Though I played a ton of FIFA back in college, my main sports game focus for the last >20 years has been whatever NBA-related games are out. Sadly, as good as its gameplay is, and even with the help of current-gen speedy load times, NBA 2K has become weighed down with advertisements and other annoying time waste.

Mostly playing career mode, I've found that The Show is a much better experience. The main reason is just how streamlined and action-focused it is. As a two-way player, I'm constantly pushed along to the next interesting part of the game as part of all my different roles. I love that when one game ends I can pop directly into the next one. While 2K is full of extraneous cutscenes and such, and starts you as an absolutely terrible player to encourage you to level up through microtransactions, this game feels much more immediately fun and well-paced.

Even in a standard local exhibition match, where 2K would bombard you with its TV-mimicking presentation and advertisements, The Show has less of that and lets you just totally disable it if you want. You just get to play the game—what a revolutionary concept. And as it turns out, this game is really fun. Despite a few confusing mechanics and controls, it's an enjoyable, customizable, and approachable experience.