Hands-On Impressions: NBA Jam (Wii)
Longtime WingDamagarians know that I am a huge fan of the NBA Jam series. So when I heard that the upcoming NBA Jam game was going to be playable at PAX, I made my way over to the EA booth. Even before I could see the booth, I could hear people yelling in a mixture of excitement, anger, and joy, as they dunked on each other and caught on fire. It sounded like a Friday night at the arcade back in the day.
After chatting with some of the members of the dev team and getting some sweet hands-on time with the game, I can safely say that NBA Jam is back and better than ever.
A large reason for this success is due to the dedication of the team. They get what makes NBA Jam so much fun. They even brought original Jam creator Mark Turmell out for a week to have him discuss the game. They also managed to track down the original announcer on Facebook and got him to come back to yell series catchphrases like, “He’s on fire!” and I am pretty sure I heard him yell “Boomshakalaka!”
Before I go much further, I do have to apologize to the two guys who demoed the game with me. These poor boys that thought the Heat could compete with my Lakers. You gotta have rebounding guys. By the time the third quarter ended, we had to call the game on account of Kobe, Pau’s, and my skillz. End of 3rd quarter: 50 to 10. Mercy quit.
The dev guys confirmed that there will be no annoying rubber band A.I. If you are better than your opponent, there will be no miraculous comebacks, where every one of their shots goes in and all of yours rim out. Nope, if you are better than your buddy you can crush them mercilessly, a la 50 to 10.
The set up for the game is basically the same as the original. Games are 2 on 2, with exaggerated dunks and “knock guys on their butt” shoves. If you hit 3 shots in a row, you catch on fire. Rookies still try to dunk every time and the vets sit back and drain 3 threes. All of the controls are assigned to buttons except for the shooting which is done by swing the wii-mote up to jump and then down to release the shot.
The game blends fast, frantic action with some surprising amount of strategy. There is now a counter to just about everything your opponent can throw at you, but just like in a fighting game if you guess wrong you’ll get burned (literally, a dude will catch on fire and start making everything). A spin move will counter a shove but will leave you vulnerable to a strip. While throwing elbows might send your opponents flying they also force you to pick up your dribble. Figuring out how to counter your opponents moves and trying to trick them into trying the wrong tactic make for some great times.
There is a version of the game coming out for PS3 and Xbox 360 that you get with NBA Elite, but it is significantly stripped down when compared to its Wii counterpart. For the full Jam experience you’ve gotta bust out your nunchuck and Wii-mote.
Unless an asteroid smashes into the Earth between now and the game’s release, MechaJesus and I will be rocking out with Team Bobcat on NBA Jam when it releases in October.
Tags: Basketball, ea sports, hands-on impressions, NBA Jam, PAX, PAX '10, PAX 2010 COVERAGE, sports, sports games, Wii
This entry was posted on Monday, September 13th, 2010 at 5:00 am and is filed under Features. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
September 13th, 2010 at 10:46 am
Jesse "Main Finger" Gregory says:I got the chance to play it, too, and I think it’s awesome. Felt good to go back to the series. Everything felt really natural to jump into. It’s gonna be a lot of fun, especially with 4 players.
September 13th, 2010 at 11:51 am
ddddd says:Im not sure if the wii version is best one… Not because of graphics, but the ps360 ones have online, correct roster, and are free…
September 13th, 2010 at 12:13 pm
Jesse "Main Finger" Gregory says:Theyre free in the sense that you have to buy a new copy of a $60 game to get the code. Also they’re missing modes.
September 13th, 2010 at 8:06 pm
Jeffrey Wilson says:NBA Jam is KILLING me.
I’ve had the chance to play it twice-at a media event in NYC and then at E3. Each time I was super-hyped, as the game itself is fantastic. But the way that EA is handling it is horrendous. As a non-Wii owner, I dont want to spend money on -another- game to get it (not to mention that its not even the full game w/ the extra modes and all).
I feel like EA’s trying to pimp our nostalgic Jam feelings to boost sales of their Elite game-way to stick it to long time fans.