More 'ShakaLaka' than 'Boom', NBA Playgrounds delivers that light and over-the-top experience that many basketball fans were missing for so long.

NBA Playgrounds is a refreshing title that provides a full arcade basketball experience. Many basketball fans will be satisfied with its massive roster and hundreds of dunks and moves, although some gameplay mechanics need re-balancing.

NBA Playgrounds, at its best, provides some over the top arcade experience that can be highly entertaining, hilarious and even addicting to play. With a presentation and technical foundation that are solid and fun, it's easy to pick up but hard to master. A worthy addition to any library of arcade sports games.

The roster itself is a healthy mix of legends like Shaquille O’Neal and Wilt Chamberlain to modern-day stars like LeBron James and Steph Curry. Several team lineups have glaring omissions like Klay Thompson, Isaiah Thomas, and Giannis Antetokounmpo (though Saber plans to continually add new players).

Just briefly entertaining NBA Jam-clone with mushy controls, flaws in balancing and way too overpriced.

Nba Playgrounds tries to revitalize the arcade basketball genre and brings many interesting and fresh gameplay ideas to the table, but fails to strike the balance between the conflicting gameplay mechanics. It still misses many key online features (like inviting a friend to play against) and the UI is unintuitive, but on the bright side Saber shows eagerness to rectify the wrongs.

The developers can still fix NBA Playgrounds if they’re willing to do so. All they need to do is add more brains to AI, add competitions and re-balance attack and defense. Otherwise this game is just another reason to remember the awesomeness that was NBA 2K17.