Monday Tip-Off: The Road Not Taken
We’re at midcourt, and the ball is about to go up…it’s Monday Tip-Off! Join me as I begin the week here at the NLSC with my opinions and commentary on basketball gaming topics, as well as tales of the fun I’ve been having on the virtual hardwood. This week, I’m tipping things off with some reflections on my retro basketball gaming habits in recent years, which have frequently seen me walking the road not taken.
“Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, and sorry I could not travel both…I took the one less travelled by, and that has made all the difference”. These are the opening and closing lines of Robert Frost’s most famous poem, “The Road Not Taken”. My first exposure to the poem was – as so many things were – via a scene from The Simpsons. In the years since then, it’s been interesting to read the entire poem, and also to learn that it’s commonly misinterpreted as championing the idea of “following your own path”. (Don’t worry; I do have a point here beyond pretentiously referencing poetry!)
In fact, “The Road Not Taken” is intended to be ironic, mocking that notion. In short, it pokes fun at indecisiveness, and overemphasising or romanticising our choices, as well as needlessly regretting the ones that we’ve made. To that point, revisiting games that we’ve overlooked is “The Road Not Taken”, both literally and in terms of Frost’s intended meaning. Obviously, we chose a different path – playing something else – and we may lament that, and try to retroactively justify our choices. However, not only did we walk that path for a reason, but with retro gaming, it is possible to go back and take the other route, as I’ve been doing (see, I told you we’d get there!).
Nowadays, I’m inclined to walk the road not taken when choosing old games to dust off and add to my rotation. I enjoy revisiting old favourites of course, but these last few years, I’ve been consistently intrigued by and drawn to games that I overlooked, soured on too soon, or put aside in favour of another title. There’s always a tinge of wistfulness here when it comes to any online content and modes that are no longer available. Fortunately, the core gameplay experience, the (mostly) fully-featured offline modes, and the nostalgic rosters, all remain intact. As such, what I chose back then doesn’t matter now. To quote Frost, the paths turned out to be “equally fair”.
Still, it’s interesting to reflect on where those paths are taking me. As far as games that I’ve come to love retroactively, I don’t think I’ve had a bigger change of heart about any title as I have for NBA 2K14 for PlayStation 4! Despite believing the game was overrated for years, despite being certain I was done with MyCAREER and sneering at NBA 2K14’s story for so long, it’s been a staple of my rotation since 2021. I’ve also developed a greater appreciation for NBA Live 10, and I’ve even become fonder of a few games that I’ve had mixed feelings about, such as NBA Live 2001 and NBA Live 2003. My fondness for NBA 2K14 truly is going back to the road not taken, though.
What’s also interesting in hindsight is that when I was underwhelmed by NBA 2K14 (and NBA Live 14, for that matter), I opted for old habits. I went back to my Chicago Bulls Dynasty in NBA Live 06, and played through to the end of another season. In other words, back then, dislike of the new took me down a road I’d walked countless times before. Conversely, my disappointment with ninth gen NBA 2K led me to not only give NBA 2K14 PS4 a second chance almost a decade after its release, but also inspired me to revisit seventh gen titles. After losing interest in NBA Live 10 far too quickly when it was new, it’s been gratifying to make new, positive memories with it.
Although it’s a much weaker release, I also enjoyed briefly getting hooked on the Xbox 360 version of NBA Live 06. It does have its problems, but also some strengths and solid bones that many people overlook, because the prevailing narrative is “that game sucks, top to bottom”. I’ll readily admit that I let my own preconceived notions and subsequent half-hearted attempts to give it a chance taint my critique for far too long. Granted, I haven’t completely changed my mind about NBA Live 06 on Xbox 360, but it was fascinating to truly dive into the good, the bad, and the ugly of it. I couldn’t do that when I was heavily focused on playing and modding the PC version.
That preference also made the NBA 2K series in general the road not taken for a very long time! With that in mind, while my extended retro kicks with NBA 2K6 and NBA 2K7 may be unexpected given my quibbles with the original Isomotion controls, they also make sense. I had to overcome the nostalgic loyalty I had to the brand I grew up with, and be open-minded enough to try to adapt to a different style of controls and gameplay. I had to develop an affinity for NBA 2K and its design ideas, as it made earlier iterations of those concepts more palatable. And of course, I needed enough time to pass in order for my curiosity about the road not taken to be properly piqued.
It’s hardly unfathomable that I’ve had fun with those games. There’s novelty in the road not taken, and they’re excellent titles; well, apart from NBA Live 06 for 360, which is more of a curious oddity that has its moments! Nevertheless, it’s somewhat surprising that I’ve been so captivated by them, in a way that usually requires one to have a nostalgic attachment. After all, that goes a long way in smoothing over any rough edges in games that may be showing their age. Our all-time favourites remain fun, and even comforting, because we know what to expect. It’s the same reason why so many of us will watch our favourite TV shows and movies time and time again.
And yet, I’ve taken to games like NBA 2K6 and NBA 2K7 like I was revisiting NBA Live 06 PC, or NBA Jam Tournament Edition, or another nostalgic favourite. Playing a ton of exhibition games including some makeshift historical matchups, as well as finishing both of their 24/7 modes, has retroactively made them two of my favourites. Considering my struggles to get into the NBA 2K series back when they were new releases, it’s been a blast finally finding enjoyment in them. It’s also been satisfying to gain a new appreciation for the seventh gen NBA Live games – outside of NBA Live 07 – but I’ve been pleasantly surprised to have been hooked on those NBA 2K titles.
As surprising as that was though, I truly wasn’t prepared to be drawn back to NBA Live on eighth gen! It makes sense in so much as it was the road not taken – at least, not frequently – on that generation. Still, NBA Live generally fell short of my hopes and expectations as it endeavoured to rebuild. I dabbled with Ultimate Team in NBA Live 15 and 18, but on eighth gen, NBA Live was definitely no longer my game of choice. Much as I stuck with NBA Live through seventh gen and while it was on PC, I spent most of eighth gen playing NBA 2K, primarily NBA 2K16, NBA 2K17, NBA 2K19, and NBA 2K20, and usually on console due to my forays into the online scene.
So, naturally, NBA Live 18 found its way right back into my rotation in 2024! Not only that, but NBA Live 16, and even NBA Live 15, are now beckoning me as well. I’m not altogether surprised by NBA Live 18, as it’s the eighth gen NBA Live that I most enjoyed when it was new, and it’s been fun jumping back into Ultimate Team every now and again to play with my squad of 90s All-Stars. What I didn’t anticipate, however, was becoming enamoured with the Pro-Am Tour in The One. I envisioned a quick playthrough to get a screenshot – one that turned out to be impossible anyway – but I was compelled to finish the story, and am now striving for 100% completion.
The irony here of course is that I’ve been extremely critical of NBA Live’s focus on The One, and in particular The Streets. I do stand by that criticism, as NBA Live 18 and NBA Live 19 could’ve and should’ve had so much more depth in other areas, as well as more focus on NBA authenticity in their gameplay. Additionally, with my ongoing journey in NBA 2K14’s MyCAREER, I wasn’t itching to play another career mode. The Streets in NBA Live 18’s The One are the road not taken though, and the user-friendly player upgrades combined with the novelty of single player challenges in famous venues have resulted in an unexpected, but certainly welcome, retro kick.
Undoubtedly, the swift progression system and lack of grinding has felt as refreshing as a different engine and style of gameplay in a title I haven’t sunk as many hours into as others. It’s the same reason I was keen to play through 24/7 in NBA 2K6 and NBA 2K7, especially the latter given the focus on stick skills and story over upgrades. The vibe, atmosphere, and aesthetic of the Pro-Am Tour venues is not only superb, but a departure from my usual modes of choice; again, representing a road not taken. Like trying a food you were once intimidated by or disliked as a child, and discovering that you actually have a taste for it, it exemplifies the importance of never saying never.
In some respects, there’s an essence of making up for lost time. I would’ve liked to have been able to switch back and forth between NBA Live and NBA 2K in years when both were available. Looking back, it’s a shame I couldn’t get my fix from some NBA 2K titles I now hold in high regard, when I wasn’t completely satisfied with the hit-and-miss NBA Live releases on seventh gen. Likewise, some of the repetitive grinding I undertook year after year in eighth gen NBA 2K games perhaps should’ve given way to second chances for a couple of the better NBA Live releases from that era. I still had games to fall back on and enjoy, but there remains a sense of What If.
Then again, the old games that I’ve delighted in adding to my rotation more recently have foibles of their own. I’d have still had my likes and dislikes if they were my games of choice back then, just like the games that I was actually playing. Besides, to be so wistful about an enjoyable hobby such as gaming would as melodramatic as Edward Thomas’ indecisive regret that he and Robert Frost picked one road over the other on a walk! With retro basketball gaming, we can absolutely return to the road not taken if desired. In recent years, I’ve been opting for the one less travelled by, and I can attest that it’s made all the difference to my enjoyment of a treasured pastime.
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