NBA 2K22 Arcade Edition

This is a great game, especially for NBA fans, that gets it mostly right, and adds a lot more content than last year's version. For example, In NBA 2K22 Arcade Edition, Association mode is new this year, which allows you to play as General Manager of your favorite NBA franchise, and build your own NBA dream teams. Like NBA 2K22's Franchise mode, your goal is to manage trades, scout and sign free agents, handle your team's finances, and aim to take your team to an NBA championship. Being able to do this on your iPhone or iPad is just plain cool, not to mention all the solo and multiplayer modes to indulge in. Association gives you so many options, like Season and Quarter length, Fantasy draft settings (or none at all), trade deadlines and much more. Along with Association, MyCAREER is where you'll spend most of your time, and this time, you can create multiple profiles and characters. Controls have been tightened over last year, for both touch and gamepad support, including the addition of the abovementioned "Casual" option that simplifies the offense and defensive moves for younger or more novice players (by letting the game's A.I. do some of the heavy lifting). Either way, sinking three pointers is incredibly gratifying.

This year's game is also the first to offer MyCOURT, to practice hoops on your own private court. Like last year, you can enjoy cross-platform support through Apple's iCloud, so you can mix and match who is on iPhone, iPad, Mac, or Apple TV (unlike NBA 2K22 for consoles, which does not support cross-play). There isn't much to complain about with NBA 2K22 Arcade Edition. While not too different in the gameplay and production values over NBA 2K21 Arcade Edition, it plays smoothly and looks great. The music soundtrack is perfect, and there are several modes to indulge in. The only issue is questionable A.I. here and there, when playing a single-player mode, such as players who might perform the odd strange move (like pass instead of shoot) or a rival player who repeatedly makes some impossible shots, but overall these aren't eye-rolling issues that mar the experience. If you're an Apple Arcade subscriber and a sports fan, this is a no-brainer. It's impressive that NBA 2K22 Arcade Edition packs so much good content into a portable game.