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NBA Showtime: NBA on NBC Review
Noel Brady
00/12/0000
Is NBA Showtime: NBA On NBC the slam dunk or the missed 3-pointer.
Midway have been doing the unthinkable to major American sports for years. Dropping the number of players, inventing impossible moves and power-ups that are just plain unrealistic is all the rage these years. This all began with their NBA Jam series several years ago and has now moved from American football to boxing catching such sports as powerboat racing and baseball along the way. It's now time for a change though because the original NBA Jam has just had a complete workover. It now returns as the fully 3D NBA Showtime but, all the craziness remains.
Knowledge of basketabll isn't important here. There are hardly an rules enforced-- nobody bats an eyelid if you send another player crashing to the ground with a quick shove. Yet, oddly enough, the frustrating 'goal tending' law still applies, stopping you from blocking shots right in front of the hoop. The only thing you really need to worry about is getting the ball through the hoop as many times as you can-- getting your character to do this three times in a row turns him 'On Fire', giving him infinite turbo power and madder dunk abilities until an opposing point is scored.
With the exception of the crowd, which seems to be missing a few frames of animation, the game is incredibly smooth and looks much sharper than the arcade version in many respects. The players themselves look a bit better, and the game itself seems to move at a bit quicker pace on the whole. Granted, the player models aren't quite up to the likes of NBA2K, but at the same time, they are quite detailed and I was more than impressed with their level of detail. Player animations were also quite smooth, and from the game's famous over-the-top dunks to mean crossovers and post-basket celebrations.
The game boasts a full NBC license and has a giant sized 145 individual players - including all your favourite players - from the NBA as well as over 30 different courts, some real some fantasy. Rather than opting for full team play, NBA Showtime gives you full 2-on-2 action which means that the courts are less crowded. This gives you more scope for outlandish moves and there's no slow down as there doubtless would have been if they had tried to cram two full teams onto the court. The best thing about this is that when you play it in four player mode the CPU has nothing to do but commentate on the action, and this is where the game really shines. Four times the players, four times the pleasure.
As fun as Showtime can be between figuring out player hot spots and building up a created player, the game's most enjoyable moments are found when playing against or with friends. Eventually, the computer simply fails to measure up without blatantly robbing you, and that's never any fun. But with a few friends at the wheel, this is easily on of the best multi-player experiences ever created. Thanks to its upgraded look and movement, it may even be better than its parent title in this regard.
Thanks to the simple nature of the game's control scheme, the DC pad handles it with ease, though the arcade stick is easily a bit more appealing for authenticity's sake. The control itself is smooth and responsive as always, and yes, the AI still cheats like a bastard to help get the losing team back in the game. It does help to keep the game hard and will even compell you to oplay better but you can't help feeling that it dies an horrific, violent death someday soon.
The Dreamcast version also enables you to create your own character, even giving yourself a horse's head is possible, if you want. You can them save your creation and all your statistics and results to a VMU, then use them in a four player match against friends-- virtual ones can be used if you're short of natural ones. It's all fairly basic but it's fun nevertheless.
Criminally the game only features one mode of play - single match play - so there's no Championship mode, no Practice mode and no other mode to speak of. The loading times add another minus point to the game, but that's only a minor flaw. If you're not obsessed with a sim-style basketball experience, then NBA on NBC remains an excellent arcade title, packed with intensity and personality. While it may falter on occasion as a single-player experience, the multi-player aspects of Showtime will be more than enough to satisfy any video game baketball fan.
