"It is no NBA Jam, but Slam N Jam '95 is still a great 3DO game"

Slam N Jam '95 comes from a time when sports related video games were pumped out, one after another, with seemingly little regard for quality. Every system from the early 90s had a plethora of sports titles with only a select few that were any good and even less that were outstanding. While Slam N Jam '95 is nothing memorable, it certainly is above the majority of other basketball titles from the same time period.

Crystal Dynamics could not secure either the NBA or the NBA players association license for this game, so all the players are fictional and the teams are just named after cities, with no mascot name involved. The players statistics are included within the game, but the names are different. The game is based on NBA rules and regulations and is essentially an NBA video game without the NBA name.

There are multiple modes of play within the game. The standard modes of exhibition, season, and play offs are included, as anyone should expect in a sports title. What makes the game good in this aspect is that you can save your season and play it in several different ways. If you have the dedication, you can play an entire NBA season of 82 games. For players who want less monotony you can choose to play every team once per season, twice per season or choose to only play half of the teams in the league, which gives 12 games before the playoffs. This works really well for players who want to simulate a season before the playoffs, but do not want to play through a very long season to get there.

The game will keep statistics of your season throughout as well as in game statistics for individual players. Periodically, after a made basket, the screen will show how many points the player has along with another statistic such as blocks, assists or shooting percentage. This is very useful for head to head competition with a friend for bragging rights.

You can also change the time of each quarter to shorten or lengthen the game as you see fit. You can play a standard twelve minute quarter or play one as short as two minutes. Dedicated players will enjoy the 12 minute quarters while those who just want to play a game to kill time will be happy with four or six minute quarters.

There are several other factors that come into play in this game, just like a real basketball game. One of the most interesting and true to life statistics is the fatigue factor. As players rack up play minutes, their stamina will decrease and their abilities will suffer as a result. Players will need to be benched for a quarter to recover. Other things like fouls also come into play. As with the NBA, if a player racks up six fouls, he has to sit out for the rest of the game. When a player gets his sixth foul, the game automatically stops and forces you to make a substitution. Other factors like out of bounds, announcer comments, and in game music are also available. What makes it so great is that any one of these features can be turned on or off. If you should select to turn stamina off, the players will not get tired at any point in the game. Fouls can be turned off, set to lenient or strict.

Player substitutions can be made at almost any point in the game. However, there is some difficult assessed with doing so. When you go to the substitution menu, the entire roster will be seen, with the bench on the bottom half and the current players on the top half. Where it becomes difficult is actually in the controls. You have to select the current player by using up and down, but in order to select the new player you want to enter the game, you have to use left and right, even though the players are listed top to bottom. You have to highlight both players and press the P button to make the substitution. A simple press of button A to highlight one player and A again to switch with another player would have been much easier.

Menu navigation is also a trouble else where in the game. Every selection you can make is red, with a brighter red indicating what selection you currently are on. At times, especially during halftime, the selection will be on the team name and it will appear that there is no selection you can make. While this is not a huge nuisance, it is slightly on the annoying side. All menu selections are done with the P button and not A, B or C like most games. The beginning player will become confused at first when nothing happens with a press of those three buttons, but it is quickly learned and remembered.

The game play camera is situated behind the basket and will zoom in when play is being conducted on the other side of the court. The view does not switch sides, so the basket will sometimes get in the way, especially when your team is on defense. This does not happen often and usually is only in the line of sight for a brief instant, when the ball is near the half court line. The camera moves automatically and will always keep the ball in sight. It will zoom in to the other side of the court and back and does not, with the aforementioned exception, have a bad angle.

All the players actually look like humans when on the court. They all look different, whether it be their hair color, height or jersey number. When they are close to the camera spot, expressions can be seen on their face of excitement when a basket is scored or sorrow when the other team scores. As they move further away, they become less distinguishable. This becomes a problem especially when trying to inbound the ball under the other team's basket. Half of your players will run down court and it becomes hard to determine who is who. Thankfully, there is an on screen marker that shows a position in one or two letters (G for guard, C for center, PF for power forward) when you select a player. Also, the player number is usually in view and can be used to identify players as well.

The play by play announcer during the game is surprisingly good. He does not repeat phrases too much. He shows genuine excitement when a player does a 360 degree dunk or a monster slam that shatters the backboard. Early in the game, when he is saying the game name, it sounds very odd, almost like he is forcing it to sound tough. It sounds funny and is good for a laugh the first time you play the game.

The controls are a little bit difficult to master. The player always controls the one who has the ball when on offence and can switch between any of the five when on defense, usually the one closest to the ball. B is pass, and C is shoot, while A makes your player swipe for the ball. The right and left shift buttons (shoulder buttons) set up picks and screens, but do so in a way that they become less effective then if you were to not use them at all. It takes a little bit of time, but after three or four games, the controls are generally nailed down by most players.

Perhaps the worst part of the in game experience is that there seems to be some slow down when moving in transition. Some of it is caused by the players individual speed statistic, but a majority of it comes from the game. Once everyone is down court, the game catches back up to speed and everything is fine. Another terrible aspect comes when the ball handler is under the far basket and you want to pass out to the perimeter. The camera will be so far zoomed in that you cannot see how well defended your teammates are. Passes become dangerous then because you cannot see whether a defender is in the way or not. However, when you are so far zoomed in, there is a small positive to graphical fanatics. You can see the crowd when the camera is zoomed so far in and how each individual in the crowd looks different. While it is a small thing, the attention to detail cannot be over looked in this case.

Overall, Slam N Jam 95 is actually pretty fun. While it may not be the best place for NBA fans on this time to go to play their favorite players, it is an alternative to the early games of the NBA Live franchise. The game play is solid and moves very well. Games can be contested up to 200 points if played in 12 minute quarters and will prove to be a great table for bragging rights amongst your friends. Included within the game is also a memory manager, which is just one more thing that makes this game a good purchase. Anyone who is a fan of basketball video games will like this game and anyone who is looking for a decent sports related game for the 3DO should look no further. While you will not have the NBA names and players, you will have a solid game that will provide a good amount of fun.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 12/19/07

Game Release: Slam 'n Jam '95 (US, 1995)