Despite some flustering gameplay, this is bar none, THE BEST the NBA has to offer in quite some time.
Ever since the first minute of playing this game, there was something that blew me away. First off, the presentation. It's just as good as watching a basketball game in real life on television, which is my cup of tea. The graphics are stunning, from the exaggerated perspiration (a good thing), to the crowd detail whenever you would get an overview of the whole court. The sound is just as spectacular. Of course, my team is the Lakers (and always will be, son!), love it or hate it; it won my heart whenever the crowd would chant "M-V-P" when Kobe was shooting freethrows in crunchtime, the Ric Flair "Whooo!" soundbyte whenever Chris Paul successfully shoots a three, or The Godfather soundbyte they play whenever Mo Williams shoots a three is fantastic. The Franchise mode is deep to the detail, from whatever drama is going on, to the draft, power rankings, whatever.
Though i could sound like the biggest NBA 2K9 fan right now, i listed this off as broken due to a couple of quite annoying problems that happened far too frequently. These are the same problems that have plagued the 2K series in the past and it seems as if they team from 2K sports have been struggling to fix it. First off, the free throws. Though i find it quite unique that the production team would go as far as to imitate every muscle twitch to a certain player's free throw technique, through all of that, comes the difficulty of timing a free throw perfectly. Perhaps, try shooting a free throw with someone like Paul Pierce and compare it over to shooting a free throw with Shawn Marion. I (probably with thousands of other people who plays this game occasionally) was put in the situation where i had to get out of my way to the practice court to do some free throws to memorize and get in the groove of shooting free throws with every player on my team. That said, it would be nearly impossible to play a full 48 minute basketball game without missing a free throw. And what NBA Live one-ups on the 2K series is the ability to fast forward into the fourth quarter of the game right before you step in to play in franchise mode. In a time where living life in a fast-paced environment is essential, subsituting is a must; but if you're like me, where you're so pissed that you lost a previous game, reset it out of frustration to in hopes of getting revenge via a 30 point blowout, it's unfortunate that you have to play a full game in order to do so. My biggest beef with this game has to be the defense. Defense might win championships, but defense in NBA 2K9 is a freaking joke. It's so inconsistent, it's pathetic. I could be playing as the Celtics and go up against the Clippers, get burned on the pick and roll every single time, and lose by 20 points. And in one game i can remember, i was playing as the Lakers against the Suns, and without my knowledge, Amare Staudamire (however you spell his name) was posting up against Derek Fisher. Are you kidding me?! You might as well have Captain Hook guarding Shaq, because defense in the post is just as mismatched like a bag of Skittles, and the sad thing is that it happens more than half of the time. Double teams happen way too frequently, which results in an uncontested three pointer or an open alley oop all the time. Defense can be done with a simple pull of the left trigger, but it is to no help at all; no matter how hard i try on the defensive end, i can't hold the opposing team to less than 100 points a game, even if my life depends on it. On the contrary, the controls to try to burn the defense for an open lane to the hoop is basically useless. The engine for this game could care less...you could be Tony Parker or you could be "Big Baby" Davis, whoever the hell you are, driving to the lane looks very slow, much like seeing your grandma playing one on one against the world's best at basketball. More than likely, you'll have to depend on sheer luck for an open drive to the basket for a dunk or a layup, and if you're even luckier, you'll get the two points after making it, which leads to another thing....missing shots within a five foot radius to the basket. Unforgiving computer mechanics, that's what it is. I don't care about any other setbacks, but bad, terrible defense is a big pet peeve of mine. Like how i preach to other gamers i come in contact with, "i give you all the credit in the world for creating a game that frustrates me, but it's a totally different story when you create a game that frustrates me and there is nothing i can do about it to win." The horrible defense and the sketchy controls on offense is what basically kept this game from a rare, but perfect 10.