Together Retro: NBA Jam

[noiseredux]

who's playing this month? Which port? What team do you use?

http://www.racketboy.com/retro/together ... a-jam.html

[dsheinem]

Oh boy - I've really been looking forward to this one!

This is one of the few games where I ever felt like I could dominate all on-comers, and is easily one of my favorites of all time.

Growing up I played the Genesis and Game Boy ports of NBA Jam and then the Genesis port of NBA Jam T.E. - so I'll probably play those from time to time for nostalgia's sake (although the GB version is horrible). I now have the 32X and PS1 ports of NBA Jam T.E. which are both much closer to the arcade version (the PS1 port is near perfect). In any case, I'll be Jamming plenty this month

My brother and I used to keep personal records back in the day for the Genesis version of the first NBA Jam, so I thought I'd share them here for fun. I eventually overtook any records that he held temporarily, but you can feel free to try and beat any of them

This is from an old text file:

*ALL Records must be made with settings - Speed- Slow (2), Difficulty- Very Hard (5)
* ALL records must be viewed/verified by Two People

Points in One Game
163- Miami (DSH)

Points by One Player
156-Seiklay (DSH)

Highest Score Span
Miami vs. Cleveland 163-29 (DSH)

Win Streak
52-DSH

Field Goals in One Game
53-Pippen (DSH)

Dunks in One Game
51-Drexler (DSH)

3 Pointers in One Game
42-Seiklay (DSH)

Steals in One Game
19- Drexler (DSH)

Blocks in One Game
54- Pippen (DSH)

Rebounds in One Game
14-Anderson (DSH)
14-Johnson (DSH)

Assists in One Game
35- DSH

Edit: I should also note that TAG Mode was always ON and CPU Assistance was always OFF.

[noiseredux]

@Dave: I wouldn't say the GB port is horrible. But I'll get into that more soon -- I'm working on a piece for my blog comparing all five Game Boy iterations of NBA Jam.

Growing up I also had the SNES, Sega CD and Game Gear ports. So I guess you could certainly call me a fan of the game. Personally, I'd consider the SNES port my favorite, but right now I'll be spending some time with the various GB/C/A ports for the above-mentioned blog post.

[dsheinem]

@Dave: I wouldn't say the GB port is horrible. But I'll get into that more soon -- I'm working on a piece for my blog comparing all five Game Boy iterations of NBA Jam.

The game requires 3 buttons, and having to awkwardly hit select to pass or steal was not fun. Aesthetically the port was fine, but this series is all about gameplay.

[noiseredux]

@Dave: I wouldn't say the GB port is horrible. But I'll get into that more soon -- I'm working on a piece for my blog comparing all five Game Boy iterations of NBA Jam.

The game requires 3 buttons, and having to awkwardly hit select to pass or steal was not fun. Aesthetically the port was fine, but this series is all about gameplay.

playing it now via Game Boy Player alleviates the awkwardness a bit -- pressing the START button for Turbo for instance can be reached a lot easier on the GCN controller than on the original Game Boy. In fact (strangely) I feel like the original GB port plays better than the GBA revision. Anyway, I'm obviously not arguing that the GB port holds up as well as the SNES or Genny ports or anything, I'm just saying that it's not "horrible."

[dsheinem]

@Dave: I wouldn't say the GB port is horrible. But I'll get into that more soon -- I'm working on a piece for my blog comparing all five Game Boy iterations of NBA Jam.

The game requires 3 buttons, and having to awkwardly hit select to pass or steal was not fun. Aesthetically the port was fine, but this series is all about gameplay.

playing it now via Game Boy Player alleviates the awkwardness a bit -- pressing the START button for Turbo for instance can be reached a lot easier on the GCN controller than on the original Game Boy. In fact (strangely) I feel like the original GB port plays better than the GBA revision. Anyway, I'm obviously not arguing that the GB port holds up as well as the SNES or Genny ports or anything, I'm just saying that it's not "horrible."

Wait, so you don't take into account the original GB/GBC/GBA controls when you discuss/review their games? Especially for GB games, the 4 button layout was a real hassle and limitation for many games (and most arcade ports). I struggled with NBA Jam on it because it was the only way to play it on the go, but I still have bad memories of the game because of those horrible control issues.

[noiseredux]

Wait, so you don't take into account the original GB/GBC/GBA controls when you discuss/review their games? Especially for GB games, the 4 button layout was a real hassle and limitation for many games (and most arcade ports). I struggled with NBA Jam on it because it was the only way to play it on the go, but I still have bad memories of the game because of those horrible control issues.

I suppose I take the original controls into account, but my blog has always focused on the the Gamecube as a GB-console. So I'm far more concerned with the various GCN controllers and how they would interact with the games now. I'm often assuming that a lot of my readers are using the newer GCN hardware (or at least a GBA of some sort) to play their games, like myself. So like on NBA Jam for GB, certainly I'd mention that the button layout on the gray brick would have been a total pain in the ass, but I'd then mention that playing with a GCN controller or Hori pad makes the game far more playable than it once was.

[saturnfan]

I have NBA Jam for genesis but have never played it (I bought it in a lot). I figure that this is as good a time to play it, although to be honest I hate sports games so don't anticipate me having anything good to say about it.

[dsheinem]

I have NBA Jam for genesis but have never played it (I bought it in a lot). I figure that this is as good a time to play it, although to be honest I hate sports games so don't anticipate me having anything good to say about it.

Many people who hate sports games love this game anyway.

[noiseredux]

yeah, it doesn't even feel like a sports game. It's an arcade game. Everything is very exaggerated.