NBA 2K24 Review: A tribute to the Black Mamba that is worth the upgrade

My son and I are mad NBA supporters, albeit for different teams and we have always loved the game simulation and general fun associated with the NBA 2K games.  

Every year there is a new NBA 2K game released and it is difficult to know whether to upgrade to the new version or not.  This year we got an advanced copy of NBA 2K24 for our PS5 to test out and compare to 2K23 – yes we have both now, and have had the latest every year for the last few years (my son is obsessed).

This year NBA 2K24 arrives as a tribute to one of the greatest ever players, Kobe Bryant, who tragically passed away at the beginning of 2020, just months before the great Los Angeles Lakers won the championship.

Kobe is the cover star of this year’s NBA 2K and the gamer is peppered with Kobe features including the ability to “experience and recreate highlight moments” of Kobe’s career with the new Mamba Moments mode.  For an even more Kobe experience you can purchase a Kobe Bryant Edition, a Black Mamba Edition and a 25th Anniversary Edition.

We just played the game itself to give our thoughts on it but if you want more information on each of the versions head on over to the NBA 2K website.  Read on for our thoughts on the 2024 edition of NBA 2K. 

The Good

• New scoreboard
• Better and smoother graphics
• New era – LeBron era or as I like to call it, goat era
• Mamba Moments is a great tribute
• Crossplay between PS5 and Xbox Series X|S

The Bad

• Not all that many changes (are we getting spoilt?)
• Range for shooting is ridiculous (¾ court!)

What’s new?

The big change we noticed was the graphics.  They are vastly improved from last year to this year but bear in mind we hadn’t had the PS5 version of 2K23 for very long given we only got the PS5 a few ago.

The new graphics may be improved but they do not slow down the game at all with gameplay as speedy as ever, possibly even faster than previous years.  The frames per second are crazy good once again – I mean NBA 2K is not the most graphically intense game around so there’s no reason it can’t be maxing out more.

Other new features are:

• ProPLAY contains the new animations which were an improvement over last year but to be honest were not all that different from last year’s version.  The animations and graphics gave a more realistic experience.
• Mamba Moments was a thing last year sort of but it has improved this year.  We liked it all the same.  There are of course some Kobe moments missing such as the 81 point game.
• Controls were the same as last year but they now seemed to be better timed with the game – maybe we have just improved?  You do need to practice a bit with them though because they and the speed of the gameplay can be so quick that you may turn the ball over if you aren’t careful.
• MyNBA – we thought that MyCareer and MyTEAM were very similar to last year and are not fans of these modes.  What we liked though was the MyNBA and the new LeBron Era.  MyNBA offers a great way to share the league setup with friends and my son did that fairly extensively – once they had purchased the game. The simulation speed seems to be slower than last year as well.

Bugs?

There have been some reports of glitches and bugs, as there often is with new games, but we haven’t been able to replicate any of them no matter how hard we tried.

It may not be a bug but the range for shooting at times is ¾ court.  What are the devs thinking?  No one has that range for a standard shot so it’s a weird add to 2K24, or is it a bug?

Final thoughts

NBA 2K24 is a nice improvement over NBA 2K23.  The graphics are vastly improved as are the frames per second – nearly too much given my slowing brain at my age.  The new additions of ProPLAY and LeBron Era are also great additions to the game.

The gameplay feels much more complete now with the controls seemingly more accurate and the graphics provide for excellent presentations of the various aspects of the game.

We give it a big two thumbs up and are glad we have the new version and if we didn’t receive the review copy would have definitely purchased it without any buyer’s regret (and would have purchased the 25th Anniversary Edition given the 12-month subscription to league pass that I pay for anyway). 

NBA 2K24 is available now in the following editions:

• 25th Anniversary Edition which includes a 12-month subscription to NBA League Pass and much more for $239.95 AUD / $249.95 NZD on PS5, PlayStation® 4 (PS4®), Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, and PC;
• The Black Mamba Edition for $159.95 AUD / $169.95 NZD on PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch and PC;
• The Kobe Bryant Edition is available for $99.95 AUD / $109.95 NZD on PS4 and Xbox One, $89.95 AUD / $99.95 NZD on Nintendo Switch and PC, and $119.95 AUD / $129.95 NZD on PS5 and Xbox Series X|S.

Get it now!