I've been looking after this game for a long time.
I think this game is one of the best NES (Nintendo Entertainment System) games of all times.
I played the game a long time ago on a real counterfeit NES device :) ( I don't remember the manufacturer's name, but it wasn't Nintendo for sure). Even the game cartridge was counterfeit, as it's title was NBA :). That's why I haven't found this game a long time ago on the net. I was searching for NBA, but found only lazy original NBA basketball games.
I'm saying this because this game isn't simply basketball. Contrary it mostly obeys the game's rules. You can make as many fouls (and I used a "light" word for it) as you wish. More exactly you can kick and punch the opposing players. It's like a mix of a fighting and a sports game.
The above screen shots are taken from a game between Nekketsu team (me :), the japanese white guys ) and the New York team. I'm sure most of you think: "This game looks like shit, I expected something better". Well what can I say... If you take the time to try this game, I'm pretty sure you will forget about graphics pretty soon ;). And don't forget that this game was made back in 1993 for the NES (which has very limited hardware compared to todays consoles).
Ok, enough introduction let's talk about gameplay and controls.
The game has a pretty good control mechanism. The NES gamepad had only two buttons, so the authors had to come up with some combinations, to make possible the many fancy moves and tricks you can make. If you are a beginner, and play this game the first time, you will feel that you can do nothing. The CPU is much better than you, runs faster, does tricks, hits bigger etc. and you can only punch, kick and walk with the ball, attempt shots and pass.
So if you're impatient to find out the combinations yourself (I think part of the fun the game has to offer is finding out the combinations, TIP: you can learn much from the CPU), here's a little list:
- jumping: press A+B, you can attempt a double jump (like in the cartoons) pressing A+B again in the air
- running: press left or right twice
- making a trick with the ball: press up or down twice, while running
- small slam dunk: when nearing the hoop, do a jump and when you almost hit the ground press B (shoot) button
- big slam dunk: same as the small one, just press up arrow together with B when landing
- super shot: I don't know exactly this one, something with holding down left or right and B together, but it hasn't worked for me every time.
As you see there are three hoops, and the higher the hoop the higher the score you'll get. Also you get more points when you successfully land a slam dunk. The hoops can break, and if you aren't careful the CPU will steal them (they can be thrown like the ball), and you'll find out that on your side are 5 hoops.
The game features 8 teams with 8 different levels, each team has 4 players to choose. There are differences not only in the visuals but in some properties too (speed, shot, power, energy).
I think the Hawaii team (big jumps, strong hits, good shooting) and the Florida team (two guys can teleport wherever the ball is, and they are very strong; otherwise they suck) are the hardest to defeat.
The only bad thing I can say about the game is how passing is handled (in one player mode): you won't take control of the other character so you have to make him to pass back the ball somehow, but I dunno how to do it yet; it would be much better if you took control. I use the defending team layout, this way my buddy won't "block me" too much :).
Here are some more screenshots from the game:
