"NBA Jam" (Game Gear)

Popular arcade game ported to the Game Gear in color. In comparison to the Game Boy release, not much has changed.

In case you haven't read my review of the Game Boy port of this game, do so, because my fingers grew new joints and it feels awfully strange. What happened? THIS GAME—THAT'S WHAT HAPPENED.

If my take on the controls on this game from the Game Boy release wasn't bad enough, this Game Gear port will bring you more frustrations. Come to think of it, this game took roughly 6 hours to beat....in one sitting (same with the Game Boy port). Imagine playing this game back in 1994. How much paper did you waste trying to write down all those long passwords? How many batteries did you drain trying to beat this game while succumbing to its dreadfully delayed controls? Unless you had the AC adapter and sat at home during your Christmas vacation from school, I'm betting on the fact that no kid ever accomplished beating this game under such conditions. Even with the aid of the adapter, and in my case, modding your Game Gear for TV output, it still doesn't make up for the fact that the controls of this game are terrible.

Besides the controls, there are some differences. Being this is for the Game Gear, it's in full color! Also what's new is the appearance of a referee during jump ball at the start of the game. Another thing added were more people in the audience behind the court, giving the distinction of a "packed house."

As for the gameplay and music, they're the same as the Game Boy variant. I'll say it again: the controls are horrendous; It's much worse here for the Game Gear. In fact, the controls and the buttons are so bad, after defeating the game, my fingers were sore and numb for almost a week. No I'm not kidding, and even writing this, I feel my index and middle fingers still feel kind of like....the nerves are gone. It's recovering but man, it wasn't a pleasant feeling.

Heated match-ups? I had some, and this time, I had a buzzer-beating shot against the Sacramento Kings:



Oh it gets better: I was able to kick out to Worthy for the contested three-pointer at the buzzer against the Clippers:



No? Alright, then here: double-overtime versus the Cavaliers! I'm sure LeBron is flattered, even though he didn't reign during this time:



Unbelievable!

Anyway, if you really must play this game, stick to the the arcade version and/or any console, like Super Nintendo, Sega Genesis and so on. If you're strictly handheld, like I am, the Game Boy version is the better play. Or if anything, save your fingers from breaking in new joints.

Having said all the physical struggles caused during gameplay, this game DOES NOT come with insurance.

Kris Caballero

Founder and operator of KCU Network, Kris has been writing since he managed a personal blog created back in late 2005. Despite publishing articles and reviews from time to time for the network's website, Kris enjoys studying the sciences, namely Math, playing old video/DOS games, reading non-fiction books and listening to sports radio.

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