PixlBit

I'm sure I'm not the only one who has many fond memories spent playing countless hours of the original NBA Jam titles. The over-the-top antics were undoubtedly the attraction; breaking the backboard, playable mascots, the Clintons, "Boom-shaka-laka", "He's on Fire!", rampant fouling, and fast-paced down-to-the-second gameplay. All of it is back in this latest edition of the series now under the control of EA Sports after the closing of originator, Midway.

While it's all back, something's still off. At first it was hard to put my finger on it. Everything looked right, all of the characters acted right, hell, even the announcer was the same. But as I played more it became obvious that for one, all of it was a bit too much the same, and as I came to realize, possibly even a bit worse thanks to the overly-complicated control scheme.

It's a bit frustrating that EA messed with what should've been the easiest part of the game. I'm referring specifically to dunking the ball, which has become needlessly complicated. If players opt to play with the Classic Controller as I did (it mimics the classic SNES controller pretty well), they will need to initiate an attempt to dunk with the x or y buttons and execute by flicking up and then down on the right analog stick. As you might expect, this is awkward, unintuitive, and completely against the spirit of keeping this simple for an arcadey experience. It didn't help that the game made no attempt at explaining this with on-screen prompts. Instead, I needed to consult the game's manual for information on how to execute the core move of the game. Even worse, when using an alternate control set-up, none of the buttons pictured on the screen changed to match the controller being used.

Once I realized this complication I moved directly to the game's intended control set-up, the Wii Remote and Nunchuk. With this, a flick upward with the Wii Remote then a swift flick downward fully executed the signature move. I won't argue that this is a bad way to do it, but I'd much prefer to experience the game without the needless waggle, especially for long play sessions with friends.

This isn't the only remnant of simulation-like design found in NBA Jam. In addition, players will find that all of the teams in the game closely resemble their true NBA counterparts. The problem with this is that the teams that really suck in the NBA also suck here, and vice-versa. Of course, everyone who plays will be making a beeline for the Lakers... or the Celtics... or the Magic. Since I'm a glutton for punishment, I still chose my old standby, the New York Knicks. As expected, they are absolutely terrible, and a match-up against the Lakers really drove this point home for me. If EA was trying to make an arcade experience, they should've dedicated themselves to it; as it stands, the game feels like it's stradling the line in some ways.

For all the negative, NBA Jam really does have an enormous amount of personality and positive traits. If it's not praise enough, EA has captured the gameplay essence of classic NBA Jam to near perfection. All of the catch phrases players may remember are present, as well as the insane dunks, breaking the backboard, cheat codes that change the game's appearance and gameplay, a multitude of modes, and fast-paced intense basketball.

Two-on-two basketball hasn't been this good since NBA Hangtime two generations ago, and EA has even chosen to adopt the same visual techniques used in the original titles. This time the players and court are all in 3D rather than pseudo-3D, but the heads are 2D images of the stars making various faces given the situation. It's a little wacky looking, but it does a great job simulating that classic look while adding a flair of character. When moving from one end of the court to another players can still smash their enemies with a push, steal the ball, reject them at surprising distances, take ridiculous three point shots, jam from the top of the key, or perform insane alley-oops. Everything players knew and loved about NBA Jam is still here and still a blast.

This is especially true when going head-to-head with a second player, or playing a two-on-two with three other friends. The game bolsters its offering with a number of new modes that cut things to just half court with a new basket head-on viewpoint, like the new game of 21. In addition, players can now go on a campaign, or play 1-on-1 boss battles.

Even better, the game includes hidden codes to unlock players as you could before, as well as in-game cheats. The game also includes a pure arcade mode that turns off any of the remaining rules and includes power-ups on the court, similar to what was seen in NBA Jam T.E. years ago. The extra point spots haven't quite returned, but the spirit of the mode is still present.

For those of you out there who have never had the opportunity to play NBA Jam, EA Sports' NBA Jam is a no-brainer. The same goes for those who no longer have access to a classic NBA Jam title. Anyone who still can play one of the classic NBA Jam titles, or NBA Hangtime for that matter, might just want to stick to those because they are just as good, if not better.