In the early to mid-90s, NBA Jam was the universe-shaking pioneer in crossover entertainment. Over-the-top in its action and deceptively simple in its controls, the game turned non-gamers into competitive gaming addicts and sports noobs into foam finger-waving superfans. Midway’s revolutionary basketball arcade was a phenomenon rivaled only by the developer’s other rabid hit, Mortal Kombat. The base gameplay already allowed Patrick Ewing to set hoops on fire, but NBA Jam‘s popularity exploded when easter eggs allowed players to unlock President Bill Clinton, Big Head Mode, and anti-gravity (editorial note: anti-gravity may not have existed, but that game made anything seem possible).
NBA Jam allowed sports games to be extreme and unrealistic, eventually inspiring Electronic Arts’ EA Sports BIG line of arcade titles, including the Street series of NBA, NFL and FIFA, Def Jam Vendetta, and – my favorite – SSX. Midway has recently fallen apart, selling off the few remaining franchises deemed bankable, and it only seems appropriate that NBA Jam wound up at EA Sports. A brand-new NBA Jam is set to hit the Wii this year, and on last week’s GameTrailers TV EA unveiled the first official screenshots of the game-in-progress.
These screens corroborate the rumors that the game would use 3D-rendered bodies with 2D faces for the players, which is perfect for the goofy nature of the game. The entire thing looks like a collage made of magazine cut-outs in a high school nerd’s basketball diorama, especially the shoebox audience and paperdoll coaches. It’s sure as hell a great start for the franchise potential return to greatness, but we still have no idea when this will be playable, and that will be the true test of fun. For now, though, say it with me:
BOOM SHAKA-LAKA!!!
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