Why would a basketball legend attach his name to a poor game?
The game is available for one, two, or four people for play. If you are playing against the computer, you have the option of choosing one of five difficulties, ranging from "Rookie" to "Professional". Each person takes control of one player in a two-on-two match-up. The control scheme is simple: A shoots or steals and B passes. The game is played with three-minute quarters and whichever team has the most points wins.
When I first inserted this game, I wasn't impressed by the graphics. Granted visuals back in those days weren't great, but even for 8-bit standards the game looks unpolished. You're introduced to a creepy floating head of Magic Johnson over a bland gray background. When you actually play the game, you'll see that the player models are generic at best; even Mario and Luigi from the original Mario Bros game had more detail than these players. I wasn't expecting facial expressions and high definition sweat, but at least give me more than a stump for an arm!
Once I started up solo play, I realized some shortcomings in game play. First the AI is far from perfect. In any difficulty setting, the opposing team can be unfair, easily stealing the ball from you at their whim. Meanwhile your own computer-controlled teammate offers you no help, often waving his hands, insisting you pass the ball to him even though doing so will result in a backcourt violation. Such behavior often forced me to hog the ball, essentially making me play a game of 2-on-1 at my own expense. Most of my single player experience usually involved running around in circles to avoid having the ball stolen from me, getting the ball stolen from me, stealing it back, repeating that about three times before I can make a decent shot. As you can tell, the game play becomes very repetitive for little return in terms of fun.
But once you understand the controls and AI behavior, you'll be able to exploit the game and begin to have fun absolutely demolishing the other team. Knowing full well how I can control the pace of the game, it was fun taking crazy shots from half-court, dunking (which isn't really a dunk in the game, more like a tap-in) whenever I want. Over time, I was able to win games in the "Professional" level with scores like 120-0. But once you realize you can win your games in this manner, much of the single-player fun is immediately drained. I resorted to imposing challenges upon myself like only shooting three-pointers to make it more fun.
Another aspect of the game that could have been improved is how it decides which shots you attempt actually go in. It seemed to me that whatever shot you took, whether it was a dunk, a field goal take from the paint, a three pointer, or even a half-court shot, it all seemed like they had the same chance of going in. It didn't even matter if someone was defending you. There were times when I had a chance for high percentage shot, like a dunk, and miss five times in a row. Then, I would try for a half-court shot and make it in three times in a row. I know in a world of infinite possibilities a person could miss five dunks and make three half-court shots in a row, but the frequency in which this happened in the game is utterly ridiculous.
This sort of randomness regarding which shots go in or not ultimately soured my experience playing this game with other people. One time, while playing with my uncle, he made 8 three-pointers in a row, while I made only two shots. Such incidents only convinced me that the game did not reward skill, but luck (or my uncle). Subsequently, I never played this game with another person.
But what's a Magic Johnson game without Magic Johnson. His creepy floating head makes an appearance in-between quarters to give you advice, or make the calls in the game, both of which are strange when you see how its applied in-game. The advice he gives between quarters was made to look like he's the coach of your team, telling you how to step-up your game in the next quarter. However, most of his "advices" are actually one of only a few preset messages that have no bearing on what has happened or what you need to do. For example: while playing an entire game just shooting three-pointers, during one of the breaks he told me to "Try and go for a three". After several other similar instances I was convinced Magic was simply an inattentive coach.
During the game, when somebody commits a foul or any sort of violation, you'll see the short, bald white referee blow the whistle. However, it's Magic's floating head that tells you what call was made. I know that the balding referee is not Magic and the designers are just using his face to make it more "Magic Johnson's Fast Break" and less "Plain Fast Break." But this game mechanic just makes it seem like Magic Johnson is the short and balding referee.
Unpolished graphics, repetitive and unrewarding game play, and an unflattering portrayal of one of NBA's greatest legends leads to me back to the question I had asked myself earlier: how could Magic Johnson attach his name to this game?