NBA All-Star Challenge

"Should have been named NBA All-Trash Minigames"

Sorry, folks, no all-star game here! Instead, you've got various mini games to keep you occupied for 5 minutes. They consist of one on one challenge (tournament included), three point shootout, free throw shooting contest, and Horse.

In other words, things I'd rather be doing in my backyard than wasting time with this piece of crap.

First off, the roster. You can select the best player from each of the NBA teams. The game is old, so you may not remember Tony Campbell being a good scorer on the T'Wolves (and hence, their all-star selection). There is a bit of a nostalgia factor since you can pick Larry Bird, but this is very short lived. The game is severely limited since there are only 27 teams (which means 27 players) to pick from.

For one thing, the three point shootout. How many players in the game can even hit a three? Patrick Ewing? Hakeem Olajuwon? David Robinson? Shawn Kemp? Danny Manning? The list goes on. Sure, you have your Larry Bird and your Mark Price, but after that you are severely limited in options.

The Free Throw shooting contest is hard to control, and just isn't much fun anyway. It's shooting free throws. Not much else to do.

One on one challenge is the game's ''strength''. You can have a tournament, and pick the star of your choice. It is unlikely you will want to play another tourney after one playthrough. You can have a 2nd human player in the tournament to spark a little more interest, but not much, because two player is about as boring as the regular game.

This is because the control you bestow in the game is rather laughable. Expect to commit lots of traveling and charging calls. You must shoot at the top of your jump to even have a chance at scoring, which normally wouldn't be a problem, but naturally is a problem, because jumping is so herky jerky in the game.

Even dunking is a chore. More often than not, you'll end up jumping up for a dunk, missing the rim, and getting called for a travel.

Horse is like a cross between one on one challenge and three point shootout. Basically it's three point shootout, from any spot on the court, and it's against another player. And needless to say, like three point shootout, Larry Bird will wipe the floor with someone like Danny Manning, because Bird can hit a three much better than Manning. Shooting a 20 footer is the same as shooting a 5 footer - you need to shoot at the top of your jump. So naturally, the advantage goes to guys who can hit a 23 footer - a three pointer, because then it is based on three point percentages.

All in all, I remember this as being notoriously the worst basketball game I've ever played. Avoid it like the plague. It's not your dollar at a used game store. Instead, try to find NBA Live 96 for a dollar (like I did) if you're looking for that nostalgia factor.

Reviewer's Score: 1/10, Originally Posted: 08/19/03