NBA 2K9 remains a strong basketball game yet again, but more new features could've definitely been added in.
I'll start off with the most important part: the gameplay. If you just spectate a game, you'll probably notice how realistically NBA 2K9 matches up with a real NBA game. Specific players, such as Tim Duncan and Kobe Bryant, have their own signature shots both for normal field goals and free throws. Players will dive after loose balls, perform a monster dunk and do an around-the-back pass for an assist. While the animations occasionally look a bit stiff, they do a decent job of adequately copying that of a real basketball game. While on offense, your teammates will do a decent job of trying to get open. Unfortunately, whenever you're dribbling around a lot, your teammates tend to stand there and stare at you. You can call out a specific play, such as a pick and roll, out to your teammates, and they will more than likely perform it properly. Despite what you may think, getting your teammates involved on offense is essential because the opponent AI will adept to typical tactics such as driving into the hoop to draw a foul or to pass it out to a teammate for a wide open three pointer.
Now for the new "living rosters" addition. Living rosters are frequent upgrades to the teams' rosters. Usually these just consist of moving players around to different teams. However, if a player like Kobe Bryant had been averaging 35 points per game for the past month, then the game would boost up his field goal percentage. Even though this is a good addition, it's the only real new one added to the game, so this might make it seem a bit underwhelming.
Despite my earlier complaints about the AI, there have been some noticeable improvements. There are few shots taken from behind the backboard and players don't miss easy dunks or layups as often. Unfortunately, it's still hard to see whether or not you'll step out of bounds on the far corner, and this may be a bit of an issue. Some other AI issues include a team running down the clock while they're losing by a few points in the final minute, and vice versa. There are still a lot of game modes, such as Blacktop and the online modes. You can now play five-on-five online similarly to NBA Live 08's multiplayer. You can also create your own highlight reels with the assistance of the game's video editor and share them online.
The audiovisual presentation is drastically improved over last year's. Signature player shots animations look great for the most part, though, as I said earlier, they might look a bit stiff at times and a player may dribble the ball weirdly. The arenas look great and the frame rate remains steady for the most part. The gatorade and play-calling logos at times can take up a large portion of the screen, and this is simply inexcusable. The announcers do a great job of calling the action and the in-game sound accurately matches that of a real NBA game.
It's a bit disappointing that there weren't more features added to the game. That said, it's hard not to like NBA 2K9 if you like basketball. The gameplay is rock solid, frequent roster updates are great, and there are still a ton of modes to play. If you like basketball, do yourself a favor and play this game.