[b]01. NBA 2K15[/b]

So if you're not doing arcade-style basketball, you're doing realistic basketball. And the goal of a real basketball game, to me, is to make the game as realistic as possible and as fun as possible. NBA 2K15 is where those two goals intersect.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A_YwF5iX7WQ[/youtube]

The NBA Live series from Electronic Arts has always got more media attention than the 2K series for some reason. NBA Live is like the Chevy Camaro. They're fast and fun and they all look alike. And then NBA 2K15 comes along and maybe it's an Audi or a BMW and you realize that you could have been having a lot more fun for the same price.

NBA 2K15 has all the career, management, franchise and coaching modes we've come to expect from a modern sports title, but not only does the game look amazing, it plays amazing. It makes you feel like you could really play basketball. Or at least coach basketball. Or be involved in basketball somehow. When playing, you really feel like you are in control. Things aren't just happening, you're making them happen. You can call pick and rolls, pass to anyone on the court, foul or not foul, call a dozen different offenses, whatever you want to do, all on the fly, and it just feels natural. Maybe it's because I've played it so much but I'm never searching for the right button or key combo. You just do it.

It supports online mode if you like playing with people on the internet. The MyPlayer mode allows you to take a player through his entire career. You'll play it over and over.

Here's a video of a kid spending 30 minutes going through the draft. It's boring and I don't expect you to watch it, but I'm posting it just to give you an idea of the depth of this title.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qdyIOyifvRg[/youtube]

Here's the same kid commentating the highlights of his first Thunder game. What I like about it is, this kid is excited. I mean, he's a little kid and he's excited about basketball. I have to think if this was 20 year ago this kid would be sitting on his bed, sorting through baseball cards and wondering what it would be like if his favorite two teams were playing. Now he's making them play and controlling his favorite players. At the end of the clip you can see him picking the responses for the players in the post press conference.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IpqQ_QaqoJI[/youtube]

NBA 2K15 is an amazing, amazing game. It's the closest you will ever get to playing professional basketball without having to put on sneakers and sweat and be tall or in shape and all those other hurdles that keep all of us out of the sport.

It is the best basketball game of all time and better than any hockey game, ever.

[b]02. NBA JAM[/b]

For many years, most sports franchises used increases in gaming technology to make their sports games more realistic. When the Atari could only handle two player characters on the screen at a time, they made a one on one basketball game. When they figured out ways to put more on there, they did so. Every new generation of basketball games was a bit more realistic than the last. Then NBA Jam came along and turned everything on its head.

The idea of a cartoonish basketball game didn't begin with NBA Jam -- Arch Rivals and High Impact preceeded it -- but NBA Jam took those concepts (basketball, brawling, and high flying dunks), combined it with real players, and took it to the next level. It cranked up the fun level by getting rid of bullshit like "out of bounds" and referees.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tvwhP0o7OsM[/youtube]
[i]Arcade Version[/i]

NBA Jam started in the arcade and supported anywhere from 1 to 4 players at a time, and works well in either 1-on-1 or 2-on-2 action. It's from Midway, and so the idea of easter eggs they had put in Mortal Kombat were multiplied in this game. There are tons and tons of hidden secrets in this game. It was the game that started "big head mode," a mode that made all the players' heads super big.

The game quickly made its way to all the 16-bit consoles of the time.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQRVtXT7xxU[/youtube]
[i]Super Nintendo[/i]

NBA Jam has been updated multiple times since it's 1993 arcade debut. A few years later we saw NBA Jam: Tournament Edition, and the game has been released on multiple home systems, everything from the Game Gear all the way up to the Nintendo Wii and the PlayStation 3. They're all essentially the same game, with better graphics and even more hidden items.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6QtpaboheX8[/youtube]
[i]Nintendo Wii[/i]


The game continues to be updated (the PlayStation 3 version includes Westbrook and Durant for the OKC Thunder) and it's still fun as shit. There's nothing like pulling off a sweet alley-oop and setting the net on fire.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AVFu8hbfP7M[/youtube]

There are many more realistic sports/basketball games out there, but few are as fun as this. Whether its punching your opponent or pulling off some incredible dunks, this game never seems to get old.

According to Wikipedia, the game earned more than 1 billion dollars in quarters the yearit was released, and in 1994 the Amusement & Music Operators Association reported that NBA Jam was the highest earning arcade game of all time.

I'm sure a hockey game was second.[/youtube]

NHL 2k2 for Dreamcast was pretty awesome.

Christ, with the Youtube initial images, those things look like the real life game. Nice game and one I had not heard of before.

Okay, OK. Deep breaths. Don't blow this, Jonsey. You can do this.

[b]03. NCAA Basketball 2010[/b]

NCAA Basketball 2010 is one of the greatest basketball games ever released. It was released for the Xbox 360 and PS3 by Electronic Arts.

The game features real CBS and ESPN broadcasters, real stadiums, and when the game had online support, player stats were updated every week. You could use the left shoulder button to call plays on the fly. The game shared code (or maybe even the engine) with NBA Live 10 so complaints about AI quirks apply to both games, but the game is very playable, very deep, and very fun.

I'm including both a PS3 and an Xbox 360 clip because I think they look slightly different, but both versions are still great. 2010 was the last year of EA's NCAA Basketball games.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZkfuGlC-De0[/youtube]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fPuDnQO7Oko[/youtube]

I'm going to have to find my list again and see where I was going with those picks. In the meantime, I'll post this one to keep things going:

[b]HONORABLE MENTION: 1 ON 1 (PSX/J)[/b]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AjBs1KeX6Sw[/youtube]

Sony's original PlayStation made its US debut in September of 1995. I got mine at the end of 1996, and by 1997 modchips were everywhere. I installed one and quickly joined thousands of other dirty, dirty pirates in the copying of PlayStation games. Because the thought of downloading a CD-ROM ISO using a 28.8k baud modem seemed ridiculous, most of the games I copied came from Blockbuster.

By 1998 I had upgraded to 56k, and the thought of downloading an ISO became slightly less insane. We're still talking multiple hours of sitting around with one's fingers crossed, but it was doable. Through one means or another I got access to an FTP site full of Japanese PlayStation games. I had never heard of any of the games before so picking one and committing several hours to downloading one was a gamble, but I found one called "1 on 1" and I was really hoping it was a basketball game.

And it was, kind of.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kRFfmrXNvEk[/youtube]

1 on 1 is part basketball, part fighting game. Like a normal street game of one on one, the goal here is to be the first player to 21. Unlike most street games of one on one, in this game you can pull off special moves and even punch and kick your opponent (unless you grew up on a particularly violent and strange street in Japan -- hey man, I don't judge).

There are 8 characters to choose from. Some of them look like normal humans. One looks like he is part monkey. Another one has giant wings. None of the characters are better or worse than any of the other ones as far as I can tell, but they're all different.

If there's much strategy to the game, I never found it. At the time I downloaded it I couldn't find a guide or an FAQ in English. (All the menus and tutorials are in Japanese.) I always found it funny that certain things (like "charging") will draw a penalty while smacking your opponent in the head does not. In fact, the latter is encouraged.

Enough words about this dribbling curiosity. Let's get this list back on the court.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d1zDozgmDx4[/youtube]

I demand that Flack continue this so I can post my #3.

The Mutant League series (Football & Hockey) were Sega Genesis exclusives (now for the PSP as well I believe). Between my SNES and his Genesis though, these were the only sports games we played (arguably because Madden didn't capture our imagination) and the box art led to a prolonged period where we drew nothing but Dungeons and Dragons monsters playing sports.

Look at it...

[img]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/3/39/Mlhgenesis.JPG[/img]

I remember having an epiphany in middle school where my friend and I stared at the box even before opening the game, and realized our drawing skills were comparable to something being created en masse for an audience. So for a few years we were inspired to draw Minotaurs ice skating, Zombies playing rugby, half naked Harpies playing volleyball, etc. all with hopes of becoming "professional video game box artists."

Believe he had an insanely detailed Zombie vs. Medusa scene featured in Nintendo Power at some point but sadly, we soon discovered that our preferred profession didn't actually exist.

Upon what platform was this game originally released?


THE
NES?
AARDVARK

[b]#4 - MUTANT LEAGUE HOCKEY[/b]

[img]https://i.ytimg.com/vi/34FmXlmF5tY/hqdefault.jpg[/img]

Mutant League Hockey is, first, an excellent hockey game. The controls are what you expect in a hockey ware. They are not complicated when the puck is on the ice.

The magic of the game comes from other shit you can do. You can substitute your goaltender with the devil. There are fun powerups and the like. And when a guy dies, he's dead.

I remember there either being a season mode, or a tournament mode.

I am in a rush to get to work, but this is the 4th greatest hockey game of all-time.

The next one is Mutant League Hockey. I gotta write it up properly but I don't want this thread to die.

I do intend to get back to this. But first, Flack, you seem to be the right person to go to with this:

http://deadspin.com/5819180/red-wings-defenseman-mike-commodore-considering-jersey-number-64

Mike Commodore is only CONSIDERING the number 64. I am outraged that he wants us, the FANS, to kiss his ass. Don't pretend you're too good for this, Mike, or we'll start our write in campaign to get Mike Dogeater to wear #20.

Sheeeit. Double Dribble and One on One. That's the beginnings of a murderer's row. I better [i]come correct[/i] and stop messing around here. It's time to bring out a big gun. I am checking the arsenal right now for a large hockey gun!

[b]04. Double Dribble[/b]

Double Dribble wasn't the first five-on-five basketball video game. It wasn't the first basketball game released in 1986. Hell, it wasn't even the first basketball game released [i]by Konami[/i] in 1986! ("Super Basketball" also released by Konami, predates it by a few months.) What it is, however, is the birth of the modern basketball video game, and the first game to actually "get it right."

Double Dribble hit arcades in 1986, but it didn't hit a lot of radars until a reasonably good port of the game appeared on the NES in 1987. That's where I first saw it, and while it's a pretty rare occasion, I've always felt the NES version is a little bit better than the arcade version -- if for no other reason than you don't have to press a button to dribble the ball like you do in the arcade version. Seriously, that's dumb. That's like a "breathe" or "sweat" button in a boxing game. Dumb.

Double Dribble is cited as the first arcade game to play the national anthem, so even if Double Dribble isn't the greatest game to appear on this list, it gains points for being the most patriotic. It was also one of the earliest games to include "cut scenes". After performing a slam dunk, the game switches to a cut scene of a four or five frame long animation of a generic player dunking the ball. In 1986 terms it was like watching HD video, so shut up.

Double Dribble was also one of the earliest NES games to contain speech. The arcade version has more, but there's still plenty in the NES (although to be fair, the NES' "double dribble" sounds much more like "bubbo breebo", which sounds more like the name of a hobbit than a basketball game.)

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8XSnti87D3Q[/youtube]
[i]Double Dribble: Arcade Version[/i]

Along with the arcade and NES versions, Double Dribble also appeared on the Amiga and for DOS. A graphically-updated sequel was released on the Sega Genesis.

I played the crap out of this game on my neighbor's NES, and years later, on my own. It may not seem very good now, but back then, having a full on basketball game seemed pretty awesome.

While waiting for the next post in this thread, you can play a flash version of Double Dribble for free on Konami's website.

http://www.konami-play.com/games/game/gid/4/aid/5

[b][color=cyan][size=150]HOCKEY: #5 -- FACEOFF![/size][/color][/b]

I read a review once of Altered Beast for the Sega Genesis that trumpeted the giant character graphics, and said that was one of the reasons kids took to it. I don't know if that's true. I do know that I took to [url=http://www.mobygames.com/game/dos/face-off]FaceOff![/url] because it was the very first hockey game where I could totally see what was going on with big, realistic players.

I don't know how this VGA screenshot is gonna come off but let's give it a look:

[img]http://www.mobygames.com/images/shots/l/17370-face-off-dos-screenshot-i-m-knocked-to-the-floor-vga-s.gif[/img]

I realize that most of what I have been saying so far is "lookit how big these dudes are" and on preview they don't look that big, but please, I'm begging you, trust me. I'd be so grateful.

The graphics for the PC port of Hat Trick didn't take up much of the screen, and there was one dude. The characters for Blades of Steel on the NES? Tiny. FaceOff! just [i]looked[/i] great.

Gameplay was centered around league mode - I believe the NHL had 24 or 26 teams back then, so the divisions are small. You have your games to play in a given week, and the computer sims the other ones as you progress through your schedule. This was amazing, groundbreaking stuff on the IBM PC in 1989. You could make trades, change up your lines and also see the computer reject your trades.

FaceOff! had a few different modes as well. There was fighting and the "Taking a Close Shot" mode.

Fighting:

[img]http://www.mobygames.com/images/shots/l/17373-face-off-dos-screenshot-you-ll-need-plastic-surgery-when-i.gif[/img]

Shot Cam:
[img]http://www.mobygames.com/images/shots/l/17377-face-off-dos-screenshot-the-shot-cam-view-vga-s.gif[/img]

You controlled the goalie when the computer decided it was time for Shot Cam, so reflexes and anticipation were necessary.

So what we have here is a fully-featured hockey game with all the trimmings, stuff that EA Sports would sometimes take out, like blood and goalie control, when they had a modicum of success, five years before NHL '94 set records for sales on the PC. A bit of a forgotten classic, I have played entire seasons of FaceOff! as recently as four years ago.

Gyaah! I'll do number five on mine RIGHT NOW.

I'm home from vacation. I'll post entry #4 tomorrow.

[quote="pinback"]Oh man, I just remembered, I played One on One for TEN BILLION HOURS as a child.

Oh my god.[/quote]
Oh my God is right. Ten billion hours is 1.14 million years. If you were a child for something over 1 million years, how long have you been an adult, God Pinback?

http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/blog/puck_daddy/post/Mystery-solved-Cliff-Ronning-reveals-why-he-rul?urn=nhl-wp6220

Cliff Ronning reveals why he kicked ass in NHL 93. (I will update this thread.... shortly.)

Okay. I think there was also another part in there where you implied Larry Bird was black, but now I can't find it.