A look back at NBA Live 2000
by Andrew Begley

Rising star Vince Carter showed off some of NBA Live 2000's new dunks

NBA Live 2000 was a game that featured a lot of firsts. It was the first time that Michael Jordan was included in the original rosters, as well as host of other former NBA greats. It was the first time that these Legends appeared in their own Decade All-Star teams. It was the first time the game featured two commentators in addition to the PA Announcer and the first appearance of Franchise Mode, the multi-season mode complete with player development and decline, player contracts and a rookie draft.

It is still considered to be one of the best games in the series and remains a favourite of many NBA Live fans. Although it has many positive attributes, the fog of memory has clouded some of the negative aspects of the game that have since been improved in the latest instalments of the series.

The game contains excellent cyberfaces. When set to maximum resolution the faces are unbelievably realistic and even rival some of the faces in the recent titles. However, the headshapes are not as good as today's games, as each player did not have a unique headshape; rather, there were about 8 different headshapes that could be used for each cyberface.

As the reigning Finals MVP, Tim Duncan was a clear choice for cover player. The cover also boasted that "Jordan is Back!"

Although much more detailed than previous years, the jerseys were not textured and in close-ups looked as though they had been painted on. The 3D crowd, stadiums and other court details were extremely well done, though the crowd didn't look too good in close-ups and the rim still wasn't very realistic. The animations are also inferior to the recent NBA Lives, with players still jumping a little too high and a couple of the dunks looked a little jerky as the players left the ground. These criticisms aside, NBA Live 2000's graphics are by no means shabby.

Don Poier returned to the virtual press row along with former NBA player and analyst for TNT Reggie Theus. Theus' appearance was somewhat wasted though as he only chipped in a couple of lines on replays and in a couple of the statistics screens at the quarter and halftime breaks. The commentary track was therefore only a slight improvement on the previous year but ultimately didn't take anything away from the game.

A couple of other returning features included the Three Point Shootout and Practice Mode. Practice Mode has remained basically unchanged since it was first implemented, though NBA Live 2000 was the final game that allowed you to shoot at either end. The Three Point Shootout was a popular side game that has been missing from the series until NBA Live 2005.

MJ was indeed back, as well as a host of other legendary NBA players

NBA Live 2000 was the final game that allowed in-game saves. Since NBA Live 98, users could finally save a game in progress and resume it at a later time. This feature was not only useful for players who did not always have time to finish a regulation length game, but was also ued to create scenarios which were then shared with other players in the online community. NBA Live 2000 also featured the ability to save replays and take screenshots so that players could prove their finest moments.

One of the most anticipated additions to the series was Franchise Mode, which made its debut in NBA Live 2000. NBA Live 99 had featured multi-season play in which players developed and declined over time, but players did not retire, there were no contracts to deal with and no new rookies entered the NBA.

These were all features of NBA Live 2000's Franchise Mode, which gave users the chance to take control of an NBA team for 25 seasons during which they would trade players, sign free agents, draft rookies and see their top players step away from the game. The CPU would not always agree to trades, the salary cap would get in the way and players didn't always want to re-sign. Although the General Manager duties were somewhat basic, it was a huge improvement over the Season Mode in previous NBA Lives. For players who still wanted to play a single season or NBA Playoffs, those modes remain in the game to this day.

The gameplay was a nice blend of fun and realism, but remains somewhat overrated. Because players could still jump a little too high, the blocking numbers were usually unrealistic. It wasn't too difficult to average 6 or 7 blocks per game on Superstar difficulty with a good shot blocker. It was much more difficult to block big men with smaller players but not impossible. Little men still blocked taller players a little too often.

NBA Live 2000 didn't disappoint graphically, with crisp, high-res faces and models, and smooth animations

The spin and crossover moves were much better than they were in NBA Live 99, and the animations could easily be interrupted by pressing the pass button. If you were spinning out of bounds, you could easily dish off to a teammate. There were also a couple of fakes and pivots as well as the ability to fake a pass. However, these moves were not as effective as most users would have liked. The most effective way of eluding a defender was to pump fake then blow past them for an easy layup.

Another frustrating problem was backing down an opponent. It was very difficult to back down a player in the low post, while spinning either way to the basket wasn't effective and often didn't work - the player would simply stop backing down and face the defender, leaving the ball open for a steal. Players would also have to put the ball on the floor before they could start backing down; they could not put the ball on the floor and start backing down from the triple threat position.

NBA Live 2000 did not eliminate the problem of attempting a jumpshot rather than a layup if the shoot button was pressed too early. Rather than striding in for a layup or dunk, players would attempt a lean-in jumper that missed quite often. Players would also switch hands on unnecessary up-and-under layups. While these were sometimes elusive, often the move brought the ball closer to the defender's hands and resulted in a block.

In-Game Saves allowed players to create scenarios, such as the 2000 Finals featuring Shaq vs Smits

At the time it was released these problems were not so much of an issue. It is only after playing recent instalments in the series and then returning to NBA Live 2000 that some of the negative aspects of the game really stand out. The game was such an improvement when it was released that these minor issues were easily ignored. Perhaps this is why they are so easily forgotten when debating which game is the best in the series.

NBA Live 2000 is definitely one of the best games in the series. Franchise Mode was a significant addition to the series and has become the game's most popular feature. There are even elements of NBA Live 2000's Franchise Mode - namely the ability to cancel/confirm trades and dialogue boxes explaining why the CPU does not like a proposed trade - that have not been included in games that have followed and are popular items on the annual Wishlist.

Having said that, NBA Live 2000 is not perfect and although it contains features that subsequent NBA Lives have lacked, there are also issues with the gameplay that have since been resolved. It remains one of the top five games in the series, but is still a little overrated as the negative aspects tend to be overlooked.

It should be noted that NBA Live 2000 was also one of the most enthusiastically patched games in the series. A lot of talented patchmakers sadly disappeared after NBA Live 2000 or were never as prolific again. It was perhaps a golden age in the modding community as far as volume and a sense of goodwill were concerned, with a lot of compilation patches and combined efforts. Perhaps an indication of the "patchability" of NBA Live 2000 is the amount of updates still being produced for it. It's also an indication of how popular it remains six years after its release. It is still considered one of the best games of the series, a treasured favourite of many longtime fans in the community.

Did you know?

• Due to the release date, NBA Live 2000 was missing various veterans such as Ron Harper and Grant Long, both of whom were free agents at the roster cutoff date. Several players had jersey numbers in the 80s (as their new numbers were unknown at the time of the release) and five teams had less than 12 players on their roster.
• NBA Live 2000 was the first - and so far only - NBA Live to have a restricted amount of points in Create/Edit-a-Player. The limit prevented users from creating a player with 99 for each rating without externally editing the game.
• In the PC version, all Legends were unlocked out of the box. Legends were unlocked in the Playstation version through codes, while the Nintendo 64 version only contained one Legend - Michael Jordan - who was unlocked through One-on-One Mode.
• NBA Live 2000 is the only game in the series that does not contain East and West All-Star teams that are available in Exhibition Mode. The game selects All-Star teams during Season and Franchise Mode, but as there was no All-Star Weekend during the 1998/1999 season, NBA Live 2000 did not include the All-Star teams as part of the exhibition rosters.