What made 2k11 such a great game?

[JJRuelz]

Re: What made 2k11 such a great game?

personally i didn't like it i was used to right stick D and handles (my friend gave it to me in 2013) other than that the game wasn't even that different from nba 2k13 so pretty good

[Jrocc23]

Re: What made 2k11 such a great game?

I think I remember 2k11:
-hacks
-hopstep into the lane for easy score
-nearly unstoppable alley oops
-double spin/post spin dunk
-icon lead passing very difficult to stop
-online code caused regular crashes

Every game had its problems. Look at all the "gimmicky" things you could do on 2K13. Hacks was a problem only for Crew and Pickup. Also, the hopstep was an issue, but it really depended on the player doing the hopstep. The spin dunk was a problem and still is on 2K13.

Overall, to me and a lot of people I've seen, 2K11 is the just the best 2K basketball game period. Whether its gameplay or all of the modes. Easily 2K11 for me. Which 2K is the best for you?

Revisionist history.

How so? I guess it's the same when someone says they the best football game they've ever played was 2K5. Everyone knows the problems it had, but overall it was more fun and balanced than any other 2K for me and alot of others.

[JasonWilliams55]

Re: What made 2k11 such a great game?

* Jordan on the cover - this combined with the fact that Live didn't release in 11, kind of sparked the beginning of the era when only 2K was brought up when the average person talked about bball video gaming. Ever since 2K11, NBA 2K has been frequently described as the best sports game. I personally couldn't care less whether or not Jordan was on the cover or in the game. Jordan Challenges didn't interest me, but it did for a lot of people who watched him play live, and 2K were able to grow a market share amongst the 30+ crowd. Also, the effect of having him of the cover, indicated to casual players that they were buying a quality product. MJ wouldn't just put his brand on any old pile of junk. It's probably the best business move 2K have ever made.

* Individuality - this is something missing from 2K12, 2K13 and possibly 2K14. Over the past few years, the game has forfeited individuality as the user gains more control. Dribble moves like putting the ball between your legs were packaged in little 3 second movies, but they were nice to look at. Jordan's famous dribble between the legs and his one-handed pass fake, Kobe's signature pivot and spin, Rondo's dream shake, Jamal Crawford's shake and bake - all these signature moves made the game diverse and helped differentiate players in a way that no other 2K game has done. They even did the signature shots better back then.

* Balance - the balance between the offence and the defence is something I'll be looking for in 2K14. The dribbling into traffic wasn't easy, and you couldn't just go where you wanted. Part of this was achieved by 2-man animations which serve a purpose. IRL, you can't just stop on a dime when you feel like it and decide you want to instantaneously move in another direction. You don't always have control.

* Game modes (what we've lost) - online leagues were designed much better than the ones we have now. It didn't require friend requesting and you didn't have problems with people vetoing trades. We had a situation mode which would be even more useful now. Crew was a mess, but people still played it. Quick ranked was good, it wasn't so easy to score as it is now, where scores are inflated. In 2K11 the average total number of points would be about 80 per game. People are scoring 80 with one team regularly on 5 min quarters.

* Revisionist history - people forget that defence worked unrealistically. You can't continuously bump players in today's NBA and get away with it. Hop step cheese, spin dunking and power dunking online were horrible. As I said before, Crew was a mess with hacked players, long waiting and awful lag. The lead pass was overpowered. Playbooks were very simplistic (compared to now ofc). Post game was one-dimensional.

good ish.

Something I think (dont know just speculation) that NG will hit this year; individual animations coming back (see: dribble, shot sigs).

As for CG, as has been said time and time again lately... BALANCE. As long as Online play holds up, 2K14 has the potential to knock off 2K11 for best 2K gameplay.

[Dice]

Re: What made 2k11 such a great game?

2K11 was the last game where in coach mode you can call position specific plays instead of being limited to just calling quick plays and 'Best Play' like in 2K12 and 2K13. I hope this is not the case in 2K14 and they've given back us coach mode player the ability to call whatever play we want instead of relying on the 'Best Play' option.

[yungsta404]

Re: What made 2k11 such a great game?

it was one of the few years were offense and defense were truly balanced.

[ksuttonjr76]

Re: What made 2k11 such a great game?

* Revisionist history - people forget that defence worked unrealistically. You can't continuously bump players in today's NBA and get away with it. Hop step cheese, spin dunking and power dunking online were horrible. As I said before, Crew was a mess with hacked players, long waiting and awful lag. The lead pass was overpowered. Playbooks were very simplistic (compared to now ofc). Post game was one-dimensional.

Disagree. These moves were somewhat overpowered, but they wasn't widely abused. I only ran into a handful of online players who tried to abuse these moves before I was able to shut it down. You mentioned that the defense had an unrealistic advantage, but doesn't the offense have an ungodly advantage now? The defense in NBA 2K11 didn't make playing offense futile, while the offense in NBA 2K13 makes playing defense worthless.

[cj2008nw]

Re: What made 2k11 such a great game?

I honestly feel that 2k11 was EXTREMELY cheesy... I don't see how you can say there was defense but there was no counter for the spin dunk glitch and it had an almost 100% chance of working everytime...

You couldn't make any 3's in 2k11 either.. I personally struggled with making 3 point shots consistently when hot..

Alley Oops were also over powered as well...

all of that combined with the hop step... I don't see what makes this game so great.... when we are comparing gameplay to 2k12 or 2k13.. It doesn't match in gameplay

The fact that someone could literally hop step every play and spin dunk every play was extremely infuriating

Also the CANNED animations when you have a player with a high dunk rating... If you stand to far under the rim it was ALWAYS a contact dunk... I'm just not sure what made people even say that it's better than titles that came after it

PASSING to me GOT WAY BETTER the last 2 titles.. I was sick of people throwing cross court passes or passes where the players don't even make eye contact and are still able to catch ANYTHING.. I liked the fact they made it a lot HARDER to pass and penalized anybody who tried to throw unrealistic passes

[RayRay34]

Re: What made 2k11 such a great game?

Absolutely nothing..... I tried going back and playing it and it's unplayable. That damn isomotion is now gone...Good riddance!!!!

[PJBrownHeat]

Re: What made 2k11 such a great game?

triangle offense were authentics. i believed the contrary but finally it was good. 42 rub, 41 up 2, 21 up, 52 roll (griz strong) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cyhd76C78EE
in the other 2k, you have to search if it is a triangle offense or not. in 2k11 it was written, tri or triangle 8 or triangle 10.
classic paint
flu game is impressiv, you feel jordan really diminished!
Player moov differently, they don't moov in every direction when you call a play.

negativ : you can choose a def zone with classic team while it didn't exist.
But it has been rectified in 2k12.
an other negativ point, Charles Barkley and the suns, why? when you see that 5 title on 6 are in the game? why not every final?
but it was 10 the number of the challenge and not 11, 10 is better than 11!!

For the 3 pt, i rediscovered recently that it was excatly the same than for 2k12 or 2k13. i love pippen for 3 pt in 2k13, and i successed excatly the same 3 pt that i used to hit in 2k13, in 2k11! so people who are saying that 3 pt is more easily in 2k13 it is just a dream!
For the HOF, big big big big LOL to every people of this forum!! HOF is HOF, i have ever seen Payton making an impossible pass at the end of his lay up to Hawkins for a 3 pt, several impossible Alley oop for Kemp in the same quarter, impossible shot from Hawkins, Starcks, Perkins, Worthy, Payton, Stockrton, Malone. Oakley is better than Jordan for Fade Away jumpshot in 2k11!!!!
When you begin to play bad to 2k11, you can't stop the CPU!! It is the same in 2k12 and 2k13!! You lost in the 4th quarter because you don't use the good play! Your teamate lost their feeling to make a good D and to score a good 3 pt!

But HOF for me it is finish, i prefere stay in Pro or All star and try to find the best triangle offense. and if i want a challenge i use Superstar.

NBA 2k12, really good game too. Jordan fade Away jump shot has been improved, i love graphism, i love legend mode for classic paint and zone D disappeared!! Roster are completed, hardaway P, Shaq, Charles Smith, Askew, Eisley, Ostertag, Mc Millan, Davis, Elliot, Robinson etc .
atmosphere when you play a game between Spurs 98 and the Jazz 98, it is good. I think if i play to 2k12, i will only play in legend mode if i want to use classic team because once again classic paint and classic atmosphere.
My next game in 2k12 should be Knicks 95 magic 95. And i will try to see how excatly to play with the Knicks maybe to win in Superstar!! I did it for the Jazz 98 and it was really good, but i lost 2 times because of the fact that at the end Russell is automatically in PF post vs Duncan and i don't understand why 2k did it!! It surprised me 2 times and i lost. But for the strategy it is great to compare to the reallity, it is more accessible than for the classic bulls for example.

Negativ point, Phil Jackson not in the classic team, and other classic coach, and some triangle offense disappear too!!

So for me 2k11 and 2k12 are great for classic team and even better than 2k13!!

After for the gameplay, it is difficult to criticize each game!!

sorry for the long text!!

[gabri3l3]

Re: What made 2k11 such a great game?

2K11 had Jordan and all the legends and people claim it was also the best gameplay wise! I agree it was better than 2K12 but not better than 2K13 at all... except for the offensive spacing maybe.

[iLLosophy]

Re: What made 2k11 such a great game?

With NBA2K11 I remember thinking it really wasn't that big a jump from 2K10. The game was probably the most balanced 2K basketball game up until that point, but weren't any HUGE gameplay enhancements.

You hit the nail on the head here. Feature wise, they didn't really add much other than the Jordan mode. It was essentially 2k10.5 - but that's a good thing. They fixed a lot of stuff from 2k10 and didn't introduce anything "new features" that ended up just throwing the balance of the game off.

Another reason why 2k11 was so good IMO was because even after months in, the game still had balanced gameplay. I don't remember if it was due to patch fixes or it was like that out of the box, but there was no moment in Febuary where someone figured out you could Europstep from the 3pt line and it would be unstoppable. There was no moment when everyone discovered every player could shoot leaners just as effectively as spot up jumpers. The game was balanced when it was released, and it was still balanced in June. So when I saw JasonWilliams say defense is fixed, I kind of just chuckled (no offense) because the real problems with the game aren't going to arise until sometime after a couple months.

I didn't know anything about Crew but kept seeing people complaining about how 2K needed to do something to fix it. So I decided to find out more: this was back when Pared was still a mod and there were some Crew players going off on 2K about the hackers. The more I read, the more I realized Crew people were really complaining... about other Crew players lol. They wanted a sandbox and 2K gave it to them, and they got mad because their fellow players weren't adhering to some unspoken code of conduct. I remember a few people even going so far as to say "If [2K] isn't going to fix it, they should take it away!". Lol we see how that turned out - those people flipped out the next year.

LOL you might want to do some more research. You are taking the posts of some annoying 8 year olds that migrated from 2k forums (whos 10 different OS usernames are all probably pink by now) and extrapolating that across a whole community. No one in their right, fully developed mind wanted crew mode to be a "sandbox" with 7'8" point guards.

[boltokPwnage04]

Re: What made 2k11 such a great game?

* Revisionist history - people forget that defence worked unrealistically. You can't continuously bump players in today's NBA and get away with it. Hop step cheese, spin dunking and power dunking online were horrible. As I said before, Crew was a mess with hacked players, long waiting and awful lag. The lead pass was overpowered. Playbooks were very simplistic (compared to now ofc). Post game was one-dimensional.

I still watch replays of NBA 2k11 games and 2k11 mixes to this day. This is not revisionist history. I said it at the time 2k11 was a special game. It has the best human -v- human gameplay in the history of basketball games surpassing 2k7.

Hop step, lead passing and spin dunks were exploits, but every NBA game has exploits.

In 2k11 if you had a good game shooting, even with a star it was fun. There was strategy and artistry to the game.

In 2k12 and 2k13 good games with stars were meaningless because it happened every game as if timing on jumpers meant nothing and there was no defense that could effect your shot. NBA 2k13 was the worst NBA 2k game I've ever played with respect to how devoid of fun playing defense was.

[spankdatazz22]

Re: What made 2k11 such a great game?

LOL you might want to do some more research. You are taking the posts of some annoying 8 year olds that migrated from 2k forums (whos 10 different OS usernames are all probably pink by now) and extrapolating that across a whole community. No one in their right, fully developed mind wanted crew mode to be a "sandbox" with 7'8" point guards.

I agree with you wholeheartedly. I was just saying that I would think it would be hard to get people to operate within certain parameters if they're given the option of making the best player they can, or of giving themselves every advantage they can. It's what happens in real life, so I'd think it'd definitely happen when playing online. I would say it's somewhat unrealistic to have 6'9" point guards but if given the opportunity, that's what most people are going to create themselves as if they're primarily interested in winning. I was only saying that from what I could gather about Crew in reading on this forum, it was Crew people mad at other Crew people for not playing the game the way they felt it should be played. And what appears to have ultimately ruined it

[boltokPwnage04]

Re: What made 2k11 such a great game?

I agree with you wholeheartedly. I was just saying that I would think it would be hard to get people to operate within certain parameters if they're given the option of making the best player they can, or of giving themselves every advantage they can. It's what happens in real life, so I'd think it'd definitely happen when playing online. I would say it's somewhat unrealistic to have 6'9" point guards but if given the opportunity, that's what most people are going to create themselves as if they're primarily interested in winning. I was only saying that from what I could gather about Crew in reading on this forum, it was Crew people mad at other Crew people for not playing the game the way they felt it should be played. And what appears to have ultimately ruined it

Gamers want balance ultimately. I don't think anyone has a problem with encountering a few 6'9" point guards. The problem is there was nothing in place to make it harder to create a great 6'9" point guard or a 7'5" center. It should be extremely difficult to create unique players like those with high ratings. Hacking was also probably the biggest issue as well.

[JasonWilliams55]

Re: What made 2k11 such a great game?

It was essentially 2k10.5 - but that's a good thing. They fixed a lot of stuff from 2k10 and didn't introduce anything "new features" that ended up just throwing the balance of the game off.

Another reason why 2k11 was so good IMO was because even after months in, the game still had balanced gameplay.

The game was balanced when it was released, and it was still balanced in June. So when I saw JasonWilliams say defense is fixed, I kind of just chuckled (no offense) because the real problems with the game aren't going to arise until sometime after a couple months.

Bolded.

This right here, 2k11 was more of a upgraded gameplay than it was about newness. Extrapolate that same thinking to how 14 is being 'rebalanced', as said 11-12-13 mashed, retuned and balanced for gameplay.

When I say defense is back, I mean that we have the ability now on defense to stop the offense. Sure we won't truly know until some time after the game has been out and see what kiddies will do to get a win but one could say that about any game.