• Tag Archives basketball

  • NBA Jam Extreme (1996)

    Posted on by Azrael Comment

    Source: GamePro – January 1997

    NBA Jam Extreme was first an arcade game that was released in December 1996 with home versions for the PlayStation, Saturn and Windows 95 coming about a year later. As you can probably tell from the name, this is a basketball game and it is based on the 1996-97 NBA season. This was not the first game in the NBA Jam series but it was the first created by Acclaim. Previous NBA Jam games had been developed by Midway and then ported to home systems by Acclaim. I guess this was because of legal wrangling with the name because Midway also continued releasing basketball games with NBA Hangtime. Graphically, NBA Hangtime resembled previous NBA Jam games than NBA Jam Extreme did.

    The last basketball game I spent significant time playing was One-on-One on the Commodore 64. That game featured Larry Bird and Dr. J. playing half court basketball. While the graphics were simplistic and game play a bit slow, it still managed a lot of depth and subtlety and was a blast to play. As far as the NBA Jam series, to me it seemed to peak with NBA Jam: Tournament Edition which was also an arcade game and was ported to a whole bunch of home systems.

    However, NBA Jam Extreme did add a variety of new things. The most obvious was that it was the first game in the series to feature 3D graphics. Meanwhile, NBA hangtime maintained the 2D graphics of its NBA Jam predecessor. Other changes included an expanded roster featuring a total of more than 160 NBA players, an “extreme” button which was essentially an enhanced turbo button that was found in previous iterations of the game, and other game play changes.

    NBA Jam Extreme received mixed reviews. The graphics were solid and there were a lot of new features but as an early 3D game, it had early 3D game problems. Most notably with the camera angle being something less than desirable. The game also had a slower pace and the home versions suffered from long load times. NBA Hangtime was generally considered to have better game play. However, if you are an NBA fan and someone who like video game basketball, this wasn’t a game you would want to miss. The game is of similar quality on whichever platform you choose, however the PlayStation version probably edges out the other versions as the best home conversion.

    This isn’t a game you will find a re-release for and because of licensing concerns it’s extremely unlikely you ever would. That leaves tracking down an original or using emulation if you want to give this game a try. There have been a number of sequels including NBA Jam 99 (Nintendo 64, Game Boy Color), NBA Jam 2000 (Nintendo 64), NBA Jam 2001 (Game Boy Color), NBA Jam (2003 for the PS2 and Xbox), NBA Jam (2010 for Wii, PS3 and Xbox 360) and finally NBA Jam: On Fire Edition (PS3, Xbox 360) in 2011. After that, the series seems to have died out.


    📂This entry was posted in Arcade PlayStation Retro Games Sega Saturn 📎and tagged

  • NBA Showtime

    Posted on by Azrael Comment


    https://darth-azrael.tumblr.com/post/190031241521/n64thstreet-the-razzle-dazzle-ad-for-nba


    NBA Showtime: NBA on NBC is an NBA Basketball video game released in 1999. It appeared first in arcades and then later in the year for the Sega Dreamcast, Nintendo 64 and Sony PlayStation. It was also released the following year on the Game Boy Color. NBA Showtime was produced by Midway and is really a continuation of NBA Jam and NBA Hangtime. In fact, game play is much like NBA Hangtime and features many other of the same characteristics.

    While this game is nothing spectacular, if you like basketball games than this was a pretty good one for that era. It features a number of real players and allows up to four players to play. One of the potentially more disappointing aspects is that games only feature two players on each team as opposed to five. Entertaining for multiplayer I suppose but less interesting for single player.

    Aside from the reduction in the number of players on a team, game play is mostly realistic. The exception is that when a player is “on fire”. This is accomplished by a player making three shots in a row. The “on fire” feature acts as a sort of power-up. The player who is “on fire” can easily make shots from almost anywhere, commit fouls without repercussions and also goal-tend without any penalties. This feature is a carry over from the previous NBA Hangtime.

    The Dreamcast and Nintendo 64 versions are definitely the ones to chose from if you want to give this game a try. The Nintendo 64 one will be more expensive to acquire but it makes up for it in the lack of significant loading times. Of course, there is always emulation. The PlayStation version is not as good and while you might want to try the Game Boy Color version if you are a fan of that system, it’s really not much like the others.

    Screen shots above are from the PlayStation version of the game.


    📂This entry was posted in Game Boy Nintendo 64 PlayStation Retro Games Sega Dreamcast 📎and tagged

  • In Your Face (Game Boy)

    Posted on by Azrael Comment

    IN YOUR FACE
    Jaleco
    Game Boy
    1990

    https://darth-azrael.tumblr.com/post/189751580013/videogameads-in-your-face-jaleco-game-boy-1990



    In Your Face has the distinction of being one of the earliest basketball games for a portable system. It was released by Jaleco for the Game Boy in 1990. While not a full basketball game, it features 1-on-1 play similar to something like the earlier One on One: Dr. J vs. Larry Bird and it’s sequel Jordan vs Bird that were developed in the 1980s for home computer and video game systems of the time. Added to that was a two-on-two mode.

    The Game Boy was never one of my favorite systems. The screen quality was just too poor, especially in regards to motion blur. For strategy, role-playing and puzzle games it wasn’t too bad but for action games…well, I didn’t like it. As far as basketball games, this is probably the best type for the game boy. Limiting the number of on-screen characters on the tiny screen and not having a lot of scrolling back and forth by limiting this to half-court really helps playability on this system. As a plus, you could play a two player game with the Game Link which probably added a whole lot of entertainment value. The downside of this is that both players had to have a copy of the game. I suspect that didn’t happen too often.

    Though not a bad attempt at a basketball game for the Game Boy, it’s limited nature probably makes it only have any lasting value if you have someone to play against. Reviews were mediocre at best. Like most sports games, it doesn’t hold up particularly well over time. If you want to give this one a try, grab it for an emulator or at least get two copies so you can play against someone else.


    📂This entry was posted in Retro Games 📎and tagged