NBA Showtime: NBA on NBC

"NBA Jam in 3D."

NBA Showtime:NBA on NBC is a 1-4 player arcade style basketball game for the Sega Dreamcast game console. Think NBA Jam in 3D.Because that is basically what this game is. Midway lost the rights for the name NBA Jam to Acclaim but that didn't stop them from making an NBA Jam game with a new title.

Gameplay (9/10)
If you liked NBA Jam you will like this. It is that simple. For those that don't know NBA Jam is a strictly arcade experience. It is 2-on-2 basketball action with high flying dunks and insane hidden characters. And boy are the hidden characters insane. There are aliens, dogs, horses and you can even be the teams mascots. There are also real life players like Shaq and Charles Barkley.The Create-a-player mode is fantastic. There aren't as many heads as in NBA Hangtime for the N64 but the heads that are present get the job done. There is also a variety of courts like Street and Island. Everything is the same from NBA Jam except for an added foul system. If your strategy in NBA Jam was to push every thing that moves you will be disappointed. If you push the ball holder 5 times in one quarter they get to shoot a free throw that is worth three points! Surprisingly this game made the jump to 3D perfectly unlike most games.

Control (8/10)
The control in this game is spot on. It is perfect with the analog stick. The buttons are configurable so if you don't like the default settings get a new one.

Sound FX/Music (7/10)
The sound FX are good but for some reason those sound made when dunking was a little loud. The voices are spectacular. The announcer stays with the game. Every now and then a player talks. The music is OK.

Graphics (8/10)
Definitely a high point of the game. All of the players look like their real life counter parts. It is quite scary. If they all weren't so big I would have thought they were real. If not for the occasional clipping problems the graphics would be nearly perfect.

Replay Value (5/10)
This is a direct arcade port. Nothing but options to change difficullty,sound and buttons were added. So basically what this means is if you don't have friends to play with this will eventually become boring.

Rent or Buy?
Depends. If you can find it cheap enough buy. If not it is a good game to rent when you invite three friends over.

Overall (7/10)
Bottom-line if you like NBA Jam you will like this. There is not much more to say. Everything present from the past incarnations is included here. If you aren't looking for more then a straight arcade port you will be happy.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 02/01/00, Updated 02/01/00