The King of arcade hoops, now with HD visuals and online play!
The HD makeover really pops off the screen, with all the animations, digitized NBA stars heads (+ crowds, benches, media, and mascots) and special fx you adored from the original, all polished to a mirror sheen, and smoother running than ever.
The first dunk I made brought a smile to my face rarely attained in modern gaming, and therein lay the true value of a remake like this: much of what has been seemingly forgotten in modern game design comes back in a rush - the fevered pace of trying to keep up with an unforgiving AI, and the unrivaled satisfaction that comes from outmaneuvering it to pull out a win that made you work for it. This is the nature of the beast, and a testament to the arcade gaming of yore that has been all but abandoned in favor of attracting a more casual crowd to the gaming scene. Call it cheap, call it "unfair" - the fact is: you CAN be better than this AI, and you CAN become very skilled at it with persistence in developing your old-school twitch skills.
Mercy is for the weak!
While the new game modes bring some nice additions to the table, most NBA Jam fans will be too enthralled with the campaign's 2-on-2 online multiplayer to invest more than a passing interest in these modes, so I won't detail their mechanics here - refer to the Gamespot forums and review/preview for more info.
Fans will be pleased to know the online functions flawlessly - I've played several 2v2 online matches and experienced zero bugs, or latency.
Also of note: many of the Easter eggs, albeit more contemporary than the original game, are present, with unlockable "legends" teams, as well as some farcical matchups (Republicans vs. Democrats?) that give NBA Jam the feel of a new classic. I couldn't help but vibe on the era of arcade gaming that produced NBA Jam, and it actually made me hunger for even more classic remakes, namely NFL Blitz, and Mortal Kombat, which have fallen from grace somewhat over the years.
Much has been made of the $50.00 price tag, even more disheartening is the apparent effect it has on some review scores (IGN- grrr...). But I would contend that there is more value in a pick-up-and-play masterpiece like NBA Jam that I'll be playing until they make something better (like Tournament Edition, or something), than investing $60.00 in a single-player game that I literally have no desire to go back to once finished.
NBA Jam, like so many arcade titles of yesteryear, is too elegant to grow old. While many of us bemoan the "good ole' days" of gaming, titles like NBA Jam provide some relief from this me-too generation of one-up-man-ship in game design, where graphics prowess and "hand-holding" seem to be the order of the day.
They are GAMES after all, and if they offer no serious challenge in favor of competing with cinema for an interactive audience, then it really isn't a game any more as I see it.
NBA Jam is too simple in it's design to elicit any less than a perfect score, much like Tetris, or Pac Man, it's just much more organic and satisfying.