NBA 2K19 The Prelude: 5 Ups & 3 Downs

2. Bonus Old-School 2K Experience

There are some YouTube reviews of The Prelude complaining about 2K's decision to include a bonus trip down memory lane. The general moan here is that on-court gameplay suddenly changes from controlling one player to managing an entire team when A.I contests an old-school arcade game of NBA 2K with old buddy Corey Harris.

Boo hoo.

Think of this as 2K's way of slyly introducing the actual meat and potatoes of their releases to newcomers trying out the demo. By using the arcade engine, they're also letting hardcore fans know that 2K19 should have a slicker back-to-front pace than last year, and it's a lot of fun. Apparently, that fun is an alien concept to some.

Admittedly, some of the mechanics in the arcade game are a bit old-fashioned, but that was to be expected. This is a neat nod towards Uncharted 4's use of Crash Bandicoot, is a refreshing change from The Prelude's core gameplay, and it does a decent job giving context to the relationship between A.I and Harris on top of all that.