There is quite simply nothing to get the heart racing like a little bit of multiplayer NBA Jam on the Megadrive. Since that game was released, there have been a few vanilla-flavoured updates and other pretenders to the arcade basketball throne, but none of them have managed to capture the glam and glitz of the sport whilst still being fun to play. And as if by magic, Midway popped their heads through the door to show us their latest attempt at improving on their past success – NBA Ballers.
At first glance, you’d think that the overly long loading times and incredibly cheesy introductory movie featuring MC Supernatural are indicators of what’s to come, but they aren’t. The “Rags to Riches” mode allows you to create a ‘baller and start from scratch, playing in a reality TV show that sees you making your way up from inner-city parks to playing the major NBA stars on courts situated in the backyards of their multi-million dollar mansions. You start with nothing and gradually acquire new sneakers, jerseys, “Bling”, houses and flashy cars. NBA Ballers is all about image, but nowhere does it matter less than when you get onto the court.
The game itself is a one-on-one affair, featuring one basket and one half-court. You start with the ball, facing down the lone defender, try a little shakin’ and bakin’ on yourself, beat the man and dunk it down. Then you’re on defence, trying to stop the opponent from doing the same. It sounds as dull as dishwater, but as arcade sports games go, they don’t come much better than NBA Ballers. If you make a mistake, it really is your mistake. If you throw away possession when you’re 08-10 down with twenty seconds to go, then you should have tried to keep it simple instead of trying the flashy moves. You’re in control of the lot, and the game never forgets to tell you when you’ve really messed up. There’s no “boom-shakalak”, but this time, maybe your bling was weighing you down.
Other modes are in place, such as a cracking multiplayer mode and the ability to play online, but you’ll probably start with Rags To Riches and play through the mode until you’ve completed it. And with good reason. The challenge that NBA Ballers brings is reminiscent of old-skool games. When you’ve defeated one tournament, the next tournament seems nigh-on impossible to beat, as your opponents block every shot and dunk through as if you weren’t even on the court. The next level is always the hardest and remains that way until you find a few glaring holes in the opposition’s playing style and exploit them, or pick up an unlikely rebound when everything is stacked against you to turn the momentum your way. This is what keeps you playing.
On the court, your “Juice” meter works as a power-up to the standard moves. Pressing one of the three “Juice” shoulder buttons in conjunction with a face button pulls off a special move, and stringing these together loads up the combo. If you have the money, you can customise the game further by purchasing unlockable features such as a “go-to” guy, who stands in the crowd, conveniently waiting for your pass so you can pull off the old one-two and get past your Herculean opponent.
But there are problems. For sure, once the Rags To Riches mode has been done, multiplayer is all there really is left for NBA Ballers, as fun as it is. Also, the loading times are absolutely shocking at times, clocking up to a minute or more when going into some game modes. When this occurs as you skip through the seemingly million-plus options in the menus, nothing can be more frustrating. On the plus side though, the player textures are some of the best that I’ve seen in any game, sports or otherwise.
So, NBA Ballers is good, old-skool, over-the-top sporting fun. Get a few mates round, teach them how to play in five minutes and have a blast. A fair few hours will be wasted in singleplayer mode too. NBA Ballers is probably the best arcade basketball title since the original NBA Jam, and one that is just as much fun.
