Hands-onNBA 2K2 PS2 from Sega Sports Summit 2001

While NBA 2K1 was arguably the best video game basketball simulation to date, the development team at Visual Concepts wasn't content to sit on its hands and churn out an uninspired follow-up. For the follow-up, a number of areas have been addressed, most notably the player animation. The PlayStation 2 and the Dreamcast versions of the game essentially share the same animation routines, with a few exceptions. For example, in the PS2 version, superstar players have more signature moves, like Allen Iverson's exaggerated crossover move where he almost palms the ball. In total, there are more than 400 new animations in the game, for a grand total of more than 2,000 individual player movements. One of the new animations, in both the PS2 and Dreamcast versions, is the contact-specific shot, which varies the players' shot animations depending on their proximity to defensive players, as well as their body position. So, for example, if a player is undercut while taking a jumper, his legs will fly out from under him, and he'll fall backward while taking the shot. The standard jumper animation has also been tweaked. Players will now elevate and realistically follow through on their shots, so it is doubly important, in this year's game, to release a shot at the top of the jump. These animation sequences are subtle, but they add immensely to both the overall visual presentation and gameplay.

Also new to this year's game is the introduction of zone defenses. Obviously, the NBA season hasn't started yet, and as such, the team at Visual Concepts wasn't able to study tapes on how the zone defense would be used in the league. To compensate, the development team spoke with a variety of college and NBA coaches to get a clearer idea on the various uses of the zone defense. According to Greg Thomas, president of Visual Concepts, the zones in NBA 2K2 should closely mirror the ones used in the NBA this upcoming season. Complementing the new zone defenses in NBA 2K2 is the ability for players to pick off passes. The more athletic players can now roam around the key and wings and step into passing lanes to intercept passes. This should help speed up the pace of the game in certain situations, as players will be able to pick off passes and break out for easy baskets.

Aside from some of the animation routines, the most notable difference between the PlayStation 2 and the Dreamcast version of NBA 2K2 is in the presentation and graphics. In the PlayStation 2 version of the game, the courtsides are cluttered with polygonal cheerleaders and referees, as well as cameramen that actually follow the action. The player models in the version shown at Sega's Sports Summit weren't that much different from the ones found in the Dreamcast version. At this stage, it looks as though Visual Concepts simply ported over the original player models into the PS2 version of the game. Hopefully, though, by the time the game is completed, the team will add some PS2-specific visual details.

Last year's game was truly impressive, but this year's version seems to be even better. Sega has enlisted Jermaine Dupri and his labelmate R.O.C. to provide much of the soundtrack for all the versions of the game. The PlayStation 2 will include more detailed textures and new player animations, like contextual player reactions. NBA 2K2 will be released on Sony's console in January 2002. The Dreamcast version will arrive in October.