NBA 2K13

NBA 2K13 was among the Wii U's launch titles, bringing the console a polished basketball simulation from Visual Concepts, long recognized for its realistic rendition of NBA rules and individual players' movement on the court. The game offers a full season, a career mode, and a range of historical teams and league stars including legendary lineups from past decades, while the Wii U version used the gamepad as a supplementary screen with tactical information, lineups, and quick access to statistics without needing to interrupt play by looking at the television.

The gameplay was built on an elaborate system of dribbling, defensive duels, and team tactics, which the series had been refining for years and which set it apart from competing basketball games on the market. The match presentation tried to imitate a television broadcast with commentary, replays, and a realistic atmosphere of arenas full of fans cheering for their team. On Wii U the game ran stably, although the graphics did not reach the level of simultaneously released versions on the more powerful hardware of competing consoles of that generation, a common compromise for ports.

Contemporary reception generally ranked the NBA 2K series among the top basketball simulations, and NBA 2K13 was no exception, although the Wii U version was seen more as a supplementary port for new console owners than as a technologically leading release. Today the game mainly serves as a time capsule of the NBA roster at the time and a reminder that Wii U had support from major sports brands like 2K Sports right from launch, something that did not repeat as a matter of course with Nintendo's successor consoles. For collectors of basketball games and fans of that particular NBA season, it's an interesting addition to the Wii U library, though today more of a historical curiosity than a current experience.

Why play: For collectors of basketball games and fans of that particular NBA season, it's an interesting, now mostly historical addition to the Wii U library, a reminder of the early support from major sports brands like 2K Sports.