Ultimate Rivals: The Court

An exciting mishmash of sports celebrities dukes it out in a futuristic basketball arena in Ultimate Rivals: The Court. Flashy, engaging, and insanely fun to play, this odd sports game dares to be the ultimate crossover of professional athletes; at the same time, it’s also an accessible arcade game that’s mechanically easy to understand for amateurs and pros alike.

Bringing together athletes from every kind of sporting discipline and making them play basketball might sound like a recipe for disaster, but the truth is that the game strikes a great balance of fun and intricate gameplay that will keep players coming back for more.

Anything Goes

The wacky idea behind Ultimate Rivals might sound simple at first: it’s a basketball game that’s played between two teams of three players each. The twist, as we’ve mentioned before, is that the game reunites athletes from all kinds of sports. This means that, while the usual NBA stars are present here, so are hockey players from the NHL, and wrestlers from the WWE, and so on and so forth.

Each athlete enters the court with their respective equipment: baseball players will play basketball using their bats and hockey athletes will wield their sticks and skates. In the end, Ultimate Rivals feels more like Marvel Vs. Capcom than it does NBA 2K22, which is great news for casual fans that don’t want a complex simulation of professional basketball.

If gameplay balance is a key issue for you, don’t worry: regardless of their equipment, each player controls more or less the same, with no discipline having an unfair advantage over another.

The game has already enjoyed modest success in the Apple Arcade service, and seeing it coming to PC definitely means that we’ll get a version of the game that controls better and is more optimized for multiplayer.

Flash and Daze

The visuals of Ultimate Rivals: The Court is one of the best parts of this hectic title. Every move comes with a healthy dose of flashy particle effects: something that gives the game an even stronger “arcadey” look and feel.

Every athlete is rendered using a caricatured style reminiscent of WWE All-Stars. Considering the game features over 130 superstars, seeing them all rendered with such care and cartoony detail is a wonderful thing to behold.

Sadly, some character models betray the game’s mobile origins. While they look perfectly OK for an arcade casual game, there’s a certain lack of detail in some characters that will make you feel like they could have done more with the game’s engine.

Even though most courts are basic stages of neon and polygons, they look amazing thanks to the explosive particle effects present throughout every match. The emphasis on air play also means that every maneuver and stunt looks amazing, even if some animations look a bit too bland.

In the end, Ultimate Rivas: The Court is a fantastic arcade experience that’s great in short bursts – just as long as you don’t care too much about a game’s visuals.

Pros

• Huge roster of superstar athletes
• Excellent gameplay balance
• Great team play and tactical gameplay

Cons

• Lackluster visuals
• Some disappointing animations