NBA Jam Tournament Edition

"Most certainly not basketball..."

Not many professional basketball players can say that they've had the joy of busting the opponent in the mouth with his elbow, and getting away with it, although I'm sure that's the dream of quite a large number of 'em. NBA Jam: Tournament Edition is a little upscaled version of the original NBA Jam, with a little few more twists and turns, and it pleases to shut your opponent up with an elbow, instead of a three pointer, at times. This isn't exactly a fighting game of sorts, more like a pick-up basketball game with enraged drunkards, on a court instead of a blacktop. The game is fun, energetic, and low-scoring for the most part, but pleases.

Gameplay

This is, I would say, the only basketball game I've ever played that I find it actually fun to get fouls, considering the fouls don't get called. You can shove, elbow, grab and do all sorts of things in this game, while the refs just aren't...there. The physics in this game are hilariously off, but it's not like an actual NBA game is going to occur where it's two-on-two, and you can just shove your opponent on his ass to get the ball, either. When playing the game, you realize that the computer finds a nice home for the cheap shots, as well, as it will use the cheap shots as much, if not more than you, and it can get quite frustrating at times. The gameplay is simple, shoot, get the rebound, land, whip your elbows all over, hoping to hit someone, and then run down the court, pass to your only teammate to score, or you yourself can keep it. And then there's the defensive side of the ball, where you harass your opponent up and down the court, continuously pressing the button that shoves your arms out toward him, hoping to knock his face onto the floor, knocking the ball out, and giving you an open lane to the basket.

And then there's the mode where you're on fire. This mode adds a lot of depth and points to the game, as when you get yourself on fire by scoring three consecutive baskets with the same player, he becomes nearly unstoppable, as he can do things that aren't even allowed in this game by the normal players. Such as infinite turbo, insane shooting skills, and you can even goal-tend with a player that's on fire, and he won't be called. The player can be on fire for a whole quarter, or 15 seconds, because as soon as the ball comes out of the opponent's hands, and into the basket, your player is not on fire anymore, leaving you cussing for more points. But the player that's on fire will become normal once he hits a certain number of shots.

And then there's the simple practice mode, where you can go into a gym with one of your favorite teams and partner, and shoot it up a little yourself. It can be kind of fun, as you can get on fire in less than 10 seconds, and keep that until you make the number of shots that gets the fire away. It seems the only time that your partner will get the ball is if he is lucky enough to grab the rebound, or if he's human. The practice mode isn't exactly fun, as you just repeatedly score with insanely impossible shots, that get repetitive after awhile. The only time that Practice Mode is fun, is when you see the large amount of points you have scored after spending your day sitting there doing lay-ups.

And then there's the season mode and such, where you pick your team, and then fight your way through each of the thirty or so teams that are in the game. It's fun, and easily the most fun thing/mode in the game, as either the team sucks, or will give you one scary run for your money, or even beat you, which is frustrating, as you can go through five overtimes and still manage to lose. The pace at which the computer can come back is scary, as one time I found myself up 25 or so points, and within the next five minutes, I found myself up by four, but it happens in a game like this.

Overall, the gameplay ranges from fun, to insanely frustrating and difficult, and most certainly everything in between. The good points outnumber the bad points, because you can score so many points in one quarter, and then score about 5 points the next, that makes the game so unpredictable, and, fun.

Graphics/Visuals

Hrm, not to shabby for an SNES game, that is at a constant moving pace the entire time. The players aren't exactly the most detailed fellows in the world, but you can't expect to catch a glimpse of them shoving an elbow into the opponent's esophagus. When picking your player and partner, the faces are detailed, and look frighteningly similar to their real-life alter ego. Every single stadium is exactly the same, except for which team is the home team, in that case, the opponent's logo and colors are on the floor, and they look similar to what the designs did when this game was made. The crowd is the same old 2D crowd that endlessly does the wave, or some arm movement. When the player performs an insane slam dunk, he looks cool, with little gas coming out of his feet, as if he had to many burritos or something of that matter. The title screen is a tad...strange, as it seems to flicker a tad, and would give people with sight problems a seizure. (Joking, joking...)

And after explaining all that, simply, the graphics are good, and give the game a good name.

Sound

Meh, the sound could've been a lot better in this game, as the announcer is one cracked up fellow. When the game comes on, he screams NBA: JAM!!!! as if you didn't know what the game was. And then makes stupid comments at times. The little yelps of pain at times are entertaining, and the sound of the rim being rattled are cool, so those are good parts. And then the announcer screams something whenever the player goes up for a hilarious jam that couldn't be pulled off by an NBA player equipped with a jet pack. Overall, the sound(s) are a tad below par, but nothing annoyingly stupid that will make you shut off your TV's speakers.

Replay Value

The replay value is above-par, considering there are endless partner combinations for the teams, (nearly), and you can go through each season with each team, if it's to your liking. The multiplayer head to head mode adds a lot of replay value, as does the ability to switch partners at the end of each quarter.

Gameplay: 9
Graphics: 8
Sound: 6
Replay Value: 9


Overall Score: (Not an average)...7!

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 08/09/02, Updated 02/08/03