Not a slam dunk
Opera Soft was a Spanish developer which had a knack for churning out visually impressive games back in the eighties and which were actually pretty decent on the whole. Games like Mythos, Livingstone and The Last Mission delivered on the action and adventure front but this little basketball simulator doesn't quite fit in with its companions and proves to be a distinctly middle-of-the-road effort. There's nothing overly wrong with it, but it just lacks the zap and flash of later basketball titles like NBA Jam, making it only for determined old-school fans. It's pretty much a standard retro basketball sim, with all the expected options like multiple difficulty levels, two player mode and the ability to take on a number of teams, including those of the NBA. The whole thing is played out in familiar side scrolling fashion, with the large and generally well animated characters moving around at a decent pace. There's not much to say about the game in all honesty and if you have played any 80s basketball game like Double Dribble you'll know exactly what to expect. Visually, the game lacks the distinctiveness of Opera Soft's other titles, and although the sprites are nice and chunky, it's all a bit identikit and lacking in personality. The controls are pretty straightforward to pick up and are responsive enough and really it's simply the lack of anything new that marks this out as being not very special. It's fun for a bit, especially with another player but it's almost instantly forgettable, so only take a look if you really need another basketball game in your life.
