NBA Jam Tournament Edition

This is Wayback Wednesday, your midweek blast from the past! In this feature, we dig into the archives, look back at the history of basketball gaming, and indulge in some nostalgia. Check in every Wednesday for retrospectives and other features on older versions of NBA Live, NBA 2K, and old school basketball video games in general. You’ll also find old NLSC editorials re-published with added commentary, and other flashback content. This week, I’m taking a look back at a few of my favourite secret characters in classic NBA Jam games.

January 14th marked the 25th Anniversary of NBA Jam, the game that truly set the tone in terms of the arcade basketball experience. In addition to celebrating its silver anniversary, NBA Jam has also been in the news as of late due to the possibility of a brand new game being released. Additionally, in a recent interview with Shack News, Tim Kitzrow confirmed that creator Mark Turmell still has the rare version of the game that includes Michael Jordan and Gary Payton. While there are several legal roadblocks that must be cleared, Turmell is investigating the possibility of releasing that rare treasure in celebration of the game’s anniversary.

As a long-time fan of the series, I’d love to see a new NBA Jam game, as well as the release of the rare version of the original featuring MJ and The Glove. It’s a situation we’ll keep an eye on, but in the meantime, it’s always fun to look back at the games that have already been released. I’ve posted a couple of retrospectives on NBA Jam Tournament Edition in previous Wayback Wednesday features, so this time I wanted to focus on a specific element of the original games: their secret characters. They’re arguably as iconic as the high flying dunks, being on fire, and “Boomshakalaka!”, so let’s take a look back…way back…

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This is Wayback Wednesday, your midweek blast from the past! In this feature, we dig into the archives, look back at the history of basketball gaming, and indulge in some nostalgia. Check in every Wednesday for retrospectives and other features on older versions of NBA Live, NBA 2K, and old school basketball video games in general. You’ll also find old NLSC editorials re-published with added commentary, and other flashback content. This week, I’m taking another look back at one of my favourite arcade basketball games, NBA Jam Tournament Edition.

When you talk about titles that older basketball gamers are nostalgic for, NBA Jam will invariably be one of the most popular games to come up. It basically set the standard for what came to be known as arcade basketball games, with its over-the-top, high-flying dunks, relaxed approach to the rules of the sport, and simple gameplay. The original NBA Jam was a hit in arcades and with its home ports, appealing to basketball enthusiasts and more casual fans alike. It’s since spawned sequels, spiritual successors, and more than a couple of imitators with varying degrees of quality.

The original game is considered a classic and for good reason, but personally, I’ve always preferred its sequel, NBA Jam Tournament Edition. It’s a game I looked back at in the second ever Wayback Wednesday feature, around this time two years ago. Back then, I provided a few off-the-cuff thoughts on the game over some footage I’d been sitting on for a few years. I enjoyed doing that and it was a fun way to start getting into creating some video content, but I’ve always wanted to revisit NBA Jam Tournament Edition with a more fleshed out retrospective. That’s what I’m doing today, so let’s take a look back…way back…

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Exciting news, NBA Jam fans! Millertime2325 has completed his NBA Jam 2K17 mod for the Super Nintendo version of NBA Jam Tournament edition. The mod is available to download here over on his blog.

It features all 30 NBA teams (including New Orleans, Toronto, and Memphis) and 117 of the top players in the league, with rosters accurate as of January 1st, 2017. You’ll also find NBA Legends such as Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant, and a couple of other secret players in the spirit of the original game.

I’m hoping to get a video review of the mod done as soon as possible, but in the meantime, the release of NBA Jam 2K17 has been picked up by Kotaku. Millertime2325 has also put together a launch trailer, which you can watch below, or check out here on YouTube if you can’t see the embedded video.

It’s a fantastic mod for a classic arcade basketball game, so I highly recommend checking it out. Further information and previews can be found in this thread in our Forum, so be sure to stop by and thank Millertime2325 for all his hard work.

Speaking of thanking Millertime2325, if you’d like to show your appreciation for NBA Jam 2K17, he’s asking if people would consider making a donation to the Dana Farber Cancer Institute. A cancer survivor himself, he’ll be running the Boston Marathon in April this year, in an effort to raise $10,000 for the cause. You can read more about his story here, and make a donation here.

This is Wayback Wednesday, your midweek blast from the past! In this feature, we dig into the archives, look back at the history of basketball gaming, and indulge in nostalgia. Check in every Wednesday for retrospectives and other features on older versions of NBA Live, NBA 2K, and old school basketball video games in general. You’ll also find old NLSC editorials re-published with added commentary, and other flashback content.

The NBA Jam series is famous for its inclusion of secret players. From Will Smith in his Fresh Prince persona, to Mortal Kombat characters – excuse me, “kharacters” – Scorpion and Sub-Zero, a lot of special guests have hit the virtual hardwood for high-flying, arcade basketball action. Joining the cast of public figures, Midway developers, and NBA mascots in NBA Jam Tournament Edition was Boston Celtics great, Larry Bird.

Along with Hall of Famer Carol Blazejowski, Larry Legend is the only real former professional basketball player that is hidden and playable in NBA Jam TE. It’s actually something that I wasn’t aware of when I first got into the game all those years ago, as I never encountered him as an opponent after beating all of the NBA teams and seeing secret characters randomly appear as opponents. It wasn’t until my family got the Internet and I was able to look up some codes for the PC version that I discovered he was in the game, and playable. He’s also in the Super Nintendo version, though I wasn’t aware of that particular code, either.

Since tomorrow will be the 24th anniversary of his retirement from the NBA, I thought I’d reflect on Larry Bird’s presence in NBA Jam Tournament Edition. So, let’s take a look back…way back…

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This is Wayback Wednesday, your midweek blast from the past! In this feature, we dig into the archives, look back at the history of basketball gaming, and indulge in nostalgia. Check in every Wednesday for retrospectives and other features on older versions of NBA Live, NBA 2K, and old school basketball video games in general. You’ll also find old NLSC editorials re-published with added commentary, and other flashback content.

Today, I present you with a game of NBA Jam Tournament Edition on PC, featuring Yinka Dare. Now, NBA Jam TE is one of my all-time favourite basketball video games, and in my opinion, one of the best arcade hoops games ever made. Conversely, and with all due respect, the late Yinka Dare’s ranking among NBA alumni isn’t quite as stellar. As I’ve mentioned before, his ratings in the PC version of NBA Jam TE are some of the most insulting you’ll ever find in a basketball video game, having been severely nerfed from the Super Nintendo version. Outside of his Dunking, Blocking, and Power ratings, there isn’t a lot to work with.

However, despite ratings that are mostly made up of ones and zeroes, it’s possible to dominate with Yinka Dare in NBA Jam TE. In fact, not even a Clutch rating of zero can prevent Dare from getting the job done in crunch time! Don’t believe me? Well, let’s take a look back…way back…

Check it out here on our YouTube channel if you can’t see the embedded video. While it’s a little easier to accomplish feats like this in arcade basketball games, even in sim titles it can be a lot of fun to have big games with players whose ratings shouldn’t normally allow it. In that respect, it’s kind of like watching an unlikely player erupt for 50 points in real life. In any case, I hope you enjoyed the video; be sure to check in each and every Wednesday for more videos, retrospectives, stuff from the archives, and other Wayback content!

Welcome to this week’s edition of The Friday Five! The Friday Five is a feature that I post every Friday in which I give my thoughts on a topic that’s related to NBA Live, NBA 2K, and other basketball video games, as well as the real NBA, and other areas of interest to our community. The feature is presented as either a list of five items, or in the form of a Top 5 countdown.

Every year, we basketball gamers tend to argue about ratings. Most of the time, the arguments concern overall ratings, and as we saw during this past offseason, even NBA players are getting in on the act these days. While the importance of overall ratings is often exaggerated, they are still significant, and when an overall rating seems really wrong, it usually means that there are a few issues with a player’s individual ratings.

It’s funny to see players like Brandon Jennings publicly take exception to player ratings though, as I’m sure that a lot of players have taken a look at some of their ratings over the years, and felt quite insulted. “Seriously, you think I’m that hopeless at scoring/passing/defense?” I’d say that it’s definitely led to some grumbling to the developers at EA Sports and 2K Sports. With that in mind, for this week’s Friday Five, I’m taking a look at five ratings that have very likely led to some wounded pride.

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Welcome to Wayback Wednesday, your midweek blast from the past! This is a feature where we dig into the archives, look back at the history of basketball gaming, and indulge in nostalgia. Check in every Wednesday for retrospectives and other features on older versions of NBA Live, NBA 2K, and old school basketball video games in general. You’ll also find old NLSC editorials re-published with added commentary, and other flashback content.

I’ve mentioned NBA Jam Tournament Edition a few times in previous features, as it’s one of my all-time favourite basketball video games, and in my opinion, one of the best arcade hoops games ever made. Appropriately enough, it was the subject of my first video feature for Wayback Wednesday. In that video, I mentioned that I once tried my hand at modding the game, as I wanted to replace Ron Harper with Michael Jordan.

Although I wouldn’t actually discover and get into the patching scene until my family first connected to the Internet in 1997 and I subsequently found the NLSC, those attempts to modify NBA Jam TE were an early indication of my interest in tinkering with basketball video games. I wasn’t successful in my efforts, and having looked into the matter again now that I know a bit more about modding, it unfortunately doesn’t appear to be feasible…at least with the PC version.

So, for this week’s Wayback Wednesday, I’m taking a look back at my early attempts to mod NBA Jam Tournament Edition on PC, as well as my more recent investigations. Let’s take a look back…way back…

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Welcome to Wayback Wednesday, your midweek blast from the past! This is a feature where we look back on yesteryear, dig into the archives, indulge in some nostalgia, and in some cases, wonder just what we were thinking. Check in every Wednesday for features and retrospectives on old basketball video games, old NLSC editorials published as-is with added commentary, and other flashback content.

In this week’s Wayback Wednesday, I’m taking a look back at the PC version of NBA Jam Tournament Edition, with some unscripted commentary on a game I played a few years ago. Building on the success of the original game, NBA Jam Tournament Edition – often called NBA Jam TE for short – brought updated rosters and a few new features to the table, all in all proving to be a worthy follow-up to an all-time classic. As I’ve been sitting on this footage for a while and I’ve wanted to do more video content here at the NLSC, it seemed like a good way of providing a retrospective of one of my all-time favourite basketball video games. I hope you enjoy it!

With that said, let’s take a look back…way back…

Check it out here on our YouTube channel if you can’t see the embedded video. You can expect to see more video content, including game retrospectives, in the not too distant future!