It is true that the 2K brand of sports gaming is hit and miss. You have the fully licensed, yet flawed MLB 2K series, the now absent NFL 2K series (who may have been too much for the competition i.e. buyout), and the NHL 2K license which is starting to lose steam, but one franchise remains leaps and bounds ahead of their rival competition and that is the NBA 2K series.

Beginning way back on the Dreamcast console, the NBA 2K series has all but dominated the competition from the get go with their superior visuals, aggressive A.I., and true to life realism in the game play. This is one game where you must earn going to the rock, as the defense has always been a bear in the paint. Now jumping to next generation status, does the future look bright for this franchise, or are they becoming too lax and letting the competition play catch up?

Lax is not 2K's style, as they seem to innovate year in and year out by adding new features, tweaking game play and A.I. to perfection, and finding new ways to awe gamers with their unbelievable visuals. NBA 2K7 is no different and if you thought NBA 2K6 on the 360 looked and played well, 2K7 kicks it up another notch. (Don't sue me Emeril)

The new visual style is impressive to say the least. The player models for some of the superstars are spot on, from their faces and tattoos to their mannerisms and special moves like Steve Nash's hair behind the ear twitch. Some, on the other hand look like second-rate create-a-player models with low detail on the faces and expressions. All models return with 2K's signature skin textures (including gross sweat animations) and cloth technology. The arenas are well detailed and the wood grain floors even reflect the lights and signs throughout the arena. The menus and presentation overlays are slick and worthy of TV style broadcasting. They even found a way to blatantly advertise products like Gatorade and Toyota, but honestly this makes the game feel authentic and like you are watching a real broadcast... so you get away with this one guys.

The audio team has brought a top-notch system to the Xbox 360, but it still doesn't feel quite next gen, nor is as varied and impressive as NBA Live 07's. Kevin Harlan, Kenny Smith, and Craig Sager return to bring you the play by play. With the exception of new sponsorship spots and Kenny's Halftime Stamp of Approval show, the commentary is too close to last year's, including some catch phrases and sayings throughout the broadcast. What's more, you will hear most of the same stuff each and every game, which will grind your nerves if you hear a bit of commentary that you dislike. The music is your standard hip-hop flair, and the crowd, while energetic, doesn't feel like they are part of the game and sound canned at times with very little emotion brought during big plays.

Gameplay has been tweaked again to bring you an even more refined game of basketball to the hardcore gamer. If you like fast breaks and dunks on most every drive, you might want to go to the arcades and play Run and Gun as this game has some of the most intelligent and frustrating A.I. in any sports game. Even if you manage to find a weak player you can go to the hole on, expect to be double-teamed in a few minutes, as the play calling is progressive and impressive to say the least by the CPU. Controls are very tight and provide enough button combinations to be successful on any play you desire, providing you set up the play. You can call offensive and defensive changes on the fly, survey the court for an open man, do fancy passes to throw off heads up defense, or even alley oop the ball to an oncoming jammer. Even more impressive is how you can control the tempo of the game more thoroughly as you can manipulate and draw fouls on defense and offense. Returning for better or worse (I'm not a fan) is the shot stick. This allows you to use the right analog stick to pull off lay-ups, dunks, or signature moves. On the defensive side, you use the stick to block, steal, and guard closer. I still would like to see 2K find another way to innovate shooting and go back to using the R-Stick to crossover and juke.

There is a wealth of options to accommodate the spectacular visuals and game play. Almost everything you would want in a NBA game is here. From single games, to seasons, dynasty mode (Association), 24/7 personal career street ball mode, street games, and even deep online play that includes seasons and tourneys. Heck, even the Crib returns so you can brag about your attributes and achievements in the game. What you will not find is the All Star Weekend games such as dunk competitions, 3-point shootouts, and rookie games. I know EA does not hold the rights to this... or at least I don't think the NBA sold this... so why not add these modes? Even without them there is so much to do and accomplish.

It is nice to see 2K didn't sleepwalk this year as Live did step up their game and I look forward to what real competition has to offer. Let's just hope that the heated competition doesn't get the best of this series to merit another exclusivity buyout. We all know that competition only makes developers work harder instead of resting on their reputations. As for which is the game to buy this year, it is a no brainer that 2K has game and it should be yours too.