Nba The Run’s New Update Should Delight Raptors Fans

NBA The Run is the game I have been waiting a long time for.

Basketball video games were the way I cemented my appreciation for the sport. It’s all well and good to watch the on-court product, or pick up the ball yourself, but getting to step into the avatars of the world’s greatest athletes scratches an itch that the other two can’t quite reach.

Reminiscent of not only classic NBA video games, but the grit and attitude of the 2000s, The Run’s new update has added 5 new marquee players from that era, while giving the game a fresh overhaul. That new coat of paint and new additions to the roster made jumping into The Run a whole lot of fun.

To preface my review, all gameplay occurred on a PC, playing on an Xbox One controller.The kind people over at Play by Play Studios sent me a copy of the game, as well as an unlock code for the 5 new players added. With that all considered… let’s get into it.

First steps into the past

The Run first released on June 9th, 2026, but this autumn marks the release of their first major DLC, Wave One — 2000s Legends. The legends in question are Vince Carter, Tracy McGrady, Kevin Garnett, Allen Iverson, and Dirk Nowitzki.

It’s great to not only see two Raptors legends (albeit, only one in the purple and red threads), but also, players that harken back to the turn of the millenium in a way that stars like Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant transcended. Rooting this update in that era is great from a branding perspective, and goes further to draw back connections to older titles like NBA Street. You can unlock the new characters either using in-game currency, or through a purchase.

The new update also brought a soundtrack of vintage cuts, 11 songs from big names such as The Roots, A Tribe Called Quest, and Kanye West. Passin’ Me By from the Pharcyde is a personal favourite, and getting to hear it while running the court with Victor Wembanyama was a real pleasure. The Run is designed in large part around sound, with DJ Bobbito Garcia playing emcee, bringing great, over-the-top commentary for everything that happens on the court.

As well, the autumn update brought a number of other quality of life upgrades, such as adding more camera angles, dedicated practice modes, and new maps. All together, The Run is feels like an even bigger game now.

On the court gameplay

Before writing this review, I played the game for around 2 hours, both online and in the training mode. Despite a lack of tutorial, I picked up the controls pretty quickly, and hopped into a game to try out the different characters.

The Run has a really solid roster for such a new game. A solid number of teams are represented, with most of the big-name stars, some star rookies and younger players, and now, the 2000s legends help to round out the roster. I played with every current or former Raptors in the game: Kawhi Leonard, Scottie Barnes, Tracy McGrady, and Vince Carter. Of the four, Vince Carter was my favourite, from both a design and gameplay standpoint. His dunks looked the coolest and felt the best on the court, and that purple dinosaur pops like nothing else.

The first thing to know about this game is that the dunks feel like dunks. With the magic of controller vibration, throwing down a jam feels like you’re about to tear the rim off. I could (and soon will) spend a lot of time just messing around alone, trying to master the different dunks, the alley-oops, and all the rest. The Run does a good job of making defence feel both exciting an engaging. Grabbing a huge block feels almost as good as hitting a deep three, and leaning into the streetball side of things, you’re able to shove and be physical in a way that wouldn’t work in a basketball simulation. One of my favourite things I discovered was that offensive players are actually able to bounce the ball off of their opponents heads.

The variety of courts upon which you can play are great as well. The Run gets international, including courts placed in China, the Philippines, and features a personal favourite, David Crombie Park in Toronto, Canada. Considering the number of Raptors in this game, I appreciated seeing some representation of their home-country, and I’m certainly that both Americans and non-Americans alike will appreciate the diversity of locales.

The game feels good to play, and at the end of the day, that’s really what matters when it comes to a title like this.

Quality of life

The Run is not afraid to be unapolagetically fun, balancing enough seriousness through its design and smooth handles, with the bombastic and exaggerated action that inflates the exsiting instanity that happens when NBA players step onto the hardwood. However, players should know what they’re getting into before they buy this game.

The Run’s developers have committed to providing an offline campaign mode (with local co-op) by Spring of 2027, but as for now, the game is something that you can only play while online. It’s good that the team understands this is a concern that needs to be addressed, and I hope that changes are implemented to bring a true couch co-op experience to the title. Evoking the 2000s is great, but being able to play this game like you would back in the day would give The Run a lot more replayability and do a lot for building community around the title.

I really want to dunk on my brother and sister in this game, and it’d be great if we could do so all on the same copy of the game, right next to each other, rather than on different machines and in different houses. However, the game’s offering of cross-platform multiplayer is a solid addition that is an addition worthy of note.

As well, while this is something that the developers don’t necessarily have control of, I noticed that I ran into a fair amount of bots while playing the game. Bots are certainly a lot easier to play with, and against, when compared to real players. But, I certainly got to play against the real deal, dunking on, and being dunked on real people in turn.

It should be noted that the game is not priced the same as a Triple-A title, retailing for $35.99 CAD ($29.99 USD). This game is raw at times, without the polish of some of the ongoing series of sports games. But that’s why I think it’s worth trying all the more.

The future of The Run

NBA Live and NBA 2K are storied franchises that took decades to develop into what their ultimate forms were. The Run is genuinely offering up a different product to audiences both mature and juvenile, and I believe that it should be supported as it continues to blossom into a bigger and badder version of itself.

The Run is a game that tries to be fun, and succeeds. It’s the perfect thing to get on with your friends and chatter in the background while you score on your opponents and take screenshots of your buddies doing Allen Iverson crossovers and T-Mac alley-oops. Take it for what it is, and if you like the sound of thunderous dunks and earth shattering blocks, while great music and an iconic announcer blare in the background, The Run might be the game for you.

All together, Play by Play Studios has revived a beloved concept, bringing it into the light of the modern day while keeping things rooted in the zaniness inherent to professional basketball. NBA The Run is a bright spot in a genre that is often thought of as stagnant, and it’s nice to be reminded that things don’t have to be that way for virtual basketball.