With the NBA season just weeks away, there is no other way to get your daily dose of NBA basketball than to play NBA 2K13.

Over the years, 2K Games has done a wonderful job making the best basketball simulation games on the market. With the September cancellation of EA’s NBA Live 13, there is no game to rival 2K’s masterpiece.

NBA 2K13 was executive produced by Jay-Z, and for the first time one can play as the 1992 Dream Team.

The biggest changes that have been made this year are in MyCareer mode. In this mode, you can take your created character and play in the NBA. Once you have completed your character, you are scheduled to play in Rookie Showcase. You get drafted based on your performance on the Rookie Showcase, and for the first time in the game, you’re able to get drafted No. 1 overall. After the draft, you can start playing the regular season.

The integration of social media and the fact that you can choose your own sponsors make MyCareer different from MyPlayer. After the game, you can see what fans and real life celebrities have to say about you based on your performance of the previous game. As for sponsors, you can chose to be an endorser of Jordan, Nike or many other shoe brands. You earn VC (virtual currency) for your performance in each game. With this currency, you can buy clothes, skill points and many other features for your character.

Gameplay has been vastly improved. All the dribble moves can be controlled by the right thumb stick, which makes it easier for the user. Since some of the controls have been changed, it is going to take some time to get used to the new scheme.

Graphically, this is the best-looking basketball game to date. The player models look like their real life counterparts, and the presentation looks like a real, live broadcast.

Overall, the game looks and plays perfectly. The Dream Team is back, and for the first time you can play the Dream Team against the 2012 Olympic team. The Kinect functionality is fun to use to call plays, but it is not necessary. The addition of other popular teams from the ’80s and ’90s is great. The various game modes add to the replay value, and you get more than what you paid for. I strongly recommend this game to fans of the NBA and to casual fans.

4/5 stars