Developer: EA Canada
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Rating Guide: How I Review Games

Review:

BOOMSHAKALAKA!!  HE’S HEATING UP!!

Those lines were music to my ears years ago when NBA JAM first hit the scene.  I’ve never been much to revisit classic games but I had my eye on this particular remix.  Everyone knows about the turmoil this game was going through since it debuted on the Nintendo Wii.  Would it be a full game on the Xbox 360 or not?  Would it be the sole reason to buy NBA Elite or not?

Well, after NBA Elite was canned and EA decided to squeeze as much out of the game as possible, we finally have NBA JAM on the Xbox 360 in all its full glory.  Would this game be enough to justify all the drama?

Gameplay, Graphics and Sound

NBA JAM is one of the finest remakes of an old classic I’ve played.  Whether or not you’ve played the original won’t matter because this game is about as easy to pick up and play as there ever will be.  The classic 2-on-2 gameplay and ridiculous high flying dunks are at their best in high definition baby!  The cheat codes are back, the unlockable politicians are back…it’s all back and better than ever.

NBA JAM comes packed with all of the modes found on the Wii version.  There’s enough variety for you to catch a nice break from the standard 2-on-2 battles.  One of my favorites was Smash where I loved being Shaq or Dwight Howard and getting ridunkulous in breaking the backboard.  Domination was also pretty cool.  It was like a remix of horse where you had to “dominate” certain spots on the court for points.  You could also play some 21 or play through the Remix Tour.  The Remix Tour is a long drawn out process of battling through all teams and challenging some legends.

If you want to unlock all the old school players like Dominique, Spudd or Larry Legend then you’ll want to play through it.  Check your JAM Challenges area for more ways on how to unlock different basketballs, modes and players.  And yes you can play these modes on Xbox Live against others.  I didn’t play much of the game on Xbox Live because it’s just too much fun with a friend next to you either on the same team or against you.

Playing NBA JAM comes down to how many death defying dunks you can pull off during a game.  Your main purpose will be to get on fire so you can shatter the rim.  There are no fouls, no out-of-bounds are any “rules”.  All you need to concern yourself with is how often you dunk and winning the game.

You’ll have plenty of your favorite NBA players to choose from as well as some legends in the game.  Scottie Pippen, Dennis Rodman, Dr. J, Shaq in Orlando, Stockton, Malone…they’re all there.  I would’ve loved to see Barkley or Jordan though but I guess you can’t have them all.  Want to play with Kobe and Magic on the same team?  Go for it.  There’s a big selection of stars to mix and match a crazy 2-on-2 team.

You can even unlock the Democrats and Republicans to see President Obama dunk on old George W.  Or if you’re a Sarah Palin dunking on Hilary Clinton kind of guy, then have at it.  If you want to unlock the Democrats then at the start screen, press Left on the D-pad 13 times and then press A.  Unlocking the Republicans is Right on the D-pad 13 times and pressing A.  There are quite a few cheat codes but I won’t give them all to you unless you ask.

The commentary in the game is again legendary.  The original announcer from the classic game is back and he dishes out quite a few new lines.  Sure they often get repeated but when you’re doing a huge leaping 360 degree dunk with the camera cheat turned on, it just doesn’t matter.  It never gets old being on fire and slamming your jewels in someone’s face.  And I can’t say enough about how the game looks and performs. 

It’s HD dunking baby!  EA Canada definitely stepped up and did a justified remix to the classic for all of my high definition and graphics enthusiasts out there.  The look on the faces of some these dudes when they’re dunking and shooting is priceless.  (try Big Head mode)

Conclusion

Despite the game going through a brief identify crisis for Xbox fans, NBA JAM is the most fun you’ll have playing a basketball game this season…bar none.  I think I spent about 6 straight hours playing it and every hour was a blast.  Is it worth the $50 to get it?  I think so.  When you think about how many hours you’re going to be playing against friends and on Xbox Live, you definitely get your money’s worth.

Despite the mess, EA did what they had to do with NBA JAM.  They packed it with as much content as they could and delivered one hell of a fun time.