NBA Live '98

Developer: EA Sports

Publisher: EA Sports

Genre: Sports

Players: 1-4

Difficulty: Adj.

Rating: K-A

Memory Card: 1 Block

Analog Compatible: No

 

NBA Live '98 is EA Sports newest offering from the NBA Live series, and it is one of the best basketball games around. Unfortunately, there is not much innovation that can be put into a basketball game, all you can do to be better than the rest is to have the best graphics and gameplay, and NBA Live '98 does just that. It features all of the NBA teams and players, including the expansion teams, but like always, Jordan is missing. There is also the extra cool create a player mode in which you can create an entire team of your own characters.

 

  There are the standard Exhibition and Season modes, as well as a 3 Point Shootout mode. The way the game plays is standard basketball game fare, you run back and forth across the court putting the ball in the hoop. You can play an Arcade mode, in which there are no fouls or out-of-bounds. Or you can play in a Simultation mode, in which every rule of the NBA applies. The bad thing about playing with no fouls is that you can just push over a player and take the ball. When they are throwing the ball in after a point has been scored, you can just stand there and push over the receiver of the ball. I could get final scores of over a hundred points, while the opposing team didn't even get into the double digits. Overall, this game plays very fast and makes for an exciting game, especially against a friend.

 

The graphics are great for a basketball game. The colors are bright and the cool looking lighting effects on the floor is present. The courts look exactly like their real life counterparts, decals, colors, and all. The really cool part of this game's graphics are the players. The character animations are great. The dunks have attitude and really rub it in your opponents face. Pulling off awsome ally-oops are cause for a little bragging. Players dribble through their legs and pass around their backs, which makes it look like a real NBA basketball game and not a Junior High game. The players faces look so much like their real life counterpart's, it really looks a lot like the real player. The faces actually fit well onto the heads of the players, they don't look like masks that are pasted on them.

 

Music is almost non-existant in this game, so their is no reason to talk about it. The sound effects on the other hand have every reason to be talked about. First, lets start out with the announcer. The announcers in games are usually really annoying, but this one isn't really all that annoying. When he is talking about the teams, the audio tracks fit smoothly together, so it sounds like he had to say every possible combination of scores and teams. The bouncing of the ball on the court sound great, and the sound of the ball going through the net sounds great as well. All of the other sound effects are also nicely done, and that's good, because too often crappy sound effects really ruin the realistic feel of a game.

 

The control isn't anything really spectacular, but it's good enough to keep the game playable, and that's all that matters. Just like every other basketball game around, to shoot you have to hold the button until he gets to the peak of the jump, and then let go. There is a run button, which is used to move your character a little faster, and when you hit the shoot button while you are running near the hoop you'll dunk it. Passing the ball around is no trick, just press the direction of the player you want to pass it to and hit the pass button, but every once in a while you'll pass it to the wrong guy. Driving to the hole isn't really all that hard either, usually you'll get brick-walled by an opposing player, but you can simply swerve through the players and take it straight to the hoop.

 

This is the best basketball game I have ever played, but that's not saying very much because I hardly ever play basketball games. If you're a b-ball fan, you probably already have this title, if you don't, you should. Anyone who is just looking for a good basketball rental, it'll be money well spent if you decide to pick up NBA Live '98.

 

Sports games are always great games to play over and over again, especially against some friends. You'll be playing this title until you pick up NBA Live '99 when it finally is released, I guarantee it.

 

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