NBA Hoopz is the third game in Midway’s spinoff series. This series is more like three games that happen to use the same style and were made by Midway. Since they couldn’t use the NBA Jam name (because Acclaim was busy running that series into the ground), we got HangTime, ShowTime, and Hoopz.
There were a few changes made to Midway’s arcade formula with this game. Unlike the previous games, Hoopz is 3-on-3. There were also fouls and free throws, but these are rare. The rosters were also updated.
This game was released on several consoles and handhelds. I’ll be looking at the PS1 version, but there are also versions on the PS2 and Dreamcast. It wasn’t released on the N64 or in the arcades. Midway’s presence in the dwindling arcade scene was coming to an end, and I think it was still too early for a GameCube version of the game.
I’m not hoping for much from this game. At this point, I know what I’m getting into with an arcade basketball game. If this game is fun, then I’ll be happy.
TLDR: Looks good, but isn’t all that different from ShowTime.
Narrative
NBA Hoopz doesn’t have a story or career mode. None of the other games in the series have had this, so it isn’t all that surprising. It does have a few more customization options, which is something I’ll bring up when I go over the gameplay. A small part of me wishes that Midway had put something like a career mode into this game.
Gameplay
The gameplay in NBA Hoopz is pretty good. Granted, if you liked the other basketball games from Midway, then you’ll probably like this. It is 3-on-3 instead of 2-on2, and there are more rules in this game.
Each team has an extra player, which didn’t really change the gameplay too much. It is one of those cool ideas that only really comes into play when you’re playing multiplayer. In single player mode, it doesn’t feel too different from Hangtime or ShowTime.
Midway didn’t do too much to improve on ShowTime. The gameplay is solid, but you’re essentially doing the same thing as before. I’m not a fan of having fouls in an NBA Jam game. Being a little more violent was part of the game’s appeal.
This game feels a little slower. Having an extra two players on the court probably slowed it down a bit. It is still faster than Acclaim’s NBA Jam games, but suffers from the same lack of innovation.
Based on the features in the game, this isn’t really different from what was already there. The controls are good, but there isn’t too much meat on the bone. It is a solid game but doesn’t really have much to it.
I like the gameplay, but I also liked the gameplay in ShowTime. There isn’t too much to this game, and at this point I was expecting more from a game like this. Since it wasn’t released in the arcades, it would’ve been nice to have a career or franchise mode.
Visuals
I like the graphics in NBA Hoopz. It does look a little better than NBA ShowTime, but not too much better. Character models are decent, the crowd is more animated, and I like the cutscenes at the beginning of the game. This isn’t a great comparison because I’ve only played the N64 version of ShowTime, but I do think that Hoopz looks a little better.
The character models look pretty good for the PS1. They look smaller than the version of ShowTime I played, which is probably a result of having two extra characters on the court. They look a little different from each other, and it is easy to see the players’ jersey numbers.
Animations look pretty good. I didn’t see anything weird when I was playing. The dunking animations look very good, and I like the heating up and on-fire graphics. I really like the court, and the crowd looks great.
The intro video looks great. This is something that was missing from the N64 games because of the hardware limitations. It is live-action video from NBA games, and this is something that I always enjoy about PS1 games.
One thing I don’t like is the camera. The developers were a little less ambitious with it in this game. It looks okay at times, but I wish they would’ve stuck with a side view. For me, that works better for an NBA Jam style game.
Overall, the game looks pretty good. It doesn’t look as fast as the previous games in the Midway branch of this series, but that isn’t a big deal. Nothing in this game really looks bad to me. NBA Hoopz just looks like an above average PS1 game.
Reviews at the Time
The PS1 version of NBA Hoopz received bad reviews. The PS2 version didn’t fare much better, but the Dreamcast version received decent reviews. That means I should really be playing the Dreamcast version. I looked at three reviews for this.
GameSpot gave the game one of the better scores, which was a 6.3/10. The main point of criticism is that the PS1 version lacks the features of the other versions. They did say that if you don’t have one of the other games in the series, then “NBA Hoopz is the cream of the crop.” At the same time, it isn’t all that different than ShowTime and Hangtime.
IGN absolutely hated this game and gave it a 2/10. The reviewer said that this is a rental, but “only if you’re desperate.” They recommended not getting the game at all because this is a “poor port.”
The Official US PlayStation Magazine gave NBA Hoopz a 3/5. The reviewer dedicated an absurd amount of space to complaining about the NBA. They concluded that the game was “ultimately, it’s just really mediocre.”
I just want to say that the Official US PlayStation Magazine is about the most visually repulsive and boring magazine that I’ve read. At least this issue is. It is overly confusing, and there are many pages that are tiny black text on an overly cluttered white page. I’m glad that I was never a subscriber.
I couldn’t find a review from the time when someone enjoyed NBA Hoopz on the PS1. Some of this is due to there being better versions of this game. Much of the criticism of this version was a lack of new content. Adding a third player on each team wasn’t enough for most reviewers.
6/10. NBA Hoopz is a decent basketball game, but doesn’t feel like an NBA Jam game. The PS1 version is slower than I’m used to when playing one of these games. The controls and graphics are good, but there isn’t much content to really pull me away from ShowTime or Hangtime.
Pros
- Good Graphics
- Fun Gameplay
- Controls are good
Cons
- Lack of anything new or different
- Too repetitive for me
- Not enough game modes
Conclusion
NBA Hoopz is a decent basketball game. Having a third player on each team doesn’t really add as much to the game as I thought it might. I felt like it slowed the game down too much on the PS1. It’ll be interesting to see if the other versions have the same issues I encountered with this game.
Midway didn’t really do much to this version of the game. It isn’t too different from ShowTime, so I don’t really have a reason to switch games. They didn’t seem to care much about the PS1 version, and I’m assuming that they put more effort into the Dreamcast and PS2 versions.
I’m going to check out the Dreamcast version at some point. That one was at least reviewed better, and I would like to see what is in that game. Maybe there will be something special in that version that helps it stand out.
This game was a little disappointing because it just didn’t stand out. The changes made to it weren’t all that great. I like the idea of this game, but at this point it feels like a generic sports game.
It feels like Midway fell into the same trap that EA, 2K, and Acclaim did. They release the same game with minor tweaks and roster updates each year. NBA Hoopz was the last game in the series from Midway. It simply wasn’t as good as what came before it. Acclaim, and later EA, would continue their NBA Jam series.
If you liked this post, check out some of my other posts about NBA Jam games. Such as NBA Showtime or NBA Hangtime.