Kobe Bryant in NBA Courtside

"While dunking a basketball, matt91486 writes a review"

OPENING STATEMENT
Sorry, Jerec. I could not think of anything witty to say in my synopsis, so I simply had to steal the format of your really old ones. Anyway, I would like to lead off this review by saying that I am not Kobe Bryant fan. His brash attitude, and behavior that screams “I’m better than you at everything! Bow down before me!” annoys me a great deal. (Kind of like GameFAQs’ own Ken Masters. Just kidding, Ken.) So, for some odd reason, I was compelled to rent the game, hoping for another reason to curse Bryant on his ball hogging escapades with the Los Angeles Lakers, I suppose. Sadly, Nintendo broadened their horizons into basketball quite successfully, and they have given me a reason to cheer for the shooting guard. Only one reason, against hundreds not to mind you, but one reason is better than none.

GAMEPLAY--8
The gameplay in NBA Courtside is almost as refined as that of EA Sports’ magical NBA Live series, but it not quite there yet. The ball control and passing could have used a but more touching up, to make everything seem more realistic. The shooting styles and such are right on, and Nintendo did a great job of making the probability that a shot will go in vary a great deal because of range and a given players capabilities. Many games, granted the poor basketball games on the market, allow Patrick Ewing the same likelihood of making a twenty-five foot jump shot as they do for Reggie Miller. And that, folks, is just lazy programming. Nintendo included all of the usual modes, Exhibition, Season, Create-a-Player, and the like. The only mode conspicuously absent is the Franchise Mode, which I would have enjoyed a great deal had it been included.

GRAPHICS--9
At the time of its release, NBA Courtside was the undisputed graphical king in basketball games, even though the game may look quite poor now. The face mapping techniques used then were amazingly state of the art, and it took the NBA Live series a couple of years to even approach them. The bodies are slightly blocky, but to the untrained eye the blocks could easily be interpreted as ‘muscle mass.’ The animation is all fairly smooth, although there is a little choppiness during drives through a crowded lane, and the frame rate remains consistent. Slowdown should not be a problem here.

The courts and arenas are also the most realistic they had been to date. The crowd animations were like the delectable cherry on top of the ice cream sundae, and the paint jobs on the arena floors did a great job adding to the realism. (Nintendo is famous for including little bonus touches like these for the die-hard fan. Recall the famous fountains in the background at Kaufman Stadium, home of the Kansas City Royals, in Ken Griffey Jr.’s Major League Baseball.) Thankfully Nintendo treated these additions as the finishing touches that they were and did not compromise the gameplay with them.

MUSIC--1
SOUND--3
The music really is trivial in NBA Courtside, and Nintendo seems to have reinforced that opinion by not caring about it at all. The one song that is included, and repeated throughout the game, sound cheap, and like it was made in about half of an hour. There are also no in-game tunes like there are in Ken Griffey Jr.’s Major League Baseball either. (Charge!) Nintendo just threw this together.

The sound effects are poorly done as well. The voice acting is very rare to actually hear, and it is even rarer that you hear it in a logical situation. The collision noises and shooting sounds are not varied enough, and you will hear them many more times than you wish that you should, or than you really deserve to have to put up with hearing them. I would have liked Nintendo to go with some full commentary and a big variety in the sound effects for NBA Courtside. Apparently they thought it was more important to rush the game out at an opportune date.

CONTROL--8
Nintendo basically lifted the control scheme off of the NBA Live series, much akin to Sega’s NFL 2K series stealing Madden’s themes, Nintendo changed the configuration slightly, and it works quite well, although if you would like to switch to the default NBA Live controls, they have made that an option. All of your characters respond, and the control over your players that you have ranks quite highly with competition on any console, with your variety of spin moves, jukes, and the like. The free throw system is also quite easy to use (In case you could not tell, I am glaring at Sega and NBA 2K right now) which makes NBA Courtside even easier to adjust to.

FUN--8
I would have had a lot more fun with NBA Courtside had a Franchise Mode been included, but the game was quite fun to play either way. It is one of the better sports party games on the system, ranking up there with NFL Blitz and Ken Griffey Jr.’s Major League Baseball. In other words, if you play games with friends or family members frequently, NBA Courtside is a great game to pick up. The solo experience may not be as rewarding as I would have liked, (The Season Mode is not packed to the brim with stats and features by any means, but it gets the job done.) yet it is hard not to like the game as a whole. It would probably be a better rental than a purchase if you are a solo gamer, even if it is to only test it out.

CHALLENGE--MEDIUM TO HIGH
NBA Courtside is only more difficult than any other NBA basketball game on the market in one area, and that is the artificial intelligence’s response to moves to get away from defenders. Many defenders, even those who are poor in real life (an example being Damon Stoudamire)are impossible to shake. If you are a fast-break player, one that prefers a perimeter game to find the open shot, or lastly a gamer who will plop the center down next to the paint and wait for a pass, then this will not really affect you. Sadly, if you like to take some of the game’s great dribblers to the hole down the lane, you may find NBA Courtside a struggle.

REPLAY VALUE--MEDIUM TO HIGH
As I said before, NBA Courtside is one of the best party games around. With a few more eccentric modes, and of course my favorite Franchise Mode, this rating could have surely been high. Even without those things, you will still have plenty to do in NBA Courtside no matter how long you have owned the game. (I am assuming that you do not own the sequel when I am making that statement. If you own the sequel then you never really have a reason to play NBA Courtside again, since NBA Courtside 2 is better in every aspect.) You should have no problem getting a few virtual ballers together for a pick-up game whenever you want to have some fun, because NBA Courtside is a game for everyone.

PROS
*Graphically, at least at its release, at the top of its class.
*One of the best sports-based party games around.
*The gameplay is solid as a rock.

CONS
*Licensed by the brash, arrogant, egotistical Kobe Bryant.
*The sound effects are repetitive.
*I could have made better music on a twelve dollar keyboard in about five minutes of work.

CLOSING STATEMENT
NBA Courtside put the pieces in place for another Nintendo dynasty, in a region that they have historically avoided. Other than some audio flaws, this is a basketball game that will always rank up there with the NBA Lives and NBA 2Ks of the world, even though this is Nintendo’s freshman effort into the sport. If Nintendo can make something this good on the first try, imagine what they can do on the third or fourth.

OVERALL--8

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 10/23/01, Updated 10/23/01