NBA JAM IS BACK!!! BOOMSHAKALAKA!!! Man I love that announcer guy!
Graphics/Animation:
The graphics could have been better to be honest. I was hoping the game would look more like EA's NBA Street games. The smooth animation in this game makes up for the graphics, because the dunks is this game is beautiful to see in action.
Sound:
The announcer was a big part of NBA Jam, therefore messing that up can ruin the game. Fortunately, EA did an excellent job with the announcer guy. The announcer of this game definitely fits perfectly with this new game. The sound effects are great as well. The only problem is the fact that female secret characters sound like men.
Gameplay:
The gameplay didn't really change much. This isn't really a bad thing, because the execution was successful. You can do the basic basketball moves, however the use of turbo makes the moves faster, painful, and epic.
There are no fouls in this game, so beware of turbo knockout steals and power blocks. The best way to defend is to stay with your opponent so you can get into a noticeable defense stance that will make stealing much easier. There is a crossover move you can use to get around pesky defenders as well.
The dunks are really fun to do especially air alley ops. The only issue here is it feels like the pace of the game is a bit slower than the arcade.
Online:
The online mode is another strength of this game. Playing with friends makes this a lot of fun. You can even have someone with another controller in the same room join in online action. You can play a normal match, the remix mode(allows the use of power ups), or a three player dominator game that involves taking over hot spots.
Final Thoughts:
This game is solid. If you love arcades and NBA Jam I highly recommend this game. It isn't really different, however this doesn't ruin the game at all. The online experience is great. The biggest problem is the lack luster graphics.
Another problem with this game is the price. This game doesn't really feel like a game that should cost full price since it isn't really an entirely new experience. This game should have been more like 35 to 40 dollars.
This game gets a 8.0 out of 10. Boomshakalaka!!!!