NBA Rush Review

When an alien invasion threatens the safety of Earth, it's down to the players of the NBA to save us. Yes, that really is the synopsis for this Endless Runner. Unfortunately, that's also where imaginative thought is at its most ripe. Other than that, NBA Rush is a pretty run-of-the-mill Endless Runner lacking necessary excitement to encourage one to keep playing.

Using typical Temple Run style controls, players must swipe their way through various city based scenes. A swipe to the left or right affects direction, while swipes up and down helps one avoid obstacles. Those obstacles mainly consist of destroyed buses, road signs, and the occasional UFO attack. Players can fight back to an extent by collecting dunking power-ups, thereby enabling them to leap up and fend off a UFO. It's pretty unexciting though, given that all the player can do to interact is tap on the alien spacecraft.

Curiously, despite Game Center integration there are no leaderboards or achievements to work towards, foregoing NBA Rush's chances of offering something vaguely compelling. Instead, it remains a pretty samey experience that fails to draw out that 'one more go' factor that works so well for games within this genre.

Some interest can be gained through unlocking new NBA characters, each with their own (small) advantages. That's going to take a lot of grinding though, given NBA Rush's premium focus. It's possible to earn one's way to new unlocks by playing but it's going to take a while, ever tempting one towards an in-app purchase or two. Really though, no one's going to be excited by NBA Rush sufficiently to consider throwing money at it. It's too lackluster an experience to really entice one in. Ultimately, it all feels kind of cynical.