Hey am smilin!!
I will make it short or try to...
NBA2K9 is or feels like it's the best Basketball game right now on the market. That's how good this game is. The game it's a total SIM. So once you start playing you will notice that you cannot just waltz in thru the baseline and do a double pump spin dunk just because you want to. At the same time, it's still fun having to look for ways to score. Usually on sim games, it's boring to death when they try to make it so like real life. Lucky us, on this game it's Fun all the way.
Pros:
Graphics and animations...they are top notch. Great great GREAT! I love to see the stadium erupt when you are on tight games, and you do an alley-oop to lead the game late on the forth quarter. Once you play it, you will know what am talking about! The crowd is good, the player models are great, and the animation and movement is just sweet.
Gameplay...hard to score and strategy DOES work. So it's good too.
Presentation...when i played the NBA2K on the PS2, i didn't like the advertasing being all over the place...it felt more like forced in, rather than trying to add more to the game. This time around, it adds tons to the game, and it doesnt feel all that jammed in. I remember on the PS2 game, it even had the GMC truck...man, look where they are now!
Cons:
Controls: Ok so its O.K. Not good, but O.K. For an average Joe or casual gamer, it's going to take a little bit to get used to this...probably more than 2 days. To dunk i must press this and that button?? why? it shouldn't be that hard for Shaq to dunk over Nash or is it? Good part of it, it has Controller options...whepw!! if not this game would suck! I am sorry but i don't understand why something so integral, make it so damm hard to do. Again, there is a controller option to assign the button configuration.
Menus: It's not good...they need to work on this, it's a bit confusing to get to where you want to be.
Coaching stategy: sometimes am able to select what i want to play out, sometimes i can't. Again, this goes tied to the MENUS. It's confusing and if you do this during the game, it's even worse.
In the end, even with the not-user friendly controls, with the enigma-dizzing-hyper confusing Coaching Strategy book MENUS, this game still manages to provide an excellent good time. The actual feel or atmosphere of the game (the crowd reaction is just amazing), in combination with the top notch graphics and player movement, will always come on top.
So if you are a casual gamer, try renting it first. If you are a fan of the series or a like NBA games, this game is for you.