ESPN NBA Basketball Xbox
ESPN NBA Basketball Image
Metascore
87 out of 100

Generally favorable reviews - based on 18 Critics What's this?

User Score
8.1 out of 10

Generally favorable reviews- based on 24 Ratings

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  • Summary: Hit the hardwood with nonstop action and intense competition with ESPN NBA Basketball. Complete with all the detailed visuals, eye-catching callouts, and commentary, ESPN NBA Basketball presents all the excitement and quickness from a real NBA game. Not only can you unleash the most skilled crossovers and unbelievable jukes with Isomotion control, but you can also completely lock down opponents with rock-solid D. Challenge current and legendary NBA players in real time--24 hours a day, seven days a week--with your own created player in 24/7 mode.… Expand

Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 16 out of 18
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 18
  3. Negative: 0 out of 18
  1. GamePro
    100
    A basketball technician’s dream. Games against the CPU realistically mimic a real game, while scrimmages against friends received a boost of energy thanks to sped-up gameplay and better shot blocking. ESPN NBA Basketball 2K4 retains the top slot by just a hair.
  2. GameZone
    95
    Features a fantastic franchise mode and a completely different 24/7 mode, making this game the two best basketball games available in one neat package.
  3. Operation Sports
    86
    It’s clear that they designed this game to play more like “Live” did last year out of the box. While that will probably help them sell more copies of the game, I feel Visual Concepts should have focused on other more important problems; like off the ball movement and in game AI, before adding other modes and removing key features.
  4. Xbox Nation Magazine
    70
    Of all the anouncers in the world, ESPN utilizes the unfailingly annoying Kevin Frazier. [Dec/Jan 2004, p.84]
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See all 18 Critic Reviews

User Reviews

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Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 17 out of 20
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 20
  3. Negative: 2 out of 20
  1. EfrainA.
    10
    The gameplay, graphics, sound, everything is so cool, greatest, but................ Where is Michael Jordan?
  2. LeonardH.
    8
    On the pick and roll the picks need to be more exact, and the players ability should decrease as their energy decreases during the game. Other than that the game is good in my eyes.… Expand
  3. BennyL.
    7
    When will Sega get it right? The AI of Shaquille O'Neal is so unrealistic. Don't get me wrong, I like ESPN (see previous review) but I mean c'mon. How can it be possible for Shaq to average 24.2 rebounds per game when every normal person knows his career average is 12.9? I played though 3 career 82 game seasons just to make sure it wasn't a glitch in the AI, but sure enough he maintained that ridiculous average. So yeah, apart from that it's not bad hey?… Expand
  4. BobB.
    3
    The game sucks, go out and get NBA Live 2004, it kicks ass, but dont get it on PS2 b/c PS2 online basketball games have a rather slowing down to it.

See all 20 User Reviews