NBA Showdown

"Not much fun and very outdated by today's standards..."

Based on the 1993 NBA season where Bill Paxton made a last-minute three-pointer to win the Chicago Bulls their 3rd straight championship, NBA Showdown from EA is a game that lacks depth and is virtually outdated in every way by today's standards. Hey, at least it has Jordan in it...

Graphics: 2/10

Incredibly pixelated graphics. The only way to tell players apart is by height, skin color and hair. No logos on team jerseys, or player names, only their numbers (which is the only way to tell who is who). And every court in the game is the same, the only difference in each being the team's logo in the center.

Sound: 6/10

Generic crowd noises, referee whistles, player grunts, and balls bouncing is pretty much it. No commentary or announcing. Nothing bad, but nothing special here either.

Control: 4/10

Simple controls, easy to figure out. However, occasionally you'll tell your player to shoot and he'll keep on dribbling...

Gameplay: 3/10

Gameplay in this game is overly simplistic… run, pass, shoot. Sometimes you rebound, sometimes you'll foul or get fouled. Players can't do crossovers or juke people out like in the later NBA Live series. And there's no plays to set or make. Plus, an annoying thing is that sometimes players miss or make the most unlikely of shots. For example, I once had Kemp miss 3 straight dunks, while Shaq made a total of 4 three-pointers in a single game. Sure, anything's possible, but still...

Extras/Depth: 1/10

Not much depth in this game at all. You can trade players, but you can't create or edit them, and you can't create teams either. You can't even alter a team's starting lineup, its always the same. And the only thing you get for finishing an entire season and winning the championship is a "Congratulations."

Overall: 3/10 (Not an average)

There's really no reason to buy this game now at all… unless you collect games, or you're curious to know the lineups of NBA teams six years ago. Even if you just want a basketball game for your ol' SNES, get one of the NBA Live titles that came out for the system afterwards.

Reviewer's Score: 3/10, Originally Posted: 11/01/99, Updated 11/01/99