NBA 2K20

NBA 2K20 excels at recreating real-world basketball, but loses focus off of the court.

There's a lot to chew on in this game, good and not as good, but thankfully the gameplay delivers

And yet year after year 2K, despite intense fan protest online, turn the dial up and try to squeeze everyone just a little bit more. Clearly there are millions of fans who either don’t care, or are at least willing to suffer through it all, and it’s for these players that 2K is happy to continue building their entire game around the central conceits of microtransactions and advertising.

NBA 2K20’s absurd production values put it alongside MLB The Show 19 as the most convincing sports game on the market, and its under-the-hood gameplay improvements mean it’s the best-playing basketball simulation ever made.

Simply put, there's no better basketball game out there.

NBA 2K20 is the series' best showing in several seasons. The action is more refined than ever, MyCareer serves up a fun story with less grind, and MyGM mode is back on track. Microtransactions continue to be a concern, but the most egregious stuff is restricted to MyTeam mode, with MyCareer actually feeling less exploitative this year. Hopefully we'll see a more substantial refresh in the next year or two, but, for now, the NBA 2K dynasty remains strong.

NBA 2K20 will continue to be supported by its giant community and hailed as a true NBA simulation.

For Switch-owning sports fans there's nothing that comes close to NBA 2K20. Boasting great visuals, stellar gameplay and a feature-rich range of play types, there's something for everyone, and while VC is still a 'feature' that we'd rather didn't have a place in modern sports titles, it's been balanced back in the favour of actual gameplay.

NBA2K0 is worth your money if you focus on the game itself and not on the superficial things you can buy with your VC in MyCareer or in MyTeam. Because even as its aging graphics engine speaks to a need for a shake-up, NBA 2K20 is still undeniably the best you can get when it comes to basketball sims.

While the Czech team has been awarded the maximum number of points for their performance at the World Championship, the latest GAME in the NBA 2K series has been awarded 7 points out of 10, which is two points less than the previous title. Gameplay has never been better, but mictrotransactions, minor technical problems, and especially the deplorable MyCareer pull the game down. The question is how much the developers are to blame and how much the greed of 2K is responsible for the overall state. Fortunately, the whole issue has recently been talked about a lot more and perhaps will fundamentally affect the next iteration.