Believe it or not, Michael Jordan has never been on the cover of an NBA game. Until now, with NBA 2K11. So if the greatest basketball player is on the cover of a game, does that mean, or hint, that’s it’s the greatest basketball game of all time? In short, yes. NBA 2K11 is the most extensive and polished b-ball game to date.

The highlight this year is of course Michael Jordan, who isn’t just playable for the first time in NBA 2K, but is also features in a whole new mode dedicated to him, called Jordan Challenges, where you’re in control of Jordan throughout memorable games of his career, like his NBA Final performance against the Jazz, and 9 other challenges waiting for you. But if you complete all challenges, you get to play as a rookie Michael Jordan who’s inserted into the league.

NBA 2K11 features accurately rendered players, as you might expect, and complete with their signature moves, shot styles and so on. While they’re rendered to great details, their jerseys often stand out as way too large and it almost looks like they’re wearing body armor instead of shirts. But that’s nitpicking, really, because the game carries an astounding level of polish and details. For instance, the crowd will start to fill up during the first quarter, then the stadium will be filled during the game, and if it looks like the be a blowout win (or loss), you’ll see them walk out during fourth quarter. It’s little things like that which add up and make for a memorable experience playing NBA 2K11.

The gameplay is key of course, and NBA 2K11 takes the good parts from last year and improves it, but again, it’s in the little things, the AI improvements — for instance, when you drive the lane, it’ll get clogged up like in real life, and players will hustle after the ball and so on. That’s not to say there aren’t any glitches, for instance, running fast breaks is at times nearly impossible, as one defender will be able to snatch up the ball in longer passes, even if it seems unrealistic that he would. One thing we didn’t like was creating and playing with your own players. After you create your player, you’re forced to go through hours of boring practice before you can use him in the NBA, and his skills will be rather tame. Which means you need to spend even more hours in the gym, running drills and what not if you want a decent player, when all you want is to actually play with him in the NBA.

The Good:
Great gameplay
Lots of details and polish
Many modes and lots of replay value
Great visuals

The Bad:
MyPlayer mode is tedious
A few bugs and glitches

Overall score: 9/10