Imagine it’s 2001, you just came back from your school, fired up your PS2, and started playing NBA Street with its funky visuals and accessible gameplay mechanics. Hours pass by, and you have not a single thing to worry about except for dunking that ball. Fast-forward to 2026, and you get the news that NBA THE RUN is releasing soon, and it ditches the hardcore mechanics of the 2K’s NBA franchise and offers a more casual, street-style approach to the sport with the same funky visuals, courts inspired by everyday locations, and a healthy roster of official NBA stars to choose from. Developed and published by Play by Play Studios, NBA THE RUN is not the NBA Street that everyone wanted, but it certainly is the right path to it. This is our review of the PC Steam release of NBA THE RUN, in which we try to dunk some balls with a DJ and win some online tournaments.
Out of the box, NBA THE RUN is a strictly online basketball game where the only three game modes you get are based around The Run World Tournament. It is an online event where multiple teams, a combination of real and AI players from around the world, jump into games with rotating rules, and the winners move forward before facing another team in the finals. This roguelike approach to a basketball game is certainly a new one, and surprisingly, it works very well for players who want to jump into the game, perform a few dunks, and go back to something else. The team that loses a match simply goes back to the menu, and it can start a brand-new ‘run’.
The three modes offer how you want to enter this tournament. You have Squads, where you control a single player, and the other two players will be matched with you from around the world. In Solos, you will control all three players in the game, and finally, you have the Friends mode where you and your friends can join in and have some private fun. You should note that all these modes are online, and there is no LAN or couch co-op option currently in the game. This is where the game starts to lose its charm because NBA THE RUN is the perfect game to play with your friends when they are visiting or even offline. While the roguelike runs do offer short term fun but ultimately, after investing a few hours, you start to look for something offline and a little slow-paced.
The game also features an official roster of NBA players from different teams such as the Los Angeles Lakers, the Dallas Mavericks, the Chicago Bulls, the Miami Heat, and many others. Each squad in NBA THE RUN can only have three players, and they can be from any team. Each player has their own strengths and weaknesses, but they all feel pretty much balanced. For example, Michael Jordan excels at dunks but suffers when it comes to guarding and stealing. On the contrary, James Harden excels at handles and passes but suffers when it comes to dunks. Every player will need a good counter to balance them out, and since there is no team requirement, this can be achieved easily. Some of the players have their younger selves in the game as well, with different stats.
NBA THE RUN shines when it comes to its gameplay mechanics. If we talk about basics, the game is fairly easy to understand and learn its controls. There is no tutorial in the game, and I was a little confused for a few of my early matches on what needs to be done, but then I jumped into the Shootaround mode, which serves as a practice arena. Here, I checked the controls and tried them in a live tutorial-sort of way. After understanding the basics, I was able to help my teammates enough with passing, blocking, and even dunking, but after a few hours, I started pushing and understood some advanced moves like dribbling, ankle breaking, and landing some advanced dunks. The animations in the game are on point. There are very few simulation mechanics here, like the ones you will expect from mainstream NBA titles. For example, spamming the steal key can result in a steal here. Similarly, you can land some insane shots from across the court, which may not be possible in a realistic setting.
Naturally, the game is best with a controller, even on the PC, because some of the moves are assigned to the right joystick, like shoving other players. Things can get a little dirty in NBA THE RUN’s courts, and since this is not an official sanctioned event, there is no penalty for playing a little dirty. As you jump into a run, every match will take place in a different court, inspired by different settings from everyday locations. Apart from the location, every match will also have a unique set of rules. For example, in one game, the winner will need to score 25 points to win, and depending on how long the shot was, the points will be greater. Or sometimes, the winner will only need to get 7 points to win, but every dunk will only give 1 point, no matter how long the shot was. This keeps things interesting, and you never know what is coming next.
The game’s visual design is also one of my favorite things about it. I love the design of courts, which could be inside a city, on the beach, or even inside a sports facility. Every location brings a true street-style feeling with it, such as subway tracks above the courts, graffiti art on the floors, broken stands for viewers, and makeshift barriers to stop people from coming in. The characters look detailed, and the special effects are cool to look at, especially for dunks. The ‘thump’ of every dunk is pretty satisfying. All of this is accompanied by a solid audio design with sounds of rubber soles against the floor, upbeat music in the background, and some noises from the surrounding areas, which make you feel like you are actually playing outside on the street.
To spice up your characters and profiles, you can purchase additional customization items from the in-game store. There are no microtransactions at this point, and everything is purchased using Cred, the in-game currency earned by playing matches and performing well during them. You can purchase new dunk styles, taunts, badges, and outfits for your favorite players to stand out from the crowd in online games.
Coming to the technical side of the game, NBA THE RUN runs without any issues, and the servers appear to be stable. The game is not very demanding when it comes to visuals, so it runs like a charm even if you have an old-spec PC. I did not encounter any sort of disconnections, and the best part was that the matchmaking was low as well. I barely had to wait for more than 30 seconds to jump into a game, even at odd times. The game’s matchmaking is good, and after playing a match and moving on into the quarter-finals, semi-finals, or even the finals, the game quickly finds a party for you to play.
I loved playing NBA THE RUN. Although I missed not having any sort of offline games or couch co-op in the game, for what it’s worth, the game provides enough entertainment for quite a lot of time. I love its visuals, the soundtrack, and the gameplay mechanics are a perfect blend of accessible yet challenging. The game is easy to understand, but to master some advanced moves, you will definitely need to invest some proper time. The amount of time it will take to get repetitive will differ for different players, as I spent around 50 hours in the game for this review, and even my final run was a good one. I will be jumping back into the game on and off to see what sort of new content arrives in it. If it gets offline modes in the future, this is the perfect replacement for NBA Street that a lot of players actually wanted NBA THE RUN to be.
Related Articles:
- NBA THE RUN Reveals Gameplay Trailer Ahead of June Release, Closed Beta Playtest Sign-Ups Now Open
- NBA THE RUN Confirms June 9 Release Date with Beta Playtest This Weekend
Final Verdict:
NBA THE RUN is a fun, arcade basketball game, and for players who are unable to grasp the complex mechanics of the mainstream NBA titles, it serves as an entry point for them to learn the basics and prepare for the main event. It tones down the mechanics but keeps things interesting with solid gameplay mechanics and a roguelike approach to its main gameplay mode. While it is fun in a lot of ways, it also lacks in a lot of ways. Missing out on singleplayer or even a couch co-op mode is a big disappointment. If you are looking for a fun, simple, but online basketball game, NBA THE RUN can offer hours of fun with its dynamic rules and cool visuals, but if you want something offline, you are best to hold out for a bit.
Final Score: 8.0/10
Disclaimer: A PC Steam review code for NBA THE RUN was provided by Sandbox Strategies on behalf of Play by Play Studios. For a detailed breakdown of our scoring and review process, please refer to our Review Policy.
