As much as I can understand the derision from some quarters regarding NBA 2K26, FC 26, Madden — any of these big sports’ games in their yearly, money-grubbing modern forms — I have, unfortunately, got a few of them to thank for several things that I enjoy in life these days. One of which is the old basketballs.
For most of my life, Basketball was a game where people ran up and down a court, scoring and then letting the other team score. There was no discernible defence, no strategy, nothing other than to be incredibly athletic and awesome and beautiful – and good at going airborne. Oh, and if you had a gigantic wobbly NBA Jam head and a pair of fireproof sneakers, well, all the better.
Then I played NBA 2K. And I got hooked. I went deep and I learned a whole lot about this most strategic, defensive, and awe-inspiring sport of kings. Yes, I do love basketball nowadays, and this series right here taught me everything (genuinely, literally everything) I know about the sport – beyond giant heads and shoes on fire.
So! I am an NBA 2K enjoyer, for all of its flaws, and with this in mind, I do believe this year’s game, in its current form, is the most knockabout arcade-styled one I’ve played in ages. It’s a hell of a lot of fun right now – and you can be damn sure they’ll patch a lot of that fun out.
The shooting feels pleasingly easy to get into the rhythm of, with three-pointers proving much more reliable, and I’m finding that superstar players move, react, and play notably better on court than their mere mortal counterparts, ensuring there’s plenty of spectacular dunking to be had. We’ve got a game here that’s been providing me with a ton of fast-paced, action-packed, and very OTT b-ball good-times in both online and offline modes…on the PS5 Pro.
Yes, I just said dirty words on the Nintendo site. But I’ve been an idiot, you see, and threw away my money for early access (which we didn’t get on Switch 2) on Sony’s platform. If I were reviewing that version, which I don’t mind admitting I’m addicted to, I’d give it a 9/10, absolutely no issue. I’d talk about how its various modes, whilst still way too busy with menus — and the constant noise of special offers that want to rinse you for all your real-world cash — feel more harmoniously in sync this time out.
I’d point to how 2K has finally managed to give us a shooting system that feels like it’s letting me be properly in control in driving to the net, in making space, jostling, shooting on a dime. Improved animations help in this regard, but the underlying mechanics have been smartly reworked and make for game that’s way less frustrating and random on offence and defence.
There’d be applause for how I can use MyTeam bits and bobs to compete and earn things in online park games with other humans more freely, for how there are more ways to criss-cross and press on with unlocking goodies in the mode you’re throwing every waking hour into (spoiler alert: it’s MyTeam all the way). Heck, I’d even say “Well done, 2K,” on making the menus just that little bit easier to parse. It feels better on the UI front this year, easier to navigate.
On the court, I’d speak of the sweat, the glistening skin and the expressive — sort of — faces. It’s all very shiny and nice and exactly what you’d expect from a series that bathes in your money. It also runs at a super-smooth 60fps on PS5 and looks crystal clear on my big telly. Wow. So much positivity! However, of course, and as you know, this is all leading to the bit where I say that this isn’t the case on Switch 2.
This isn’t the case on Switch 2. There. It’s better that it’s out, I feel lighter. Yes, as much as the 2K faithful expected this year’s release to hit 60fps, which will be a game-changer if or when it does happen, it ain’t going down in 2025. Not unless we get a magic patch. This is, once again, 30fps only. It’s a super-solid 30fps this year, so…silver linings?
Am I surprised? No, not really. And I’ll be totally honest, it doesn’t bother me hugely. After an hour of playing, I’d picked up the rhythm and forgotten about it for the most part. But that’s me.
Less forgivable is the fact that we’ve only got slightly better resolution than Switch 1’s previous 2K efforts. It’s not unplayable, but it’s a little blurry, and a bit of a letdown – especially given that the graphics on Switch 2 have very obviously been shifted to the lowest settings. It still looks great, I should make clear, these games always do, and it is clearer — to my mind, at least — than Switch 1 2K25. But Jeezo, I think we all expected better from this series on what is substantially more powerful hardware. Surely more could have been done?
Apart from the downgrading of visuals, halving of the frame rate, and disappointing resolution, there’s something else. Everything else I can, and will, live with. However, there’s no cross-play — understandable with the frame rate disparity — and there’s also no cross-saving or progression. Which is mind-boggling to me at this point. Why can’t I at least progress my offline modes on multiple platforms? And why should anyone pay the same price for the game on this platform when it’s therefore a lesser product with a much smaller pool of online players?
Head online and it’s a ghost town on Switch 2 for this reason, just days after release, I’m currently wandering around barren courts, waiting in line for a game that’ll likely never take place by the looks of things. This has a huge impact on how everything gels, how alive and busy and organic things feel, and it makes it more difficult to actually progress in-game to boot.
To finish on a more positive note, I want to point out that if you do buy in for the single-player experience — if that’s what you’re here for, and if this is your only platform to play on — you still have a lot to get through with the ever-excellent MyNBA Eras, MyGM, MyPlayer, and all the historically informative and really excellent additions that’ve been added over the past few years. The menus, I will also say, are faster and more responsive than usual on a Switch console, so you are saved the constant heartache of being sat waiting to load into a mode or menu, which is a nice upgrade.
Would I buy NBA 2K26 if I only have a Switch 2? As a fan of the series, probably. But I wouldn’t be entirely happy about it. I’d be giving off behind your back about the lack of finesse in delivering this stuff.
Conclusion
NBA 2K26 on Switch 2 fails to deliver the 60fps gameplay we’ve all been holding out for. It also runs at a lower resolution than I would have expected, and its online modes, thanks to no cross-play or cross-progression are ghost towns.
However, if this is your only platform, and if you are okay with 30fps, there is still a huge festival of basketball to enjoy here. This is a game packed full of fun modes, and it’ll teach you everything you could ever need to know about the sport whilst giving you some fine on-court action to boot. Here’s hoping for a patch down the line, but 2K26 comes off as a great game underperforming on Switch 2 at launch.
