 or iPhone 4S) and Android for $7.99.