Exclusive licensing is the big black mark on the sports gaming landscape. From EA Sports' stranglehold on the NFL, PGA, FIFA and NASCAR to 2K Sports and Sony effectively cornering the baseball market – it's the gamers who remain the big losers. With this in mind, everyone who loves arcade basketball games should wish upon a star that 2K Sports never loses the rights to make officially licensed NBA games, because when you compare this with the competition it is abundantly clear that NBA 2K7 is the king of the pro hoop hill.

This is not a revolutionary step from last year's game but it is definitely moving the franchise in the right direction. It all starts with the game's overall pace and complimentary AI. The flow of each game just feels 'right' and best of all – each game plays out like its own mini drama. So many sports games drop the ball in this area; they tend to get stale and highly repetitive. NBA 2K7 is the antithesis of this. Each game plays differently depending on the style of the teams involved combined with good old sports luck. The Suns like to run up and down the floor while the Spurs and Pistons play sharp defense and methodically beat you into submission. No NBA game provides you with such profound team philosophy as NBA 2K7.

Part of this can be attributed to each team's individual "team slider" parameters (which you can change) that determine how each team approaches the game. But it goes a bit deeper than that. NBA 2K7 does a wonderful job in highlighting its go to players. When playing the Mavs, you can expect Dirk to get his shots; the entire offense in Phoenix runs through Nash and the Heat love to play the two-man game with Shaq and Wade. It's amazing how each team plays to its strength – and this can change in franchise mode when new rookies come onto the scene. The game doesn't miss a beat.

It also looks the part. Vast arrays of players in the game look exactly like they do in real life – at least their shooting motion, anyway. If you follow the league you are sure to be stunned by how authentic each player looks when they shoot the ball. The folks at 2K Sports nailed this to near perfection. Unfortunately, player faces aren't as impressive. In fact they look downright bad in some cases. This is pretty low on the important meter, but if there is an area that you can poke holes in the game's visual appeal – this is it. In addition, there is some weird uniform bleeding and tearing that pops up from time to time (players will lose half of their jersey or shorts for short periods of time). All in all, however, it's hard to complain too much about the graphics and player animation. It's really quite good.

Player control, one of the key elements to any basketball game, is at times amazingly fluid and at other times a bit too restrictive. ISO Motion makes its return for better or for worse, depending on your perspective. There is a dizzying number of moves you can perform using the right stick in conjunction with the triggers and buttons. It may be too much for new players, in fact. In many ways this is like learning a highly advanced real time strategy game. Until you learn the hotkeys and shortcuts, you are going to struggle. It's the same with NBA 2K7. Until you take the time to go into practice mode and really learn the controls you'll be playing with one arm tied behind your back. Once you do get the hang of it, though, the game comes alive as players are capable of doing a slew of moves and passes.

The problem is that too often the animations take over, leaving you helpless to control them. Pressing the shoot button or using the Shot Stick in certain situations triggers the "dunk" animation, and it can start as far as out the foul line at times. It's almost as if there is too much canned animation routines in the game.

The game's AI is another area that is both at times remarkably well done and at other times sort of boneheaded. Substitution patterns are flat out bizarre. The AI likes to leave its players in the game far too long, taking them out in critical times late in the game. There's just no reason for the AI to sub out Vince Carter with 3:00 to play only to bring him back with: 50 seconds on the clock in a close game. It needs to rest star players more during the game rather than in the 4th quarter with the game on the line. This is a significant problem area that needs to be addressed – pronto.

Another AI gaffe happens in man to man rotation patterns. At times, you'll see a center guarding a point guard at the top of the key because of man to man switching but there's no way to switch it back until the next change of possession. Fast breaks are also an issue, but only for human controlled teams. For some reason, players slow down dramatically when they receive a pass, even a "lead pass" – fast players get caught from behind way too easily, making fast breaks tough to pull off. Dribbling should slow you down, but the game really overemphasizes this almost to an absurd level.

So there are some areas of concern, but these problems do not change the fact that NBA 2K7 is an absolute blast to play. From its focus on realism to handy features such as on the fly play calling and subs (you'll never need that pause menu ever again) – the positives here easily outweigh the shortcomings.

Association Mode (the game's term for Franchise mode) is solid, if a bit unspectacular. It certainly works as advertised – everything is here such as scouting rookies, working player salaries, trades, stats, and so on, but it's a bit vanilla and lacks the sense of style and drama found in older games like NFL 2K5. The NBA series is now 2K Sports' big dog, so you would think they'd pull out all the stops to make this mode as good as it can be. Again, it works, there aren't any glaring bugs (like in NFL 2K5) but you won't find any halftime reports with other game highlights or any drama whatsoever during the draft. The players are selected and off you go. A little more personality would go a long way in making this mode of play even better. On the flip side, you can now play a multi-user franchise mode on the same machine, which is a fantastic way to play if you have a few buddies around that want a piece of the action.