Tecmo Super NBA Basketball

"All the greats are here!"

NBA Basketball is a wonderful thing. Anyone who is a sports buff like myself will agree that early NBA Basketball was so entertaining. The Larry Bird/Magic Johnson rivalry was one of the greatest rivalries ever, if not THE best rivalry ever. Michael Jordon was busting onto the scene, showing that he would become the greatest player ever. Isiah Thomas and his Pistons would take the world by storm as well, with Dumars playing some of the best defense the NBA had ever seen. The Utah Jazz had a GIANT in the form of Mark Eaton ... etc, etc ...

There were so many great things about the early NBA that make me appreciate it. This game has the rosters from 1991-1992, which unfortunately, was the year that Kareem Abdul-Jabbar retired. Because of this, I can't enjoy the Lakers to their full potential. No offense to Vlade Divac, but Jabbar would've been so sweet. Other than him, all the greats are there. Machale, Bird, Parrish, Johnson, Worthy, Thomas, Jordan, Pippen etc etc. Choose your team, and play away!

First off, if you're playing this game, you're an NBA fan. If you're not, you won't like this game. You'll instantly prefer NBA Jam. If you're a basketball fan, I'm sure you'll enjoy this game more. Tecmo Super NBA Basketball features a wide-variety of moves, with the exception of the alley-oop, and the pump fake. Other than that, everything is fine. You pass, shoot, dunk, lay-up, hook shot, etc. Every player has a selection of skills that you have to utilize, while trying to win each game. This game isn't terribly difficult, but you will lose if you're not focused. The game is fun in this way. It's not impossible, but it's not a walk in the park either. As for control, everything works snazzily. Everything is easy to control. You can shoot, pass and such without worrying about hitting wrong buttons. One thing the game lacks, is the ability to trade players. I thought it should be mentioned.

The only storyline in this game would be picking a team, and working toward an NBA Championship.

The graphics in the game are decent. You can tell which players are black/white, but not much else. Heights can sort of be told apart, but it can get difficult. Thankfully, there is text at the bottom which lets you know. After getting used to a team, this problem goes away. You learn rather quickly. Each court has the team's logo, and the courts all look nice. A 24-second shot clock on-screen would be easier than looking at the hoop. You can tell the score easily, and where the ball is at most times. Everything is pretty detailed also. Title screens look nice, and text flows well. It has the classic Tecmo selection method. As for music and sound, it's repetitive, but not terribly annoying. The sound effects work fine for this game as well. It's all good.

I find myself spending decent amounts of time playing season games, and pre-season games all the same. Unlike other sporting games, I have been able to play through the season 3 times now. That's all the games that one team would play, plus playoffs. The stats for each player seem pretty accurate, and the
teams are pretty realistic. The all-star teams are nice, and you can have fun randomly playing as them. You'll play through a few seasons, and many a game before you start to want to put the game down. You don't get much other than satisfaction when you defeat this game.

In closing, buy this game if you're an NBA fan. If not, you might not like this. You may hate it. It's only fair to say. However, it's pretty rare. If you are collecting, try and pick up this game. Even if you don't enjoy it, you have a pretty good game in your arsenal! Now go pop this in, and play some good ol' Bird/Magic. Just in case you don't, I'll go and do it too. Enjoy!

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 09/13/02, Updated 06/10/04