PC Critic Reviews

Play by Play Studios has built a strong foundation in NBA The Run, and if the team keeps listening, expanding the roster, and building out the community, the future of this franchise is bright.

NBA THE RUN accomplishes Play by Play Studios' goal of providing NBA Street to modern gamers. This is accomplished by setting the game up as a battle royale while keeping the gameplay completely similar to its predecessors. Taking this style of game online with real NBA players may actually bring players over from 2K who are looking for something different. What really helps is that it's only $30, and while most battle royales are free, every cosmetic is paywalled. Nothing is paywalled here, but it does require time investment. That time will go by quickly, though. The game plays and looks great, but just has a few quirks that could use some adjustment, such as game speed and dunk distance. While more content will come, much like a battle royale starting out, there's really only one thing to do. If 2K is too much for you and you just want to play some basketball, this is it.

NBA The Run is nearly everything I’ve wanted in a modern-day street basketball game. With a strong foundation now in place, Play by Play Studios has a real chance to make it the arcade basketball game players have been waiting over a decade for.

NBA THE RUN feels like a modern version of NBA Streets, and I mean that as a compliment. It has a great arcade gameplay, a curated roster of both street legends and NBA stars, but also some impressive courts. The games are short, but intense, and you’ll find yourself trying to attempt some more. It’s also nice to see that all the money you get via playing won’t go to waste. The game’s shop is full of all kinds of accessories and items you can use to fully customize your character. So yes, there’s always a reason beyond how you look, the way you enhance everything, and how it all flows together. Even if you’re not someone who plays NBA 2K or any major basketball game, I think you’ll have a great time here, because the game is very easy to pick up and learn. It’s fun, intense, and it will certainly push your limits, while also being fair.

NBA THE RUN manages to achieve its main goal: entertaining players while remaining easy to pick up and accessible to everyone. The gameplay is engaging, the roster of NBA superstars is just the right size, and the random rule selection system is a very well-executed addition. Unfortunately, it suffers from a few issues: the lack of single-player modes and a “Quick Match” format, as well as a lower-than-expected amount of pure streetball action, which is likely what many players were hoping for. It is therefore not a revolutionary title for sports games, but it deserves credit for bringing basketball fans back to a playground-focused experience that has been missing for quite some time.

NBA The Run plays more like a distant descendant of the NBA Street series than a successor, which isn’t a bad thing. Although the two share certain traits, like their curated roster of NBA stars and street legends, an ample rotation of carefully crafted courts, and the sultry, ever-present vocals of DJ Bobbito Garcia, The Run’s core principle of online, run-and-gun action over the classic single-player arcade approach makes it a much more exciting and enticing present-day package than its predecessors. Unfortunately, its emphasis on pushing you through a steady flurry of quick matches is also where its biggest weakness lies. While this modern, run-it-up style might work for the first several runs, the games played, highlights made, and championships secured all eventually blur together, turning the excitement of those first title wins old much too soon. Don’t get me wrong; the runs are still undoubtedly enjoyable in short bursts, but they also turn the simple joys of playing and winning into a mass-produced good, a thing practically given rather than earned, and that means I was usually ready to pack up and head home before the lights were too low to see the rim.

NBA THE RUN is an exciting and fun basketball game that pits two teams of three players against each other in street games. Featuring many real players and fast-paced gameplay, the game aims to bring back an experience that is no longer very common in the industry.

There is little to complain about regarding the purely aesthetic and technical aspects. The game employs a comic-book art style; while the athlete models may not boast an immense level of detail, they closely resemble their real-life counterparts and feature convincing animations that—despite the expected stylistic exaggerations—faithfully capture the players' actual movements. The environments are varied and detailed, alternating between real-world courts, such as the one at Venice Beach, and entirely fictional ones. The frame rate is solid, as is the netcode; out of the dozens of matches played, there was only a single instance of a total connection failure.

It has been over a decade since a proper NBA street-style experience has come out (I'm not counting you NBA Playgrounds), and NBA The Run looks to fill that void, albeit barely. Though its gameplay is reminiscent of the classic NBA Street series, it fails to become another cult classic with its lack of offline game modes, legends, and hip-hop soundtrack.

NBA The Run plays a fast and fun game of basketball, but there's not a great deal of depth to keep you coming back time and time again.