NBA Jam is an arcade style basketball game, originally released in arcades in 1993.
After the immense success, it was quickly ported to every mainstream console of the
time.
A sequel was released in 1995, titled Tournament Edition, which again was ported to every mainstream
console.
This included Sega's struggling 32x, as well as the Atari Jaguar.
Being an arcade title, the premise of NBA Jam is simple.
Simply select 1 of 27 NBA Teams, and then compete in a 2-on-2 game of basketball.
The beauty of NBA Jam lies in its controls.
Like all the great classic games from the 90's, NBA Jam focuses on just a couple gameplay
elements, but refines them into pure 2D gaming bliss.
Whether on offense or defense, you have just two actions to perform.
On offense, it's pass and shoot.
On defense its steal and jump.
All four actions can be augmented with the turbo button, which increases your speed and
power, though it's use is temporary.
The simple move set makes NBA Jam incredibly easy to pick up and play, the hallmarks of
a classic.
The act of running down the court, and shooting a basket is inherently fun, but NBA Jam just
feels perfect.
Even better is the presentation.
Every action is exaggerated, and commented on by the announcer.
More important is the Jam itself.
The game features a ton of different dunks that not only look terrific, but give the
game its signature sense of satisfaction.
Flash bulbs go off in the background, and the announcer yells out one liners that became
part of pop-culture in the 90's.
If you manage to make three baskets in a row, without your opponent scoring, you catch fire.
While on fire none of your shots miss, and the basketball is literally on fire.
It's awesome!
Despite playing NBA Jam for the past 20 years, the dunks, one liners, and catching fire,
just never get old.
Now, I'm not an NBA Jam expert by any means, so I'm not able to spot all of the little
differences and nuances Tournament Edition adds to the formula, but I'll give a quick
overview covering the main ones affecting me.
First, each team now has 3 different NBA stars.
You're still only using two at a time, but it's a nice option to rotate through the players.
Next, each player has far more statistical information than the previous version.
It's borderline too much information for an arcade style game, but it too is a nice addition.
The biggest change for me is the substitutions.
Between each quarter, you can see how much damage, or injury, your players have sustained.
You can then bring in the fresh, third player, to use in the next quarter, while the injured
player rests.
This adds an additional layer of depth to the game, as players can have wildly different
strengths and weaknesses.
This means one quarter you might be focusing on extreme dunks, another you might be shootings
threes, and yet another you'll be focusing on defense.
It's a nice upgrade really giving Tournament Edition a leg up over the first Jam.
This brings us to the 32x aspects of this release.
In the sound department, I really don't notice much of a difference over the Genesis version.
Few 32x games really took advantage of the extra sound capability offered by the 32x,
and I doubt Acclaim bothered.
Still, NBA Jam is a great sounding game.
The simple chip tunes used during the games are iconic and memorable.
The announcer sounds fairly clear for a 16-bit title, though a touch muffled.
Finally, the basketball sounds, like dribbling, or the swish sound, are crisp and accurate.
Graphically however, Tournament Edition is a small step up over the Genesis.
The biggest change is the sprite scaling on the players.
When they move towards the screen, they get bigger, when moving away, they get smaller.
It's not much, but it is cool to see smooth sprite scaling at a solid 60 frames per second,
on the 32x.
Again, I've always found NBA Jam to be a visually appealing game.
The court looks excellent with nice line scrolling effects to give the illusion of 3D.
The players look a touch on the bobble-heady side, but are still animated well and move
with a fluidity few sports games of the time possessed.
Considering the color limitations of the Genesis hardware, I'm suprised at how well player
photos look, as well as all the different NBA logos.
NBA Jam Tournament Edition is a solid looking game.
Looping back around to what I talked about at the beginning of review, are the controls.
I love the Mega Man series because it nails jumping and shooting.
I love Super Mario Bros. because it masters running and jumping, and I love NBA Jam because
it breaks down the game of basketball into two very simple concepts, offense and defense.
And it does it better than just about any other basketball game I've ever played.
I'm not a huge fan of sports games, especially of the 16-bit variety.
However, NBA Jam is more than just a sports game.
The game transcends the genre and should be appealing to anyone who likes classic games.
The controls are smooth, the graphics and sound are excellent, and the presentation
is over the top, yet still feels as fresh as the day it was released.
NBA Jam Tournament Edition is terrific game for the Sega 32x, and the entire NBA Jam series
is one of the greatest franchises, of all time.
Five out five.