NBA Jam, for me, sparked a love affair with the NBA itself and found me buying countless basketball cards, following the sport and even installing a basketball ring in my back yard.
When I first heard that the franchise was getting a reboot I was filled with both excitement and fond memories of pumping countless dollars into the arcade machine. Soon after its release into the console world it had received a number of negative reviews based around there not being enough content to justify a full price game and should have been released as a downloadable title.
Enter NBA Jam for iPhone…
For those of you that have been hiding under a rock, NBA Jam is a 2 on 2 basketball game with little to no rules. The high flying stunt like jams will have you feeling like you are a basketball god!
NBA Jam for iPhone is currently $5.99 and worth every cent.
Upon starting the game you are greeted with an easy to navigate Menu. This is made up of 2 play modes, Challenges and the Jam store. The play modes are “Play Now” and “Classic Campaign”. Play now will quickly launch you in to the game, select one of 30 available teams, select the players you would like to use and away you go. In Classic Campaign you will play as one team for a season and save your progress as you go.
Something that is missing in this game is multiplayer, but with the number of challenges and unlockable content there is enough to keep you coming back time and time again. Challenges will show you what challenges you have completed and what you are yet to achieve. Completing a challenge will grant rewards such as Big Head Mode, One Shot Fire and many unlockable classic players such as Patrick Ewing, Shaq, Scottie Pippen and even the Beastie Boys.
The Jam store is where you can purchase DLC for the game such as Unlockable player packs. Each pack has around 7 players and a mascot. These packs are currently $1.19 each
The game play is outstanding. The control scheme in NBA Jam is comprised of a virtual joystick and 3 buttons. Unlike many games on iPhone these controls work and are very responsive. The game runs very smoothly on the iPhone 4 (although I have heard rumours of it heating up the 3Gs) and has a steady frame rate. The graphics are some of the best I have seen on the platform and are comparable to its console counterparts.
My one gripe with the graphics is that the players heads look like they are photos stuck on top of the character model, like something you would see in an episode of South Park. This is only a small complaint and does not take away from the experience at all. Another thing I should mention is the sound. The game has a great sound track and commentary reminiscent of the original game.
Whether you’re a nostalgic gamer missing the titles of old or simply looking for an awesome game to pass the time on your iPhone, NBA Jam is not to be missed.
Score: 9.5 / 10 Freaking awesome
Written by: empire69
Images sourced from: http://www.theiloop.com
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