10 Best Basketball Video Games Of All Time

Source: 2K Sports

The first basketball video game - aptly titled Basketball - came out in 1978. It was a simple game of one-on-one on a basic Atari computer. The first licensed game was 1983's One on One: Dr. J vs. Larry Bird, while one of the first five on five games was Double-Dribble from 1986.

Seeing and playing these three games today shows just how developed modern basketball games have become. The '90s were revolutionary in that department, but the 2000s are the decade that basketball games became really advanced, as EA Sports and 2K Sports were trying to one-up one another for the position of the best basketball video game developer. This rivalry spawned some of the best court action ever seen.

For that reason, this list mostly consists of titles created by EA Sports and 2K, with one sole exception. Can you guess what it is?

10. NBA Jam

Released by Midway in 1993, the game was the first entry in the NBA Jam franchise and obviously its cornerstone. It was the ultimate arcade game (and began life as a coin-op), and the rules reflected that.

The gameplay was ridiculous, as players would fly all over the arena, dunking from the three-point line and performing various stunts in mid-flight. They could go hot or cold, which enhanced or lowered their scoring abilities. NBA Jam is a quintessential '90s game - colorful, chaotic, campy, and yet very fun, especially to play with a friend.

Despite its arcade-y nature, it was also one of the first titles to feature real player likeness.

9. NBA Street Vol. 2

Remember when streetball was a big business? Mixtapes were passed around and admired, as they were full of incredible dribbles and dunks, while three on three tournaments blossomed on a global scale.

That is where NBA Street stepped in, allowing gamers to play as their favorite NBA players outside the organized, strict world of professional basketball. The gameplay was arcade, allowing players to dunk from the free throw line and fly over backboards without much effort, which was reminiscent of NBA Jam.

The reason why NBA Street Vol. 2 is above its predecessor is because you could court a team of three different Michael Jordans (1985, 1996, 2003). It also featured other basketball legends - unlike random, fake players of the former version - and street parks, like the legendary Rucker Park in New York.

8. NBA 2K12

NBA 2K11 was dominated by Michael Jordan - more on that later - so in order to not let down the fans, who annually crave improvements, the 2011 version of the game introduced more legendary players such as Bill Russell, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and Dominique Wilkins.

Apart from that, the gameplay was smoother and player models more realistic. NBA 2K12 wasn't a big revolution, but rather a notable step-up from the previous installment. Still, it deserves to be on this list for the way it handled legendary players - with appropriately enormous respect.

7. NCAA Basketball 09

The NCAA Basketball series was discontinued in 2010 after a lawsuit regarding likeness usage without permission issued by former NCAA players. Whether student athletes deserve to be paid like their professional equivalents or not is up for debate, but from the gaming standpoint it's a shame that the community has been deprived of a great series, one which masterfully the recreated the college basketball atmosphere.

The crowds were louder and more passionate than in the NBA, and you could recruit high school players and be a college superstar, which was really promising and well executed. The second-to-last installment gets the nod over NCAA Basketball 10 because of the inclusion of 64 (!) historical teams.

6. NBA Live 2005

From all the NBA Live games of the previous decade, this one is singled out because of the introduction of the All Star Weekend, including the Slam Dunk contest and the Three Point Shootout. The former was especially well executed; though it was limited compared to the one in present NBA 2K games, it was more intuitive and natural.

The Dynasty Mode was rebuilt and players could simulate not only whole games, but quarters as well, which allowed them to jump into the action when the game was on the line. The gamer could stay up-to-date by being notified of various happenings around his virtual league. There was also scouting of prospects, which made the GM experience more real.

5. NBA 2K17

The newest installment in the most successful basketball video game franchise deserves a spot in the list for being just that. It's the most realistic and best presented basketball video game to date. There's no denying that.

It's lower ranking is because it is standing on the shoulders of other games which paved the way for its excellence. Compared to NBA 2K17 they are flawed, but without their shortcomings and mistakes, there would be no NBA 2K17.

Also, it's not a massive improvement on previous titles, but more of a refinement.

So while this is the game that you're probably going to play and enjoy today, the next four games are the reason for it.

4. NBA Live 98

This game is hard to appreciate - at least from today's perspective - if you haven't played its predecessor. While good in its own right, NBA Live 98 introduced new player models, with faces created on the basis of real player photographs. The game also featured Ernie Johnson performing play-by-play commentary, which really improved the experience, as the previous version had only the arena announcer calling out scorers and assists. Granted, the commentary was very basic, but it heralded a revolution in this aspect.

A new, gorund-breaking GM mode allowed gamers to draft players and play multiple seasons - a feature that's the mainstay of modern sports games. It was limited to ten season, but that was enough, as the saves didn't overlap (I'm looking at you, Championship/Football Manager).

3. NBA 2K1

Coming back to streetball, NBA 2K1 was the first game of the series that took NBA players to legendary ball parks like Rucker Park or The Cage for games of not only one on one, but five on five as well. This was really innovative and fresh, as you could mix NBA legends with present-day superstars, form ultimate superteams, and dominate your opponents.

The player customization system was the most advanced in any basketball game to date and so was the gameplay, which allowed the gamer to exhibit all sorts of low-post moves. It was with NBA 2K1 that the developers signaled that they were more interested in making the series a simulation of the real thing, while EA Sports preferred to create games that could be enjoyed by everyone.

2. NBA Live 2000

This was the first Live game which starred Michael Jordan, here as a member of the '90s all-decade team - one of 5 available in the game. You could play him/as him in a game of one on one, along with other superstars from the previous eras.

The soundtrack was another impressive element of the game, with Rahzel, Run-DMC, and Naughty by Nature being a large improvement over generic - although quite funky - tracks from previous games. NBA Live 2000 set new standards when it came to in-game music in basketball video games.

Graphically the game was an improvement over the previous installment, and the gameplay was also smoother, although still more arcade than simulation based. Arguably, this was the last NBA Live that was better than NBA 2K, but the opinion depends on whether you played it on a console or a PC.

1. NBA 2K11

Containing probably the best opening in sports games history, NBA 2K11 allowed the gamer to recreate the most impressive moments of Michael Jordan's career. Running the game for the first time, the gamer was positioned behind MJ, hearing the legendary track by Alan Parsons Project in the tunnel. Then they were able to play as Jordan in a game against the Lakers in MJ's first NBA Finals.

The vgame did the seemingly impossible and topped that opening by allowing the gamer to really become Jordan and play as him in the modern NBA. It also improved the MyPlayer and Association modes, the commentary was better than ever, the graphics really polished. The ultimate selling point, however, was Michael Jordan.