NBA Showdown

"I'm pretty sure Yao Ming would banish this game from China"

Introduction
Back in the day, where the Jordan and Pippen era ruled all of basketball, many developers attempted to make realistic basketball simulations. Out of all these games came one, NBA Showdown. Now EA Sports has always been known for making decently good sports games, this one is probably what many would call a failure.

Graphics [3/10]
This is one of the first games for the SNES that actually makes a good use with bland colors. They're everywhere. Each of the players are basically the same except for their uniforms and heights. There's no names or numbers on the jerseys, just a bunch of YMCA basketball players. Secondly, the arena looks so goofy. It's almost as if this game got stripped of the noticeable colors, and replaced with dark gloomy fans that have frozen faces. The only interaction in the background is the coach on the sideline, but it hardly makes a difference. We're just getting started...

Sound/Music [2/10]
At one point in the game, I began to ponder if there was actually any sound effects. EA really made themselves look like a fool since they're known for making good sound effects. This was just flat out horrible. There was hardly ANY background sound effects. No crowd roaring for your team, or coach yelling at your players. Just an occasional ''Yay!'' or ''Swishhhh!'' sound when it reached the net. The dribbling of the ball was bland, and so was the music in this game. The Menu music reminded me of those retro 80s.

Gameplay [1/10]
I've never really been a huge basketball fan, but even I could tell the flaws and mistakes in this game without being a referee. To start off, this has to be one of the slowest sports games ever. The entire gameplay is horrible since everyone moves at the speed of a turtle. The game is literally slowed down. You move across the court with a framerate of about 5. It's just simply horrible, it takes away from the aspect of the entire game of basketball. There's practically no defense during the entire game. Whenever you press the steal button, you basically get called for a foul. And that brings up another thing, fouls are constant throughout the game. I'm talking like every 20 seconds, that's how bad it gets.

It gets even worse. Unlike in most basketball games, where the height of your jump determines your accuracy, this has nothing to do with it in NBA Showdown. You can be at the height of your jump, and it'll be an airball. There's basically no skill involved in shooting. You just jump, pray to God, then look to see if you made it. You can pass right through a defender, which I found pretty neat. The ball is hardly stolen from the opponent, and the mistakes just pile up to make this game horrible to play.

Fun [2/10]
For the first 5 minutes, I found myself deprived of happiness while playing this game. It was utterly disgusting to the eyes, horrible to listen to, and just a mistake you'd want to wash away. I did get a sense of joy, but it wasn't coming from this game. The only fun you might be able to attain would be through playing against a friend.

Replayability [5/10]
Fortunately for you, EA Sports decided to make 4 different game modes. This includes preseason, playoffs, season, and head to head battles. The season mode is actually neat since it lets you play according to a schedule, simulate games, trade players (despite being unfair trades), and even save your season to the cartridge. Overall though, it doesn't make up for the horrid gameplay. That's what games are all about.

Difficulty [2/10]
Simply put, the game is easy. With all the flaws, you can easily pass to another teammate, go for the shot, and most likely make it. Defense is a joke, and that's why it's so easy to win since the CPU misses a ton of shots. You're not going to find much of a challenge in this game.

Final Factor [2/10]
This is a good example of horrible development, testing, and programming from EA Sports. If anything, the game is hollowed out to be nothing more than a slow, wanna-be basketball game, that really only has a license on the cover. Avoid this game at all costs unless you are a hardcore SNES collector.

Reviewer's Score: 2/10, Originally Posted: 12/26/02, Updated 12/26/02