NBA All-World is out as of today, and for everyone who was curious what the NBA and Niantic’s answer to Pokemon Go was going to be they can download it on pretty much any phone with an app store and give it a try. How much you will enjoy the game however will likely depend on how deep you ask a basketball game to be.
I downloaded NBA All-World and gave it a go, because as someone who played and thoroughly enjoyed Pokemon Go for years, I thought there could be some potential in NBA All-World. Maybe if Pokémon GO was able to capture my childhood dream of exploring the world and catching Pokémon, this could fulfill another dream of being one of those dudes who just shows up at random courts, wins a bunch of games, and then disappears to wherever the next run is. Of course, I could attempt to do that in real life too but who has the time for such things?
So how did NBA All-World fare? Well, if you have played Pokémon GO before then you have played a lot of what it offers. Players go around in real life, going to actual locations, and collecting resources from those locations. Along the way, you can take on virtual versions of actual NBA players and add them to your team. The tutorial started me off with Darius Bazley and Jordan Poole, but you can add ne wplayers to your roster by defeating them in 1-on-1 challenges, like taking them on in a shooting contest or beating them in an actual game of 1-on-1.
The gameplay of these challenges is very simple. Swipe one way, press the button on screen to shoot, block, or steal, and do it with the correct timing and you’ll win. The shot timer itself is rather simple and most players will likely have it mastered no time, although it wouldn’t be surprising if better players had more difficult timing to make adding them harder.
The simplicity of NBA All-World and the familiarity with Pokémon GO is going to be what makes or breaks the experience for most players. If you can get past the simplicity and enjoy it for what it is, an NBA clone of Pokémon GO, then you can have a fun time with it. Just don’t expect an in-depth basketball experience. That’s not what it’s trying to be and that’s okay.