3:25AM
Quarter Circle Forward Review: NBA Jam
This past fall, EA Sports announced they would be resurrecting the arcade classic NBA Jam for the Xbox 360, and with it my long lost love of basketball. When the original game was stealing my quarters as a youth I was a huge fan of the sport, often playing games of 21 at a nearby court. It has been almost fifteen years since I last knew current teams and rosters of the National Basketball Association, and now the remixed and repackaged NBA Jam is ready to make me a fan all over again.
With the utter failure of NBA Elite still fresh in the minds of many sports game enthusiasts, EA has been desperately trying to keep their fans at bay. This is the main reason why NBA Jam is now available as a full priced retail disc. The original plan was that a small portion of the Nintendo Wii version of Jam would be included as a bonus with the doomed Elite. When this was first announced, a large portion of consumers were pre-ordering the successor to the NBA Live series only to have a online NBA Jam for the Xbox Live Arcade service. Now that that is no longer a possibility, we now have a ported version of the game that was released on the Wii earlier this fall. While playing Jam, I still found myself wishing that it would have been a fifteen dollar downloadable game as opposed to a fifty dollar game. However I still feel that the money is well spent, so long as there is a built in multiplayer component in some shape or form.
With the utter failure of NBA Elite still fresh in the minds of many sports game enthusiasts, EA has been desperately trying to keep their fans at bay. This is the main reason why NBA Jam is now available as a full priced retail disc. The original plan was that a small portion of the Nintendo Wii version of Jam would be included as a bonus with the doomed Elite. When this was first announced, a large portion of consumers were pre-ordering the successor to the NBA Live series only to have a online NBA Jam for the Xbox Live Arcade service. Now that that is no longer a possibility, we now have a ported version of the game that was released on the Wii earlier this fall. While playing Jam, I still found myself wishing that it would have been a fifteen dollar downloadable game as opposed to a fifty dollar game. However I still feel that the money is well spent, so long as there is a built in multiplayer component in some shape or form.
The new version of NBA Jam brings back all the components that made the original arcade game so amazing. Tim Kitzrow returns to add the classic lines and announcing that made the action so crazy and memorable. Backboard breaking dunks and gravity defying moves are bigger and better than they have ever been. The game even seems to be easier than the arcade versions of it’s past. Rubber-banding AI is not as noticeable, and it even seems as if shoving is more frequent and easier to use on defense. On the negative side, goal-tending seems to happen far too frequently and the player’s computer controlled partner is often not competent enough to finish an alley-oop attempt or play decent defense. The addition of online multiplayer does fix most of these problems, it is just unfortunate that the computer is not as smart as it should be in this type of sports game.
This full retail version also includes the various game modes that were available on the Wii version, which are all a part of Jam’s Remix tour. Remix features dozens of NBA Hall of Famers, who act as boss battles through various parts of the tour. However consumers should be advised that this purchase should be made only if the multiplayer is a strong selling point, or this can be a party game for get-togethers and multiple gaming nights. It simply is not enough for just a single player experience. As a downloadable game it would have been the perfect game, and certainly game of the year material. However for a full price tag, it’s purchase price can only be justified if it is played frequently online or against friends.
Personally I found myself feeling like a teenager again as legends such as Magic Johnson and Larry Bird were playing alongside current stars Lebron James and Kobe Bryant. I really never would have imagined that this type of excitement would ever return to a basketball game. EA Sports have successfully brought back the feel and playability of NBA Jam, which has rekindled the flaming basketball inside of my heart. Now if only we could get a remake of NFL Blitz; I’m sure after this anything is possible.
This full retail version also includes the various game modes that were available on the Wii version, which are all a part of Jam’s Remix tour. Remix features dozens of NBA Hall of Famers, who act as boss battles through various parts of the tour. However consumers should be advised that this purchase should be made only if the multiplayer is a strong selling point, or this can be a party game for get-togethers and multiple gaming nights. It simply is not enough for just a single player experience. As a downloadable game it would have been the perfect game, and certainly game of the year material. However for a full price tag, it’s purchase price can only be justified if it is played frequently online or against friends.
Personally I found myself feeling like a teenager again as legends such as Magic Johnson and Larry Bird were playing alongside current stars Lebron James and Kobe Bryant. I really never would have imagined that this type of excitement would ever return to a basketball game. EA Sports have successfully brought back the feel and playability of NBA Jam, which has rekindled the flaming basketball inside of my heart. Now if only we could get a remake of NFL Blitz; I’m sure after this anything is possible.
-Toast
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