Your Opinion: NFL 2K2 Vs. NFL 2K3

[SoCal-Phenom]

With all the recent talk and threads about the goods and bad of 2k4 and 2k5, i thout i'd get your opinions of 2k2 and 2k3. I never played neither of these games but i know they were great at in their own time. I was madden guy all those years.....what the hell was i thinking. Anyways how was 2k2 in comparison with 2k3? It seemed as if 2k2 was really arcadey, but 2k3 was much more sim.....was it? I'd love to hear the experiences with both of these games...or one if youve only played one. Im looking for opinions from the xbox, ps2, and gc versions.....many thanks dudes

[SwayGod53]

Quote: Originally Posted by SoCal-Phenom

With all the recent talk and threads about the goods and bad of 2k4 and 2k5, i thout i'd get your opinions of 2k2 and 2k3. I never played neither of these games but i know they were great at in their own time. I was madden guy all those years.....what the hell was i thinking. Anyways how was 2k2 in comparison with 2k3? It seemed as if 2k2 was really arcadey, but 2k3 was much more sim.....was it? I'd love to hear the experiences with both of these games...or one if youve only played one. Im looking for opinions from the xbox, ps2, and gc versions.....many thanks dudes

Well I am glad you see the light now. I have never been a Madden fan, and it is for the same reasons as today. I 2k2 on the Dreamcast and 2k3 on the Ps2. I definitely think from 2k-2k2 they were really arcade like. I just attributed that to the Dreamcast cause when I played 2k3 on the Ps2 it was def more solid gameplay. I don't like Arcade anywhere but the arcade. It is too unlrealistic to me personally. I have loved the series ever since 2k, even though it was arcade like. I have always like the graphics over madden. The players in 2k-k5 all just look more like football players and not like a bunch of ninja turtles on roids. Definitely great gaming, but 2k5 is hands down the best.

[SoCal-Phenom]

bump

[Rickster101]

Well as for me I found 2K2 to be very good on the ps2 which I had along with my Dreamcast at the time and if memory serves me right it was abit rough early on especially with those elongated graphics of their players and some over the top tackle animations still the game was solid and if you didn't tackle the guy correctly he'd pull off one of the weirdest spin moves I've seen to date at that time the game had some growing issues as far as the basics for run tackle collision detections go it wasn't as polished as it is now but still played a decent game with beautiful graphics and visual effects not really seen before unless you remember "Gameday", it was different and a break from the yearly Madden face lifts.

I still have my NFL 2k2 Official Stategy Guide and keep it because who knows maybe I'll pick up a used or refubished ps2 and dust it off after purchasing the game again for nostalgic reasons but at this point in time I just don't see myself going that far back since the game have shown 110% improvements over its short lived history still I'd have to say it was turning heads even back then and still is today gauging by you guys interest...sound like a timeless classic to me but its a totally different game now for the better just my take on the whole thing 2K2 just doesn't do it like it use to anymore for me but its still a good game its just that something better came along.





Holla Back ya'll
Rickster101 aka "Jack Bauer"

[dan77733]

NFL 2K3 easily.

2K2 was exactly the same as 2K1 in regards to the setup, controls and franchise mode. The major differences were the changes to the running game (which was the same in 2K3) and to how the QB passes gameplay wise. Other then those two changes, the game pretty much remained the same as 2K1.

2K3 was far superior in my opinion. The running game stayed the same as 2K2 which was a good thing. The gameplay did have a few problems though. It was impossible to get sacks defensively and the DB AI could have been better. There was a trick I used but it didnt work all the time. When I passed a lob to my WR, I would switch to that WR and then stop near those three on field circles that help you catch the ball. The DB would stop as well. You could then just press the catch button for an easy catch. This didnt work all the time as the DB would sometimes jump in front of you and intercept the pass. I would say that the trick worked at least 70% of the time. Another problem was the juke move. When the arrow was filled, performing a juke was more like a super juke. I once juked out 4 defenders one by one, one right after the other.

Franchise mode was great compared to 2K1 and 2K2. Player retirements, free-agent wire, NFL combine, etc. The coaching gameplan was good but was useless if you actually played the games. If you simulated, then the gameplan was damn good. Trading block was good as well but after a while, I stopped putting players on it because I could never make up my mind on which trade offers to accept. The ability to change your Head Coach and edit his name was good but flawed because if you say played as the 49ers and edited Mariucci to Holmgren, there would then be two Holmgren's. One on the 49ers and one on the Packers. Great idea but horribly executed.

Also, there was great presentation as VC used the ESPN license. It was great. The one thing that I loved (and hate in 2K5) was the starting lineups. You would see all 11 starters being introduced for both offense and defense and for both teams. 2K3 had a "hot at the half" player and introduced the weekly wrapup which featured a highlight from the game of the week.

Overall, 2K3 blows away 2K2 especially in franchise mode.

Here's my opinion of how I rate the top three NFL games in the 2K series. I hated and thought that 2K4, 2K2 and the original 2K were all crap so im not going to waste my time ranking them. If anything, all three are tied for sixth place.

1) NFL 2K3
2) ESPN NFL 2K5
3) NFL 2K1