Slick and fun basketball sim
Basketball is one of those sports which has seen a number of games on a variety of platforms, some successful, some not, but for anyone looking to try the genre for the first time in a retro fashion, then NBA Jam isn't a bad place to start. The game takes an arcade-style approach to the sport, eschewing management or story aspects in favour of simple, fast-paced on-court action that really recreates the excitement of the real-world sport. As you would expect, all the major players and teams from the period are represented, (including an unexpected appearance by Bill Clinton!), each with an expanded set of passes, dribbles and crazy dunks. Teams are lmiited to three players but stats are impressively detailed, with a number of attributes which affect how your team plays on the court and which reflect the real-world players' performances from the period. The game takes a fairly cartoony approach to its visuals, with large, slickly animated sprites that race around the screen at a suitably speedy pace. There is some rather bizarre music played over games, which initially feels out of place, but actually helps to create an intense atmosphere and which really cranks up the drama. For anyone after a simple, fun, fast sports sim, NBA Jam TE is a great choice. Although it lacks the depth and complexity of modern basketball games, it is filled to the brim with exciting sports action that captures the spirit of the game and provides plenty of entertainment and challenge thanks to its pretty advanced AI opponents.
