NBA 2K9

 PlayStation 3
User Score
7.1

Mixed or average reviews- based on 38 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 25 out of 38
  2. Mixed: 4 out of 38
  3. Negative: 9 out of 38
Buy Now
Buy on

Review this game

  1. Your Score
    0 out of 10
    Rate this:
    • 10
    • 9
    • 8
    • 7
    • 6
    • 5
    • 4
    • 3
    • 2
    • 1
    • 0
    • 0
  1. Submit
  2. Check Spelling
view
per page
  1. MArkM.
    Oct 10, 2008
    10
    THis game is a lot better than the 09. Its contorls are very nice and the free throws are easy. Seriously i can hit almost every freethrow on perfect release except for those players with the "messed up" motion. 10 out of 10.XD
  2. DarrellS.
    Oct 10, 2008
    3
    I choked when I saw how ugly this games presentation was. How can the reviewers keep annointing a very non realistic basketball experience. 2K9 ironically plays just like Nba Live 2008 which was a bit surprising to me. Why do the players jersey's look so clunky? How come none of the players look like their real life counterparts? Rent it once and then go get Live 2009 or Nba 09.
  3. RogerT.
    Oct 9, 2008
    9
    This game is thee best basketball game to date! 2K really did emprove alot...and not just the graphics!
  4. RobertC.
    Oct 11, 2008
    8
    This is definitely a game for the major basketball fanatic. The amount of depth that this game shows in the Association mode is crazy. The play calling is responsive and the ball handling is good as well. The game should only be played in 1080 or 720 resolution. Anything less will not do the graphics justice. The detail on the characters is well done although a few player models are off. This is definitely a game for the major basketball fanatic. The amount of depth that this game shows in the Association mode is crazy. The play calling is responsive and the ball handling is good as well. The game should only be played in 1080 or 720 resolution. Anything less will not do the graphics justice. The detail on the characters is well done although a few player models are off. The online needs a little work in the lobby department, but after the game is connected, it is a smooth experience. The blacktop modes could have been left out, but the best portions would have to be the dunk contest and 21. The three point shoot out, while simplified with just the player worrying about the shooting, is a little too simple once the timing is down. All in all, this is a great simulation basketball game with a few kinks that ultimately won't effect a great experience. A must buy!… Expand
  5. LennyC
    Oct 13, 2008
    9
    Great game. Def. better than live. Graphics aren't quite up to par with its rival, however gameplay and features are WAY better in 2K. Association 2.0 is great. 'east sideeee we readdyy, we readddyyy'.
  6. JayDu
    Oct 14, 2008
    8
    Honestly this game has made improvement from 2k8. Low Post Game really sucks gumballs, but overall though the game is really up to par. EA is falling of greatly compared to the 2k series.
  7. [Anonymous]
    Oct 10, 2008
    3
    nba 2k9 is a great game. the graphics are crazy, the new commentary, gameplay. its an overall hot game. its just 2 bad we cant play it! well u can play it fine against the cpu, but if ur an online fan ur assed out. the game freezes when searching 4 opponents 89% of the time, and the other 11% of the time it says game cannot be started. and the low post scoring is ridiculously easy, unless nba 2k9 is a great game. the graphics are crazy, the new commentary, gameplay. its an overall hot game. its just 2 bad we cant play it! well u can play it fine against the cpu, but if ur an online fan ur assed out. the game freezes when searching 4 opponents 89% of the time, and the other 11% of the time it says game cannot be started. and the low post scoring is ridiculously easy, unless ur playing yao ming who blocks every shot put up. but 2k is doing an excellent job of selling nba live, keep up the good work 2k.… Expand
  8. RolandoD.
    Oct 8, 2008
    6
    Graphics suck. alot of glitches. terrible port.
  9. SeanC.
    Oct 9, 2008
    7
    It's a good game but anything more than an 8 and you are just really not beign honest. The player movement is fantastic best part of the game, really got all the individual animations down, very realistic, but that's it for me...The closeups stink and they do close ups all the time, they're are ad's on the screen I couldnt turn off, the crowd is beyond animated they It's a good game but anything more than an 8 and you are just really not beign honest. The player movement is fantastic best part of the game, really got all the individual animations down, very realistic, but that's it for me...The closeups stink and they do close ups all the time, they're are ad's on the screen I couldnt turn off, the crowd is beyond animated they are practically out on the court, easy to step outta bounds you can't even see the sideline cuz of the crowd, the controller isnt customizable much, it's really difficult topick up and have a good time you will have to work hard at it to excell really hard, Way different control than it was in previous editions. Bottom line I was bored, wasn't fun. I rented LIVE which isn't great either, but it sure is a lot more fun and you can pick it up and compete right away.… Expand
  10. ChrisA
    Oct 10, 2008
    0
    Do NOT buy this game on ps3. If you HAVE to buy this game, only get it for xbox360. Online mode will CRASH your system causing extreme risk to your system's hardware. The xbox360 version does not have this problem because of xbox live. Also, if you are excited about 5v5 gameplay online, forget it, there is no way all 10 people will stay in game without most, if not all, of the Do NOT buy this game on ps3. If you HAVE to buy this game, only get it for xbox360. Online mode will CRASH your system causing extreme risk to your system's hardware. The xbox360 version does not have this problem because of xbox live. Also, if you are excited about 5v5 gameplay online, forget it, there is no way all 10 people will stay in game without most, if not all, of the players' systems crashing. After 3 days of user's systems freezing, 2k sports has done nothing to alleviate the problem, showing that they are not dedicated to their fan base. DO NOT BUY THIS GAME.… Expand
  11. DeepakN.
    Oct 14, 2008
    0
    I AGREE WITH CLEVELAND O. This game freezes up my ps3 everytime i try to go online. When will thi sproblem be fixed???? if it's not by next week im returning it and switching to nba Live. How can a problem as big as that happen this day in age???
  12. Filthy512
    Oct 6, 2008
    9
    This game is feature-packed....I have had nba live and nba 2k9 for about a week and on the surface It looked like nba live had it, but having spent more time with 2k9, I can definitely see this is the better of the two by a long shot i'd give nba live a 8.1. If I could i'd give 2k9 a 9.5 it's not perfect but damn near
  13. ClevelandO.
    Oct 8, 2008
    1
    This game has some SERIOUS flaws in it that apparently the game reviewers totally missed. First, the online mode does not have a lobby (or if it does, im totally unaware of it) so you have no idea who (or what connection) your opponent has. So every game ive played so far has been in terrible lag as it paired me up apparently with people in africa or something. Second problem is that low This game has some SERIOUS flaws in it that apparently the game reviewers totally missed. First, the online mode does not have a lobby (or if it does, im totally unaware of it) so you have no idea who (or what connection) your opponent has. So every game ive played so far has been in terrible lag as it paired me up apparently with people in africa or something. Second problem is that low block scoring has been made entirely too simple. If you choose the suns you can just give the ball to shaq down low and he will score 100% of the time even if hes standing in a 4 man zone. This makes for very uneven play as it turns into just watching shaq score every time for 25 minutes of your life. 3rd problem is that the only way to stop the exploit is to just foul every time someone gets the ball in the paint. OK, so what? its impossible to shoot freethrows with the new system they implemented especially in all the lag you will inevitably have. Not only does the lag make freethrows near impossible, but it makes them totally random, so sometimes you will get a "Bad release (too early)" and other times you will get "Bad release (too late)" message while holding back [R] for the exact same amount of time...VERY FRUSTRATING. In one online game I played, my opponent just fouled me every time as soon as I inbound the ball because he was losing. I couldnt hit any freethrows and soon I was losing so I started fouling him back. Basically the game was just us fouling each other as soon as we could for 2 quarters. (the game lasted almost an hour) Just terrible. As if these problems werent enough, the game will randomly FREEZE my ps3 when searching for an online opponent. I don't mean that it will take a long time... I mean it will ACTUALLY FREEZE the ps3 and force you to restart. This is happening to a lot of people as ive heard and i'm not an outlier. Anyway, I just wish each of these gaming review companies would spend a little more time with the game before telling people to buy them because now I am out of 60 bucks with a piece of junk game. I'm going to try and get my money back from 2k sports but i'm not optimistic.… Expand
  14. AidaO.
    Oct 13, 2008
    9
    Being previously a live player, I was at first disappointed in my switch to 2k. The menus suck, and the general feel is not good. However, the gameplay is SOOO much better than Live. Not a dunk fest and much more difficult to play. First game, on pro mode I hung with the opp but struggled as the game went on and the AI adjusted to my play. At least it is a challenge unlike Live. Tried the Being previously a live player, I was at first disappointed in my switch to 2k. The menus suck, and the general feel is not good. However, the gameplay is SOOO much better than Live. Not a dunk fest and much more difficult to play. First game, on pro mode I hung with the opp but struggled as the game went on and the AI adjusted to my play. At least it is a challenge unlike Live. Tried the assoc mode and picked up Pierce, Rondo, R.Davis, McDyess, Bogut and some good role players. Obviously didn't take enough notice of the cap so I'm stuck with some long contracts. Overall, I'm now glad I made the switch even after playing only 3-4 games.… Expand
  15. Totalcoolness20
    Jun 21, 2017
    10
    This game was awesome on the ps3 because when i used to play NBA 2K9 on my Playstation 3, they had good game modes and my favorite game mode was the dunk contest.

Awards & Rankings

31
#31 Best PS3 Game of 2008
56
#56 Most Discussed PS3 Game of 2008
72
#72 Most Shared PS3 Game of 2008

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
82

Generally favorable reviews - based on 30 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 25 out of 30
  2. Mixed: 5 out of 30
  3. Negative: 0 out of 30
  1. GameFocus
    85
    Yes, NBA 2K9 is great. While Living Rosters and Five-on-Five online are noteworthy additions to the franchise, the game doesn’t feature much new stuff besides those two options. Instead, Visual Concepts tweaked, improved and continued to build upon several aspects the franchise has been accustomed to deliver year after year. It’s definitely good to see the improvement especially after the less-stellar 2K8. NBA 2K9 is the closest you will get to the NBA world and it’s definitely worth every penny.
    Read full review
  2. Play UK
    67
    While this will probably be embraced by the fans, it’s just a little too realistic for its own good, and as such isn’t as fun as it could be. Anyone considering looking for a change could start this year.
    Read full review
  3. PSM3 Magazine UK
    82
    The slickest and toughest basketball game of the year. [Dec 2008, p.84]
See all critic reviews »