NBA Live 98

"Why could it not be a souped up version of the 16-bit editions?"

NBA Live 98 starts off promising enough. There are the customary EA introduction and NBA copyright screens. Then there is an incredible highlight reel from previous NBA season. The FMV looked great not only for the Sega Saturn, but for any other contemporary system. The game menus are jazzed up with some nice beats and portraits of NBA players. Live 98 initially sets the player up for high expectations and then the actual game begins.

Graphics -- 3/10
The game looks very messy. EA should have stuck with the sprites used on the Genesis version and then increased their level of animations and resolution. Unfortunately that was not what the public wanted so we are stuck with this graphical mess. At least Live 98 is capable of running 10 polygonal characters at one time with no slowdown! Players are not detailed so they are hardly recognizable. Even their jerseys are missing their names! The further the camera zooms away from the court, the harder it is to see anything. Even if the gamer zooms in for a replay sequence, he sees nothing but choppy frames of animations due to so few of them used for the dunking motion. Live 98 is filled with low res ugliness, slow frame rate, missing frames and in general a blocky affair.

Sound/Music -- 6/10
The crowd sounds like a crowd. The bouncing ball sounds like a basketball and the squeaks are not too annoying. Commentating is weak especially after experiencing FIFA 98. The music, however, is significantly better, but limited to only the introduction and menu screens.

Gameplay -- 4/10
I wonder if EA just used the same engine as the one they used for NHL 98 because the players almost feel like they are skating across the court. It all plays so fast that I rarely use the turbo button! The juke button also makes it easy to drive. One gameplay function that I cannot take advantage of is the dunk control. Supposedly pushing a direction on the pad before the dunk will result in a different dunk. I dont know. Gameplay is standard mid to late 90s NBA Live. Drive for dunks and bomb away with the 3s. It was fun in 95, but old by 96, thus 98 was a yawner. EA did add a fun diversion in the 3 point shootout. Great idea, but poor execution. There are LONG loadtimes between shooters AND I have to watch all the CPU controlled players shoot. How boring! That said there are other modes as well, including Exhibition and Season.

Last thoughts --
At halftime there is a show for each and every team that plays if the gamer accesses it in the halftime menu. The video is determined by whichever team is the home team. It is also another excellent example of the awesome presentation of Live 98. If you are looking for a fun basketball game however, then seek elsewhere, such as Slam N Jam 96. I do not recommend this game.

Reviewer's Score: 4/10, Originally Posted: 08/11/05