Portland is my team. Clyde Drexler and Terry Porter provide dunks, steals, 3-pointers, and speed. Cliff Robinson is the 3rd player and Harvey Grant the Extended Roster player, but I don't use them much unless I find Porter is getting a lot of his shots blocked. | |
This game has rosters from the 1993-4 season, which is recent enough that many of the players are still around, although most aren't on the same team anymore. In fact only Utah has substantially the same players today. Improvements over the original NBA Jam:
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I have the boards for the original NBA Jam arcade game that I can plug in and play, but they are currently unplugged. I need to get it set up so I can switch back and forth easily. |
NBA Jam, NBA Jam T.E., and NBA
Hangtime--Sega Genesis
NBA Jam has 1993-4
rosters,
2 players per team. This was the one that got me hooked. I hadn't played
it in the arcades, but I bought it for the Genesis and loved it.
The only problem with this game is you have to have a 5 or 6 point lead going into the last few seconds or you'll lose. The computer team will go nuts to steal the ball, plus they will make the last shot from ANYWHERE on the court. Many a game has been lost to a desperation shot from the opposite free-throw line. Beat all 27 teams (no Toronto or Vancouver) and you play from then on in Juice Mode which is much faster. |
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NBA Jam T.E.--I don't own this. I'll probably get it sometime to complete the collection. |
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NBA Hangtime (Apparently some licensing issues caused a name change for this installment) has 1995 rosters and five(!) players per team. Gameplay is the same, although you do have to go into the Options screen every time you play to make the control right. The TURBO button has to be between PASS and SHOOT! How else can you hit TURBO & PASS or TURBO & SHOOT at the same time? If it's in the middle you can hit both with your thumb--does anyone really hold the Sega pad in such a way that two fingers are on top for the buttons? |
NBA Jam T.E., NBA Jam Extreme, and NBA Showtime: NBA on NBC--PlayStation
NBA Jam '99--GameBoy Color
Very similar to NBA Jam T.E. for Game Gear. Has
the same control problem due to the need to use the Start button when playing.
I'm not done making the roster list for this one.
NBA Jam--GameBoy
NBA Jam on the GameBoy has 1993-4
rosters,
2 players per team. Hard to see (especially on the regular GameBoy,
better on the GameBoy Pocket) when things move fast. Two buttons just
doesn't cut it for NBA Jam, and using "alternate" buttons like Start and
Select is tough because they just aren't in the right places. However,
this is actually pretty fun.
NBA Jam T.E.--Game Gear
Some fun features, like 9 point shots, plus the players look so much better in color than they do on the GameBoy. More than the other games of the series, this one is most fun when "Tournament Mode" is off (which means victories don't count towards your goal of defeating every team,) since then you can do various codes or just use the "Powerup" or "Hot Spots" options.
Button difficulties similar to the Gameboy, using 'Start' as a playing button is a little unwieldy and makes my hand ache. You also you never know when you'll want to pause a game and since the Start button is already used for something else, well...you press all 3 buttons at the same time to pause, which is hard to make work.
Three players per team, plus a rookie team, from 1994-5. Here are the rosters.
NBA Jam T.E.--PC
Same extra features, like 9 point shots, as the Game Gear. Haven't got to try this out much yet, so my analysis is still pending here. Part of the reason for that, though, is simply because it's so much easier to flip on a console and play, compared to the PC.
I'm compiling the
rosters
for this still.
NBA Jam--Super Nintendo
Any comments, suggestions? Send me an email.