NBA All Star Challenge

"My first video game"

NBA All-star Challenge was the first video game I ever owned. I had gotten a used gameboy along with this game at Christmas. I sat down as soon as I got and played it for hours. I loved the game back then, last weekend when i was home form college, i found the gameboy and this game and came out with totally different opinion

Presentation/Options 5/10
The game is simple. The highest scorer from each NBA team is available to play in an one-on-one contest with another player. There are five gameplay options. First, a tournament. You choose you player and then seven others to play in a single-elimination tournament. Second, exhibition. Third, three point shootout. Fourth, free throws (yes you get to shoot free throws, how exiciting). Fifth, accuracy shoot out. In this options you run to indicators on the floor and take shots from them.

Game Play 2/10
This game, being a gameboy game and an early one at that, has completely unrealistic gameplay. The best way to play defense is to simple jump when ever the opposing player drives to the basket, by jumping you will cause the other player to turn around and run away from the basket. The percentage of you making a shot are completely random. Stats or ratings are not an influence in this game. One will hit the same amount of three pointers with Larry Bird as they do with Patrick Ewing.

Graphics 2/10
One word, bad. Yes it is a Gameboy game and an early gameboy game, but they didn't even try. All the players look the exact same height. There is only one court in the whole game, and it has no details except the lines on the court.

Sound 2/10
Truly Atari-like. The opening music for the title srceen is annoying the first time you hear it. When you are playing one-on-one there is no background music, just the sqeaks of the shoes and the sound of the ball. The only other sound effect is some kind of weird sound that happens everytime you either a) foul, b) travel, c) score or d) geta shotclock violation. Yes, one sound effect to cover four completely differ events

Conclusion
This game was awful for the time and is even more so now. Whoever release this game was just trying to capalitize on basketball crazy kids liek me. I want to give this game a high score, because it was my first game, but I can't. However, I can't give it a 2 or 3, becuase I did spend many hours devoted to this game

Reviewer's Score: 4/10, Originally Posted: 07/29/03, Updated 07/29/03