NBA The Run

NBA The Run plays more like a distant descendant of the NBA Street series than a successor, which isn’t a bad thing.

Play by Play Studios' arcade basketball game delivers a strong highlight reel when you're playing with friends.

NBA The Run does its best to make up for what it lacks with a high attention to detail that makes it easy to see the love for streetball culture.

NBA THE RUN aims to bring the nostalgia of NBA Street to modern gamers with a battle royale twist. But does it deliver or fall flat?

NBA The Run is decently paced and visually striking. It also forces an online-only connection, suffers from poor camera angle choices, and is an immense progression grind.

All in all, NBA The Run is a solid entry to a genre that needed a revival. The Streetball league needs love from its glory days and it could very well be this title if the right moves and love is shown to it. Right now, it doesn’t provide enough or have enough to really justify the purchase beyond huge fans of the game. I would say give this a little time to cook or get it on sale.

Take your favorite NBA stars to streetball courts worldwide in this fast-paced 3v3 experience that nails arcade basketball fun. That’s the TBB Curator blurb and it’s accurate about what the game is at its best — but the “nails it” framing needs the launch caveat attached. NBA THE RUN has the visual identity, the licensed talent, the rollback netcode, and the defensive design to be the arcade basketball game the genre has been missing. It does not currently have the offline content, tutorial, keybind support, or camera options its price point should include. The community consensus aligns with that tension: people who went in with the right expectations — competitive online 3v3 arcade basketball with friends — are largely having a great time. People who went in expecting NBA Street, solo content, or a game that fully explains itself on day one are bouncing off. Both reactions are fair given what launched. If you have people to play with and can live with the current rough edges while the roadmap plays out, NBA THE RUN is worth the money. The Summer Heat Season update is already confirmed, and the bones here are good enough that a few solid content updates could meaningfully shift the recommendation. At $29.99, it’s a conditional buy now and potentially an easier one later.

As much as I hoped that NBA The Run was going to rekindle that magic from the early NBA Street days, I am sad to say that it just fumbles the ball.

NBA THE RUN is exactly the kind of game arcade basketball fans have been waiting for for years. It recaptures the spirit of NBA Street without trying to directly compete with NBA 2K and creates its own identity based on accessible gameplay, quick matches, and an extremely solid online experience.

There is no doubt about it, NBA The Run is fun, but I do believe in its current state that replayability and longevity have limited scope. If you’re someone who doesn’t like to engage in online competitive multiplayer, then this won’t be your bag. For hardcore basketball fans, though, you’ll likely love it, and the 3v3 aspect makes it so easy to jump into with friends. Short, snappy matches which are fluid, fun and fast make it a very appealing game. Time will only tell how it carries itself over time with the player base. That said, the developers are listening to feedback and no doubt there will be plenty of additions and tweaks in the future as long as there is demand