NBA 2K17 (2016)

Despite a few minor irritations, such as the odd bug in a MyCareer training session or a slight oddity in the animations, NBA 2K17 is basketball at its absolute finest in gaming terms. While it's obviously difficult to rank it alongside games of yesteryear, like the more arcade-centric NBA Jam on the SNES, when it comes to simulating the game on modern hardware, this is the purest, most authentic experience out there, bar none.

While I'm not a fan of the changes towards the timing of layups, NBA 2K17 continues to improve on what many have deemed near-perfection with NBA 2K16. There isn't a single thing not to like about this game, and that's the way NBA 2K likes to do it. K.I.S.S: Keep it Simple, Stupid.

NBA 2K17, in my honest opinion, is the undisputed greatest sports simulation game. The slight gameplay kinks and exploits are part of the greatness in the sense that they allow for interesting and unpredictable gameplay.

NBA 2K17 is undoubtedly the best basketball simulation video game. Despite it doesn’t have any powerful rival, it gets better every year. 2K17 also have a very good story mode which is necessary for good sports games but it doesn’t even disappoint solo players. It’s graphic is exceptional and very realistic, player faces, gyms, ball physics and other visual aspects are implemented very well. Its annoying problem is very limited offline experience, it doesn’t even let you buy animations in offline mode while 2K16 allow you to do that even in offline mode. Anyway, every basketball fan must have this game.

Without a doubt NBA 2K17 is the best basketball game on the market so far. There are a handful of flaws, but when weighed against everything that Visual Concepts got right, they are pretty insignificant. I have always felt that basketball is probably one of the most challenging (if not the most challenging) sport to represent in a video game, but as a lifelong fan of the NBA this is as close as the medium has taken me to enjoying the sport.