Virtua NBA is an officially licensed basketball game made for arcades that allows the player to take control of any of the NBA's 29 teams. The game can be played by two human players in single matches or the player can compete in a playoff tournament against AI opponents. The graphics are three dimensional but the game can only be played from a side line perspective although replays are shown from various angles.

The game is controlled with an eight-directional joystick for movement as well as two buttons. One button is used for passing in offense and stealing the ball in defense while the other is used for shooting in offense and blocking shots or taking rebounds in defense. When shooting the button has to be held down and released when the shooter's jump .