NBA 2K Playgrounds 2

 Switch
User Score
5.4

Mixed or average reviews- based on 32 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 15 out of 32
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 32
  3. Negative: 15 out of 32
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  1. Gust800
    Oct 20, 2021
    4
    The game is super fun . You can unlock all Players with some patience . The gameplay is really good . But, The graphics are terrible in switch , too pixelated and blurry in handheld I think is 480p at most in tv mode is 720p and the frame rate is terrible too I think is less than 30fps in both handheld and tv mode . I don't know way saber interactive did this game in switch with badThe game is super fun . You can unlock all Players with some patience . The gameplay is really good . But, The graphics are terrible in switch , too pixelated and blurry in handheld I think is 480p at most in tv mode is 720p and the frame rate is terrible too I think is less than 30fps in both handheld and tv mode . I don't know way saber interactive did this game in switch with bad graphics and bad frame rate than ps4 with the exactly same size in GB. The ps4 version is much better in graphics and frame rate.… Expand
  2. djdiggla
    Nov 12, 2018
    3
    I agree with the other negative reviews. This is a microtransaction cash grab. I was hoping for a NBA Jams clone and got a Star Wars Battlefront pyramid scheme. The game comes with less than 10 players from maybe 5 teams. You have to pay to unlock the entire roster or spend countless hours grinding to get points to then buy random packs that unlock players. I seriously would not haveI agree with the other negative reviews. This is a microtransaction cash grab. I was hoping for a NBA Jams clone and got a Star Wars Battlefront pyramid scheme. The game comes with less than 10 players from maybe 5 teams. You have to pay to unlock the entire roster or spend countless hours grinding to get points to then buy random packs that unlock players. I seriously would not have bought this game if I'd known that right off the bat. $30 for the game $10 more to actually own anything close to the full game with all the teams represented. AND that doesn't even include any exclusive players! I'd already bought the game so paid for the stupid unlock. Some good players but loads of dregs. And some gaping holes in the roster regarding historic players (Rodman, Duncan, Laimbeer, Barkley, Dr. J, Meta World Peace, etc). I'm assuming those will cost additional money in the future. The ability of these pros is atrocious. Pippen has 0% chance of making a 3pt shot. Really??? 0%??? You level up players which is cool but then again, you are going to level up all these people somehow??? Basically this game is horrible for the price but as close as you get to NBA Jams. Wait for it to go on major sale. Don't be a sucker and buy at full price like I did.… Expand
  3. Vingg
    Jul 28, 2019
    3
    Micro-transaction is the smallest problem... That you can solve by just playing a little bit and getting up to 5k gold (easy and fast, quite fun actually). The game is great to play with friends! super fun! but its online competitive mode S****! Always laggy (not with p2p friends...), competitive sucks, total BS. You end up angry with the lag and steals that ppl do out of nowhere... Also,Micro-transaction is the smallest problem... That you can solve by just playing a little bit and getting up to 5k gold (easy and fast, quite fun actually). The game is great to play with friends! super fun! but its online competitive mode S****! Always laggy (not with p2p friends...), competitive sucks, total BS. You end up angry with the lag and steals that ppl do out of nowhere... Also, the mandatory point multiplier system sucks... makes the game totally random. So why spend your money or time playing this? Well, if you've got friend to play local, that is fun (only).… Expand
  4. MrFireFuchs
    Oct 16, 2018
    0
    Total cash crab, in day's of MTX and Loot Boxes some publisher constantly try to see how far they can go in cashing on on their customers . So this game basically is a 30$ game that is not playable unless you purchase in game stuff.
  5. Serekh
    Oct 16, 2018
    10
    Amazing game, all of the content could be unlock without need of payment and in a short time.
    The championship mode is very addictive.
  6. esreverse
    Oct 16, 2018
    0
    Saber Interactive, you **** it up again! Last year's version sucked big time – so much that you gave us the **** Shaq Fu for free – alright. But this year it's even worse. Being so aggressive with the in-game payments for a 30$ game is absolute insanity. I hope nobody buys this game and you go bankrupt. Disgusting!
  7. jj350
    Dec 17, 2019
    1
    The people who made this deserve to be sued! They took away the ability to purchase all the characters and now you have to purchase them all individually for a massive premium (and keep in mind how this is all real money). To top it off if you purchased any content and you try to play this game on a different console you will not be able to access anything that you have purchased. That isThe people who made this deserve to be sued! They took away the ability to purchase all the characters and now you have to purchase them all individually for a massive premium (and keep in mind how this is all real money). To top it off if you purchased any content and you try to play this game on a different console you will not be able to access anything that you have purchased. That is right, buy a second Switch or lose/break yours and everything you paid for is a complete loss. This is simply a predatory game at this point meant to ripoff anyone who is foolish enough to spend any money on it.… Expand
  8. Leo13
    Nov 27, 2018
    9
    I picked this up right before heading off for Thanksgiving with all the family. That evening, after all the kids were in bed, we pulled this out. We had a big group of us rotating through with 2 v 2 (4 player) games. We literally played for hours and had a great time. Feels like a blend between NBA Jam and NBA Street. Every single one of us thoroughly enjoyed the game.

    The only    I picked this up right before heading off for Thanksgiving with all the family. That evening, after all the kids were in bed, we pulled this out. We had a big group of us rotating through with 2 v 2 (4 player) games. We literally played for hours and had a great time. Feels like a blend between NBA Jam and NBA Street. Every single one of us thoroughly enjoyed the game.

    The only down side, for the way we were playing, was the there are only a few characters unlocked from the start. However, as we played we quickly earned enough points to get a bunch of characters unlocked. We weren't at all bothered with the speed of the unlock and none of us felt obligated to pay the money to instantly unlock all the characters.

    Very fun for everyone. Easy to pick up and start playing. Everyone struggled for their 1st game and many struggled during their 2nd game, but everyone had gotten the hang of it by their 3rd game.    … Expand
  9. JJTX
    Mar 23, 2019
    8
    It's not quite NBA Jam, but NBA 2K Playgrounds 2 is still a solid arcade-style two-on-two basketball title. There are plenty of options on hand and an almost RPG-like leveling up mechanic for all players. You'll have to spend some time playing through season mode or a lot of online play to unlock the entire roster, but since this is a 2K-published game, you can pay extra to do soIt's not quite NBA Jam, but NBA 2K Playgrounds 2 is still a solid arcade-style two-on-two basketball title. There are plenty of options on hand and an almost RPG-like leveling up mechanic for all players. You'll have to spend some time playing through season mode or a lot of online play to unlock the entire roster, but since this is a 2K-published game, you can pay extra to do so instantly. (I recommend grinding it out, unless you intend to play online only.)… Expand
  10. antoniomit
    Dec 25, 2019
    0
    El juego no tiene nada que ver con el anterior, es un port muy malo que se ve muy borroso que duelen los ojos
  11. GILBAR
    Jul 15, 2020
    10
    Cool game. If you liked NBA Jam, you would love this game for sure! Co-op multiplayer is easily one of the best multiplayer experiences out there - especially on Switch.
  12. Platypat
    Aug 2, 2020
    9
    I am addicted! I’ve been playing this game non stop on the Switch. It has flaws but there’s nothing quite like setting a big head Michael Jordan flipping through the air for a dunk, complete with fire animation. It’s the NBA JAM on the Switch!

    Gameplay is very fun, and deep enough to me wanna practice and perfect my timing for steals, blocks, and rebounds. It’s still the best sport game    I am addicted! I’ve been playing this game non stop on the Switch. It has flaws but there’s nothing quite like setting a big head Michael Jordan flipping through the air for a dunk, complete with fire animation. It’s the NBA JAM on the Switch!

    Gameplay is very fun, and deep enough to me wanna practice and perfect my timing for steals, blocks, and rebounds. It’s still the best sport game I’ve played on Switch. Gacha is quite annoying at first but after you started to unlock some players, it actually becomes a great reward system. I have not spent any money and just continuously grind the season mode through increasing difficulty level to “git gut”. Now I am at a stage where every pack gives me all dupes so I just have to unlock individual players. Performance can be quite bad at times. Online is not an amazing experience. Due to lack of players, it can take a long time to find a match. I’ve had match with the same guy 3x. Does it mean that there’s only the 2 of us playing this game in the entire world? Sometimes also it lags quite bad during online play and people just kinda stand around doing nothing. I’ve also experienced getting ball stolen from me during a lag, which is very annoying. Even during normal gameplay, I’ve noticed that sometimes i experience input lag. This can really break the game as it heavily rely on perfect timing to steal, shoot, and block. On 3pt competition, you can see the meter sometimes stutter, which can throw your aim. Note that I play mainly docked, using either the joycons or Nyko wireless core controller. But despite these problems, I still give it a 9 because it gives me the best fun I’ve had since Splatoon 2 and Pokémon Sword. Like I said, I’m completely addicted to this game and wished there are more people playing this game. It’s an amazing game!

    I hope that Saber makes Playground 3!!!    … Expand
  13. VulgusOccisor
    Jul 28, 2021
    0
    Do not ever buy this game. If you read the reviews, everything that is said is correct that is negative, but the game gets worse. They did no play testing and it's painfully obvious. To make players better, you must complete challenges. One of them is to block finger rolls. Every player in this game must do this to increase their block rating. Yet, blocking them when given the rareDo not ever buy this game. If you read the reviews, everything that is said is correct that is negative, but the game gets worse. They did no play testing and it's painfully obvious. To make players better, you must complete challenges. One of them is to block finger rolls. Every player in this game must do this to increase their block rating. Yet, blocking them when given the rare opportunity, is beyond frustrating because there is no consistency on the defense at all. You will steal/block when the game says yes. Your timing and skill mean nothing. I just played the game, a 99 point game where I wanted one person to block 2 finger rolls. I couldn't get John Wall and D Wade to take finger rolls with lanes you can drive a truck through. Then, I watched my player who I had set up next to the basket just waiting for this opportunity to jump up and attempt to block the backboard to the left and up as I was holding right and down. Nobody would do what I saw and I almost threw my Switch across the room. Yet, it gets worse. It isn't that you can't block finger rolls or dunks, it's not that you can't do it semi-consistently. It's that you will be on hour 4 of the "Let's get Mugsy a dunk block" goal. Sound fun, it isn't. Watch for hours as the lowest rated dunkers in the game own him. Then after you finally get one to unlock the challenge you were going for, watch Mugsy block LeBron like Diekembe Mutombo when it no longer matters. Want to maximize blocks for the whole roster? Have fun playing this unfair nightmare for over 200 hundred people. All of them are difficult, no matter their block rating. So if you are able to get past the horrible offensive design, you have what I can tell you is even worse defensive design. The offense is also bad, not saying it isn't, but it is consistent. There is no defensive consistency. I would cheat, cheese, or literally do anything to get my players to block, and no matter what you do, luck and RNG determines your defense. Videos trying to give a tutorial on it can't fix your player jumping in the polar opposite direction of your inputs. This game is poorly thought out with poor implementation. It is too grindy, it was clearly not playtested, and with so many known issues, there was little to no attempt to fix issues. The game looks terrible, was clearly a bad port with obnoxious loading times. The saving grace of the game is that the net code is also terrible, and the controls are worse than the most hacked rom of NBA Jam you can find. When I judge games, I can respect ambition, and cut some slack to people who make an ambitious failed game. What I can't fathom is how you can steal a game idea, break it to all hell, release it, and when everybody and their brother tell you that it's broken and go the extra step to tell you how to fix it, you do nothing except put the game on sale, then I hope your game goes under, your company goes under, and the people responsible leave the industry. You can't even steal NBA Jam correctly, why should you have a job as a creative type if you take an already good idea and make it a bad one. Then don't fix it when given a million chances to. Please don't support this game. If the company can't support the game by making it close to working correctly, don't ever give them your money because they will only do it again. To end, this game is disgusting on the surface, and it's worse under the hood. Just play NBA Jam. That game has advanced controls like jumping in the direction you moved the joystick, or taking the type of shot you intended to take, or actually making that shot with any consistency. Here is another thing, I lied about being done. Certain players have special moves. Cool right. Nope. In practicality, that means that if you are playing as Dirk Nowitski and you want to shoot the ball, he might just randomly move forward 7 feet and take a fallaway. Did you want a three pointer? Too bad. Want to take a wide open three with John Wall or D Wade? Watch as the same button presses sometimes shoots that shot like a non-idiot, and sometimes watches that player drive to the cup on a finger roll the computer can easily block. I'll get even more detailed with this point. Sometimes your player will pull up for a shot, sometimes your player will do a move that will put them 25 feet closer to the basket than when you started with the same button presses. Watch as John Wall doesn't shoot that wide open 3 that you wanted, watch as he drives at Motombo and Anthony Davis to throw up block bait. Watch as this happens when you only have one finger on the shot button, not even the left stick. I don't even recommend playing this game for free. I bought it for $8 and I feel like I got ripped off and taken advantage of. I will stop now and thanks for reading.… Expand
  14. finnishflash
    Sep 24, 2022
    4
    I did not enjoy the gameplay enough to bother about micro-transactions or unlocking players. Gave it a 4/10 just because the title has ”NBA” on it.
  15. joyosects
    Jul 13, 2023
    0
    I paid $1.37 for this game and it was still too much. Players aren't unlocked. Who buys this garbage?

    I won't buy a 2k game ever again.
  16. Pete112
    Feb 9, 2021
    6
    This game isn't fun at all. Controls are terrible, especially considering it is meant to be simplified.

    It is like a mobile micro transaction game.

    I maybe wouldn't mind paying for micro transactions if the game was good in the first place
  17. Baldic
    Jan 10, 2022
    6
    If you can get this game for cheap (10 dollars or less), it may be worth it. It can be good for quick matches with friends. The gameplay is alright. You will need to grind for all the players, or pay for them, which could be a dealbreaker for some.

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
69

Mixed or average reviews - based on 6 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 2 out of 6
  2. Mixed: 4 out of 6
  3. Negative: 0 out of 6
  1. Vooks
    Nov 26, 2018
    70
    NBA 2K Playgrounds 2 is a reasonably fun revisitation of the first game, carrying over the strong improvements its predecessor gained from patches, including a better shooting system. However, there’s not much in the way of deeply engaging content to keep you playing more than a couple of pickup games with your friends.
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  2. Cubed3
    Nov 26, 2018
    50
    Overall, Playgrounds 2 is lacklustre and feels too much like a mobile game franchise. It takes advantage of its audience and never offers enough satisfaction in return for the money, or the grind sessions. Ultimately, NBA 2K Playgrounds 2 is a bad game, and certainly no spiritual successor. Stick with NBA 2K19 or NBA Jam itself.
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  3. Nintenderos
    Nov 9, 2018
    60
    The game is not up to its predecessor. It's still a great arcade title for NBA fans, and there is a clear graphic improvement but there are bad gameplay design decisions, such as forcing you to play for hours with each player until you get their attributes.
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