Background Info

PS2 Screeens(6)

NBA Jam was a staple at the arcades during the 90's as was the game's transition to the home console. Then a couple years ago the "Jam" was removed and "Showtime" took its place with a 3D conversion to boot. This gave previous owners of the game a real reason to upgrade without altering the game's integrity and fun. But now it seems like Midway is looking for new ways to continue selling the same title over and over. The major difference between NBA Hoopz and NBA Showtime is the addition of a third player which often plays more like the Three Stooges vs. Manny, Moe and Jack than our high and mighty NBA dunk artists that we all know and love.

Presentation/Graphics : 42
As for the game's visuals, man, did Hoopz take a nosedive. Not only does the game run at an uneven framerate (unlike the silky smooth DC version), but it has a few problems with collision detection such as players running right through you. This seems to be a problem in some PS2 games but that's still no excuse. The players' faces look squashed together and downright ugly. Players' height scales are way off. Rasheed Wallace is about the same size as Damon Stoudamire. That's not right. The courts look good, though, and some of the replays are kinda cool, but the game's port as a whole seems rushed. Here's where a game like NBA Hoopz should at least be able to convert well to the PS2 from the Voodoo-enhanced arcade unit, which always looked good but that just doesn't seem to be the case on the PS2. Whether it's a rush job or just a case of bad programming, this conversion should almost be identical to the arcade and I think it's safe to say that we are all getting fed up with graphics that are not up to today's standards.

Presentation/Audio : 57
Hoopz has some decent in-game music consisting mostly of the instrumental hip-hop variety. And if you've got your mind on your money and your money on your mind, your mind will be thinking about the money you just wasted on Hoopz. The rest of the game's sound doesn't fare as well. A few new announcer phrases have been added since last year's Showtime, but the announcer still repeats a lot of the same phrases over and over, especially when you're moving the ball around. There's nothing more annoying than every time a pass is made you hear "Francis to Mobley, Mobley to Francis, Francis to Cato" without a split second of a pause. The sound effects are o.k. although taking the ball to the hole on huge dunks doesn't quite have the force that it should. The overall audio from top to bottom doesn't have the same effect as Showtime on the Dreamcast.

Interface/Options : 60
New features this year include cutesy mini-games such as "21," "Around-the-World," "3-Point Contest" and a practice mode that lets one player shoot on the court all by yourself. There's also a "2Ball" mode for purists who prefer the glory days of two-on-two style basketball but even then the whole timing of the game has been thrown off. For some reason, there seems to be a split-second delay in all of the game's actions that really makes Hoopz inferior to Showtime; for example, passing and jumping are just not as quick and it can get pretty annoying. The create-a-player mode is back, along with the ability to customize teams. Gamers can re-shape the league however they want, such as putting Malone on the Lakers. And finally you have the usual quick start, season, and tournament modes that round out the typical options. are similar league wide, and the statistical categories are also more equal.

Gameplay : 44
Hoopz adds two players to the court, making it a three-on-three game and you might think to yourself "hey that sounds cool" but after a few minutes of gameplay it really turns into a distraction. You see it's like this: Jam, Showtime, and Hoopz are meant to be crazy, fast, over the top alternative forms of basketball as compared to the Lives and Shootouts of the world. That's why I played them because I wanted to be able to do all this whacko stuff. What's happened is this third player has come along with some real gameplay elements causing all sorts of commotion. What's happened is the game has gotten quite a bit slower than NBA Showtime which makes players take longer to traverse the court, and the game clock runs in real time. Even when using turbo, the game still feels a little sluggish. They should have added a few more pounds of boost. NBA Hoopz adds a fourth button to the mix. The hoopz button is used on offense for dribble tricks and what's essentially a post-up mode that makes the ball a tad bit more difficult to steal. On defense, the button lets you switch the player you're controlling, but it's sometimes difficult to keep track of which player you're controlling, especially when all six players are bunched up under the basket: that pesky third man again. See this is how it should be. The emphasis in the past Jam and Showtime games was all about fast breaks. The addition of another teammate doesn't do anything to increase the strategy. Simply jump to the top of the rafters, pass to your teammate if he's open, or just dunk the ball in someone's face. That's about it. There's no point in setting up complicated offenses or trying to use the extra man to set a pick - just dunk the rock. Now that's fun. Someone decided to try and make Hoopz something it's not.

Replay Value : 20
Once again there can't be much replay value in a game that's really not worth playing. Sure you've got a few cool mini-games but when all you're thinking is "why are these graphics not that good" or "where has the fun in this game gone to" it's just not worth the brain strain and torture of going through it all.

Overall : 42
Shoulda, Coulda, Woulda. We all just keep getting let down by second-rate PS2 games and it's not getting much better. NBA Hoopz just adds to the disappointment of the whole sports scene on the PS2. It feels rushed, ugly, and dumb. It's pathetic that after six months of being out on the market and numerous basketball titles under the PS2's belt, not one of them can even come close to matching the realism of NBA2K1 or even the quality of Showtime. My suggestion to save some time is stamp Blockbuster on all of the NBA Hoopz CD's right from the manufacturer. So go, give it a rent and check it out for yourself. But still then, it might not be worth the five dollars that you had to shell out for the rental. I'm sad to have to say this but your best bet is to just stick with NBA Showtime. All I can say is "Man, thank goodness for the Dreamcast."