All-Star Basketball Review

All-Star Basketball is the kind of name that gets right to the crux of the matter. You know exactly what to expect from the name and guess what? The game itself gets right to the point, too. There’s no running or defending here. Just the fun stuff - shooting some hoops. It’s quite fun too, although a little grind-heavy for those who want to unlock new modes.

Learning to play is easy: you just swipe to throw the ball. The speed at which you swipe as well as the direction dictates how well you perform, but it’s still a very simple concept. Score sufficient times in a row and the ball goes on fire, just like in NBA Jam - meaning more points. As you play the perspective changes, as well as where your player is placed, changing up what’s expected of you and the angle in which you should take the shot.

Starting out you only have Focus Shot mode available to you, with Quick Shot, Moving Hoop, and 3 Point Challenge opening up if you unlock them with GP. GP is gained through scoring plenty of points as well as completing the missions that offer some form of structure to proceedings. It’s going to take a while to unlock stuff though, but on the plus side each mode is more of a variation on the same concept than anything hugely different.

You can play online too, assuming you can find another player online at the same time, plus there are tons of customization options if you want to change around the appearance of your player.

All-Star Basketball keeps it pretty simple though, so it’s really the kind of game you’ll dive into as and when you’ve got a spare five minutes. That’s also the best way to ensure that you don’t feel like you’re grinding out unlocks. It means that All-Star Basketball remains quite fun if untaxing.