Kobe Bryant in NBA Courtside

"Why did Kobe Bryant put his name on this atrocity?!"

Dikembe Mutumbo has 10 steals. Bimbo Coles has 5 blocks. Reggie Miller has more dunks than 3 point shots. After 6 minutes of play, the score is 47-31. If this were a real NBA exhibition game, people would be crying bloody murder, for Armaggeddon is surely upon us. Sadly, this pain was brought upon me by Kobe Bryant in NBA Courtside, a game between the Eastern All Stars and the Golden State Warriors.

Oh, those tricky Warriors! They really provided a challenge for my East All-Stars. Eric Dampier was working it down low while Bimbo Coles was swatting anything that came near him. Mutumbo was picking off passes like they were throwing a beach ball around. After two, three-minute quarters, the score was an alarming 47-31, my lead of course. I am very good at basketball games, yet found this one hardest of all. Not because of the difficulty level, but because of the darned controls! Now why would you have a button that Flagrant Fouls someone instantly? I mean, I see the fun in it, but why? The defense is cut like butter with a tap of the C-Left button on a one-on-one situation. Switching players is out of the question. You would think that a simple tap of the A button would switch, but no. You have to press C-Up, and that takes you to the person farthest up court.

Courtside tries hard to be good, really it does. But it seems like Left Field relied on Kobe Bryant to bring in the dough for their disgusting effort. The gameplay is slow and choppy. Moves that would ooh and aah crowds are not there. Want to have a Gary Payton take a fadeaway three at the last second? Well too bad, you’ll just have to settle with a normal shot, with very crappy animation to see The Glove in all his glory as the ball goes through the net with a dull swish.

Which brings me to my next gripe, the shooting method. Try taking a shot. Go ahead, don’t be afraid, just take one. Have you decided which method works best? Neither have I. I don’t know if you are supposed to shoot at the very start of your jump, or at the height of it. The latter sounds more logical, but you would be amazed. I shoot 15% either way, which both upsets me and confuses me.

When you slide in Courtside and turn on your N64 (you are one brave soul) you will see the credits and everything then the intro. The intro is kind of cool, although the graphics are weird. Now turn the system on again and you will notice that Kobe is lighting it up against a different team. It’s a little secret no one notices. Although his moves are the same every time, you might find yourself watching the intro again and again (Hell, it's better than actually playing the damn game).

After the little movie, you will hear that god-awful music playing. Then you realize that it’s the menu music for Courtside, and boy is it horrible. But they don’t let you off the hook there, NOOOO way. As long as you are not playing a game, you hear that torturous music droning in the background. Wait, don’t turn it off yet, you will grow to ignore it.

In the game, there is no difference between the arenas except the team name and team colors. Yes, that mean Key Arena doesn't have that cool hardwood look. Also there is no height distinction between anyone. It's kind of cool how the announcer says who scored and who assisted after each play, but nothing unique.

When you choose your team for an exhibition (don’t be fooled by the tricky ''pre-season'' label) you have no information on the team whatsoever. Unless you have been playing it constantly for the past 4 years (and how could you?) you would have no idea how each team scouts out in ‘98. You finally learn after you choose the teams and are about to start the game. This can be annoying at times when you realize that the Bulls team you are playing is the Godly Bulls team (with the help of unstoppable ''Player'').

Ok, so you have won a couple ''pre-season'' games and think you could take your team through the daily grind of an NBA season? Well, you better change you lineup if you're not happy, because there is no Front Office kind of option of any sort. You will be stuck with your original team members the whole season. This can be frustrating because you may have a weak two-guard spot, and there will be no solution to it.

Also in season mode, if you simulate the game, there will be NO predicting who will win. Even if your team is 81-0 against an 0-81 team, your perfect record may be at risk. Simulating is very risky and I don’t recommend simulating more than 10% of your games. The upside is that you will win games against good teams. Simulating games is like a 50-50 lottery. You never know what you may get.

Evaluation
(Ratings are: Excellent, Good, Fair, Poor, Very Poor)

Graphics? Fair
Sound? Poor
Controls? Very Poor
Gameplay? Fair
Replay ability? Fair

And Finally….

Rent or Buy? Neither, it's even a ballsy move to accept it for free

This game is really not that great. I would hope you would spend your money on NBA Live '99. That's if you want something good from 1998. There are many different games that are good that are much newer than this. Seriously, this game is not worth your time or effort and you will probably end up breaking your Nintendo 64 in your frustration.

GameFAQs Score: 2/10

Reviewer's Score: 2/10, Originally Posted: 02/18/02, Updated 03/03/03