NBA Jam 99 is a good, not Great Game

NBA Jam 99 is another game in the Acclaim branch of this franchise. This game was a console exclusive, as versions of the game were made for the N64 and Game Boy Color. It was made by Iguana, who had handled the other ports of NBA Jam games.

For some reason, the N64 version was turned into a traditional 5-on-5 game. The Game Boy Color retained the 2-on-2 format of the arcade game. This game seems to have lost the overall feel of what made NBA Jam appealing. Several arcade sports games slowly turned into simulations of their respective sports, but this feels like it happened too quickly.

Much like Acclaim’s NFL Quarterback Club, I’m a little surprised that this was only on the N64 and not on other consoles. I feel like there is a bigger story behind this. At some point, it will be fun to look for the answers to my questions about why this happened.

I’m not expecting too much from this. The only thing I really want is a fun basketball game, which I’m sure this game can deliver on. Because of the changes to the core gameplay, I’ve seriously lowered my expectations.

TLDR: This is a fun basketball game, but not a good NBA Jam game.

Narrative

NBA Jam 99 doesn’t have a story. Like most of the other sports games that have a league license, it is all about the gameplay. Instead of being an arcade experience, Acclaim went with a simulation of the NBA. A game like this doesn’t need a story, and sports games were still a few years away from having a career mode.

Gameplay

I was very disappointed with the gameplay. As a simulation, this is perfectly fine. It just isn’t like the arcade game, which is what I would’ve preferred.

This game has decent controls, all the teams at the time, and plenty of options for your roster. Everything in the game is decent to good from a gameplay standpoint. I haven’t played enough basketball games like this to know if this stands out for being good or bad.

There are a lot of rules in this game. I’m not too sure why the developer went in this direction. The other NBA Jam games limited penalties, which made the game feel faster. Having rules similar to how the NBA game is played fundamentally changes this to more of a simulation instead of an arcade experience.

NBA Jam 99 is a much slower game compared to the arcade games. It has more game modes, but none of them seem to be the 2-on-2 arcade game. Even the “Jam Mode” wasn’t what I was expecting.

In the “Jam Mode,” you’ll see some of the things that you’d expect to see from an NBA Jam game. This is where you can see the on-fire setting. Aside from a few other minor things, it isn’t all that different from playing an exhibition game.

Overall, I didn’t have a big problem with the gameplay. It just wasn’t what I wanted from an NBA Jam game. It felt like I was playing an EA Sports game, or whoever else was making basketball games around this time. That’s fine if you wanted to play that, but I was expecting a fast-paced arcade game with few rules.

Visuals

The graphics look good for an N64 game released in 1998. This game has an overhead camera that does have some movement. Player models look good, I like the look of the court, and the presentation is very nice.

The camera is much better in this game compared to NBA Jam Extreme. It still has issues, but I didn’t find it as annoying as I did in the previous game. It gives the game a more cinematic feel, which is something I enjoyed.

Player models look good enough. Nothing stood out to me when I was playing this. It is easy to tell which player you’re controlling, and where the ball is going to end up. I also didn’t have an issue lining up my shots.

Overall, the graphics look good for the time this game came out. They don’t look too dated, and they don’t get in the way of the gameplay. There are a few things that I didn’t like, but those are minor and related to the technology of the time.

6.5/10. This is really disappointing. NBA Jam 99 plays more like one of the EA simulation games instead of Midway’s arcade classic. There is nothing wrong with what is presented in the game, but I have no idea why they went in this direction. It does look good for the time, but that is about it.

Reviews at the Time

The reviews for this game are all over the place. NBA Jam 99 received scores between 4 and 8.5/10. Most reviewers viewed this game as a simulation rather than a continuation of the arcade games.

GameSpot gave the game a 7.1/10. The reviewer called this “two and a half” games in one. It isn’t, but he was counting the different game modes. They compared this game favorably to the other NBA games on the market.

IGN gave the game a 7.9/10. They cautioned that this is “not really a Jam title.” The reviewer added that it was ”slower-paced” than most basketball offerings and that it “lacks character.” Despite that, they called it fun.

Looking at these reviews was interesting. The reviewers seemed to have fun with it, and some pointed out that it wasn’t like the other NBA Jam games. I’ll have to take their word for it when it comes to other NBA games on the market at the time.

Pros

• Lots of game modes
• Good controls
• Decent gameplay

Cons

• It doesn’t feel like an NBA Jam game
• Too slow
• Feels like one of the EA games

Conclusion

I was expecting more from this game. Several of the arcade sports games that I’ve looked at have slowly crossed over to being simulations of a sport. What Iguana did with NBA Jam 99 stripped everything that made this series stand out.

It is a slow game that doesn’t have the same type of action that you’d find in the arcade game, or in the Midway branch of games. Playing this felt odd. There wasn’t a serious problem with the game; it just made me want to play one of the older entries.

I do wonder what Acclaim’s reasoning behind this was. It seems like a strange decision to go in this direction when the other games had done so well. When I dig into the Midway branch of this series, maybe I’ll find out.

NBA Jam 99 isn’t a bad game. It is a competently made basketball game with good controls and gameplay. Its biggest problem is that it is connected to the NBA Jam series, even though it isn’t really an NBA Jam game.

If you liked this post, check out my other posts about NBA Jam games. Such as NBA Jam on the Genesis or NBA Jam Extreme.