NBA All-World is an online multiplayer sports game for mobile which takes inspiration from the popular Pokemon mobile game “Pokemon Go”. In NBA All-World, players can roam their neighbourhood to see the different in-game stores and players they can sign. Walk around your local area, capture different professional NBA players, get them equipment and training, expand your roster, and even compete against other players. 

The objective of the NBA All-World is quite simple, players look around using the app and sign different players that pop up. The NBA players that pop up are completely random but the higher your level gets the odds of signing better players rise. The concept is similar to Pokemon GO except for its NBA stars instead of Pokemon.

 After spending a lot of time checking this game out, we came up with a thorough review of the game’s positives and negatives just for you. So with that in mind, let’s take a closer look at the positives and the bad NBA All-World has to offer!

THE GOOD

Visuals

NBA All-World features some of the best graphics and designs for a mobile sports game. With the characters matching the original faces of the NBA pros. The game looks clean and clear when playing. The amazing thing is that even during the matches, players have unique little animations based on who they are using, which we found neat attention to detail by Niantic, INC. For example, the feeling is overwhelming when players get a successful block on the defensive end.

The little GPS animation also looks like Pokemon GO, where players could design their avatars to look a certain way. All in all the visuals were well executed.

Simple

One of the biggest turns off for many mobile games is the complexity of the game. If too much is happening on the screen and there is little mobility, the game will feel annoying and boring. NBA All-World has done a superb job at keeping the game challenging yet simple enough to get addicted to. NBA All-World has straightforward controls to work with; these mostly involve tapping or sliding in the direction you want your player to move. The timing on the shot meter must be the most challenging aspect of the controls, which makes this game easy to grasp yet requires a lot of timing and precision.

Not to mention the cool-looking dunks and layups that can be made by timing the movements right, allowing a sense of satisfaction when you blow past the enemy defence.

UI

Much like with other applications by Niantic, Inc., the user interface for NBA All-World is simply efficient. Players need to navigate through a total of 5 or 6 important menus, and they are always at the touch of your finger. In addition, the simplistic and smooth user interface makes the game look even more eye-catching, especially sports games. 

Innovative

A wild concept, such as merging video game fans with the actual sport of basketball in such a unique manner, was unheard of. Although it might come off as confusing at first, the premise behind NBA All-World is truly something that has potential. Being able to urge a large group of people to go out and about, look for potential players to sign, and even compete with players in their locality is something positive. Although NBA All-World has yet to spread its wings and take off, for now, the game signifies a positive change in mobile sports games as a whole.

Competitive

Having a sports game that doesn’t scratch the competitive itch of its users would be highly unsatisfying. Hence, unlike other games in this genre, NBA All-World has a competitive side to it. In the Arena Tournaments, players can directly go up against other players for rewards and the tournament title. Players use their in-game currency, “Credits”, to enter into tournaments, and as they keep improving, they can enter into bigger and better tournaments for a chance to win it big.

At first, NBA All-World didn’t strike us as a game that could successfully pull off the competitive side of sports, given its premise and its being in the early stages of release. However, it’s safe to say that NBA All-World is the best place to come and compete with players in your area and truly claim the title of the best.

THE BAD

Bugs

NBA All-World is a game released recently, which means that it will have bugs and issues. One of the most recurring bugs is the AI’s inability to miss, and even when the block is timed perfectly, the AI still manages to make the shot. It is incredibly discouraging for players trying their best to get used to this new format of basketball games.

Another one of the bugs that have bothered us is not being able to pick up the in-game currency “Credits” in your area for some reason. This not only costs us a chance to compete in tournaments but is also simply annoying and inconvenient.

Slow

Despite having smooth animations and fun gameplay, NBA All-World takes forever to enter into a game. This has happened several times when we are trying to start a match, and the game is just stuck on the loading screen. NBA All-World doesn’t crash, but it takes a long time to get into games and play, which can get unbearable after a little while.

Conclusion

All in all, NBA All-World, based on the good and the bad points mentioned above, receives a solid 6/10 from us but has room for plenty of improvement.

This decision was made based on many factors; the major contributor to the decision was the clean animations when basketball matches were ongoing, along with the smooth transitions and slow-motion effects. In addition, NBA All-World did a fantastic job with the levels by ensuring that each level had something new to offer, in terms of potential NBA pros that could be signed increasing with each new level reached. This made the game immersive, interactive, and worth grinding. 

Although no game is perfect, and NBA All-World indeed has some issues with making the game engaging, it was one of the more addictive games we have reviewed.

If you are interested and found this review helpful, feel free to check out the game on Play Store and the App Store.