NBA Jam review

Formats: Wii
Format Reviewed: Wii
Publisher: Midway
Developer: Midway
Made2Game NBA Jam review score: 7 out of 10

NBA Jam is a game I fondly remember from my days spending all my cash down the arcade, it was always a popular game for me and my friends to spend our coins on, and now it's hit our consoles, but is this the game we remember fondly, or despite the HD remake, has time not been kind to our aging basketball friend?

The console version of EA’s NBA Jam comes packed with features, including the Remix Modes from the Wii and quite a few others to boot. As well as this, support is also included for four players in any of the modes available, which is certainly one of the games main draws as far as we are concerned.

Everyone who has ever played NBA Jam will fondly remember the commentator and thankfully that part of the game has been preserved. The over the top dunks and slams are also preserved, so anyone coming back to the game after quite a few years absence will no doubt be desperate to get back into the almost identical action that appeared in the arcade versions.

If you haven’t played NBA Jam before then it’s easily described - its fast, frantic, over the top and a whole lot of fun. Basically four basketball players take to the court in two versus two action; as mentioned you can either have four players take control of one basketballer each, or you can team up with a computer controlled opponent and take on the other team.

As always the game is split into four quarters, however the difference with NBA Jam is the different style of game modes, making this much more arcade than anything else on the market. There are five main game modes in total to play through; these include Smash, Domination, Remix, Elimination and Campaign. By far the best of the five modes is Domination and Smash.

In Domination you need to score baskets from various coloured spots on the court to take control of that area and earn points.  Smash meanwhile sees you get air and dunk the basketball as often as you can, with the aim being to destroy your opponent’s backboard with you’re over the top dunks and slams.

Other modes within the game see you take part in a campaign in Remix Tour, in which you face up to every team before taking on a boss battle, while you also have other modes such as Classic Campaign, where you need to take on 36 NBA and secret teams.

Finally Elimination sees the lowest scoring player at the end of each round being well... Eliminated. NBA Jam really is a fantastic multiplayer game, so if you have three friends around, with each of you taking control of a player, then you will have a blast.

The fast paced, over the top action is just fantastic, and all of this is complimented by the commentary which is presented in the same over the top way. You can of course play online too, so even if you don’t have any friend’s offline, you will at least find some other people to fill those gaps between Xbox LIVE or the PlayStation Network.

The main problem comes really when you are playing offline and don’t have anyone to play with, the computer AI is fairly poor, therefore should you create space he generally doesn’t act on it. Frustration is certainly the name of the game when taking part in the single player campaign, which is a shame really, because otherwise NBA Jam’s almost exactly as you will remember it from the days it appeared in arcades across the country.

As far as presentation goes we can certainly have no complaints, the big headed players look fantastic, as do the coaches and cheerleaders who roam around at the side of the court. All of the action is fairly smooth too, the HD polish to the court, action and every other part of the game certainly does this it a lot of good, and adding in that wonderful commentary just helps retain the fantastic feel of the original.

NBA Jam was a classic back in the day and in most ways EA has captured this so we may place it in our Xbox 360 or PS3 and retain those memories. The game certainly isn’t perfect, however if you are looking for a quick pick up and play arcade multiplayer sports game then you will have fun with this title.

Please register or login to post comments