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| It's Back |
Originally the game was only going to come to Wii, which sucked. Then there was news that the game was going to be bundled as free DLC with EA's NBA Live 11, but then it seemed that EA realized they couldn't compete with 2K's basketball franchise, I mean they had Jordan on the cover, and they scrapped NBA Live.
However, seeing as there was enough fan demand and companies generally like making money, news came out that NBA Jam would be it's own stand alone title for PS3 and Xbox 360. Fans weren't too happy about this at first, mainly because they didn't want to pay full price for a game that was originally intended to be DLC, and they thought it should be offered through PSN for less than full price.
Either way, the game was released for PS3 at full price and I went and bought it because I needed a new multiplayer game and when they announced that the game would have the same announcer from the original game, it was a foregone conclusion that EA would get my money.
Gameplay
The game is simple enough to play. There are very few functions on either offense or defense so it's very easy to pick up and play. The controls are smooth and responsive, although with such a short action set I'm surprised you don't have the option to map your own control scheme.The game features different modes, but at it's core it's 2v2 basketball. You select a team and then choose two players from that team to take to the court. One big annoyance is the fact that there is no "tag" mode which means that you are locked to one player, unlike the old SNES version where you controlled whoever had the ball. This is especially frustrating since the iPhone version does have a tag mode. However, unlike the iPhone version you can pay with three other friends.
The Remix mode is a normal game with power-ups, you can get an increase in strength, speed, or shooting ability, and there are power-ups that make you tiny, or invulnerable to shoves. This mode is fun although doesn't feel too different from a normal game.
There are other modes that feel like different games such as: smash, 21, elimination, and domination. These are all varied enough that you don't feel like you're playing the same game. However, the one true stand out is "Boss Battle" in this mode you take on a NBA superstar that has some special power in a half court game. My favorite so far was playing against Dwayne "Flash" Wade, this was the most fun for me because there are no breaks in the game, which means that after scoring, you don't have to clear the ball so you must be careful not to let Wade camp under the net and score basket after basket.
Presentation
The presentation doesn't seem to have changed much from the original game. While it does support HD, without vast landscapes or intricate characters it's not really an advantage.As I mentioned before the voice of NBA Jam is back and every "boom shakalaka" takes you back, although apparently EA realized this because the announcer uses it so frequently you'd think it was a punctuation mark. The other sounds in the game can get repetitive as it seems there are only four music tracks.
The dunks look spectacular and getting on fire and dunking is especially nice as you elevate to ridiculous heights and you hear the click of the camera shutters as the photographers capture your flight. There is also a "camera hog" mode that will zoom in on your face at the peak of a fire dunk.
