NBA JAM GAME PLAY

NBA Jam is a two-on-two basketball video game featuring NBA-licensed teams and digitized likenesses of real players. Gameplay is exaggerated instead of realistic: players can jump extremely high and make slam dunks that defy both human capabilities and the laws of physics. There are no fouls, free throws, or violations except goaltending and 24-second violations. This means the player is able to freely shove or elbow opponents out of the way. Additionally, if a player makes three baskets in a row, the character becomes “on fire” and has an unlimited turbo and increased shooting precision. The “on fire” mode continues until the other team scores, or until the player who is “on fire” scores four additional consecutive baskets while “on fire”.

The game contains many Easter eggs, special features, and players activated by initials or button/joystick combinations.  
Players can also enter special codes to unlock hidden players, ranging from US President Bill Clinton to Hugo, the Charlotte Hornets mascot. On the arcade machine, there is also a hidden “tank” game that allows the player to drive a tank and shoot enemy tanks for a minute. Just before the court is shown at the start of a game, joysticks 1 and 2 must be moved down and all six of their buttons held down.

Teams and Players

The original arcade version of NBA Jam has team rosters from the 1992–93 NBA season and the console versions use rosters from the 1993–94 NBA season. More up-to-date rosters were available in subsequent ports released for the Sega CD, Game Boy, and Game Gear in 1994. Midway did not secure the license to use Michael Jordan‘s name or likeness (as Jordan himself owns the rights to his name and likeness and not the NBA), and as such he was not available as a player for the Chicago Bulls or any other team. Another notable absence from the home versions is Shaquille O’Neal, who was in the arcade version as a member of the Orlando Magic (and who later followed in Jordan’s footsteps in buying his name and likeness from the NBA). New Jersey Nets guard Dražen Petrović and Boston Celtics forward Reggie Lewis, both of whom died after the release of the arcade version, were also removed from the home versions.

A limited edition version of the game with an additional team composed of Gary Payton and Michael Jordan was developed primarily for Jordan and Payton’s personal use.

During development, Godzilla and Bart Simpson were planned to be secret characters, but were ultimately scrapped.

Development

The game was devised after Midway’s previous arcade release Total Carnage failed to meet sales expectations. Lead designer and programmer Turmell wanted to develop a game with a wider appeal and decided to mix the digitized graphics of some of Midway’s previous titles to create a title similar to Midway’s previous basketball game Arch Rivals. Midway was able to procure a license from the NBA, paying royalties of $100 for each arcade cabinet sold. The NBA initially reacted negatively to the game feeling that an arcade game was wrong for the branding; however, after a second pitch, they eventually became convinced of its potential. In one of Midway’s original pitch videos to the NBA, they stated that they planned on including various additional features. These included different camera angles, tips from coaches, instant replays and a first-person view on fast breaks. None of these features were included in the final game. The graphics for the NBA players were created from digitized video footage of several amateur basketball players, including future NBA player Stephen Howard. These players were available as secret characters in certain versions of the game. Turmell recounted, “My big ideas in NBA Jam were to do the spectacular dunks and two-on-two basketball, but the whole game was very much a team effort. 

In 2008, Turmell confirmed a long-held suspicion that the game had a bias against the Chicago Bulls. According to Turmell, a Detroit Pistons fan, the game was programmed such that the Bulls would miss last-second shots in close games against the Pistons.

Reception

The game became exceptionally popular, and generated a significant amount of money for arcades after its release. In the United States, it topped the monthly RePlay charts for upright arcade cabinets from April 1993 through summer to October 1993. RePlay listed it as America’s top-grossing arcade game of Summer 1993. The game’s US revenue in 1993 exceeded the $300 million ($650 million adjusted for inflation) domestic box office gross of the film Jurassic Park the same year. NBA Jam was America’s highest-grossing arcade game of 1993. Individual machines at the time were earning up to $2400 per week, setting the all-time record for the highest per-unit arcade earnings in the United States. In Japan, Game Machine listed NBA Jam on their August 15, 1993 issue as the fourth most successful upright arcade unit of the month. The game grossed over $1,000,000,000 (equivalent to $2,177,000,000 in 2024) worldwide in its first twelve months. As of 2012, the arcade game has sold more than 20,000 arcade units and generated a lifetime revenue of $2 billion.

In 1995, Flux magazine rated the arcade version 19th in their “Top 100 Video Games.” In 1996, Next Generation listed NBA Jam at number 99 in their “Top 100 Games of All Time”, commenting that “Despite it having been flogged to death by Acclaim at home and now in the arcades, NBA Jam is still a terrific game, especially in the arcade with four players.” In 2017, Gamesradar ranked NBA Jam 23rd on its “Best Sega Genesis/Mega Drive games of all time.” IGN listed the NBA Jam 36th on its “Top 100 SNES Games.” They praised the game saying: “Professional basketball has never been as much fun as in NBA Jam”. They also praised the secret playable characters.

Entertainment Weekly gave NBA Jam Tournament Edition an A and wrote that “The latest upgrade, NBA Jam Tournament Edition, of the two-on-two in-your-face hoopfest boasts the participation of fully one third of the NBA’s roster. And the graphics and sound are astounding-not only is playing this game like watching TV, but so is listening to it, with unnervingly accurate commentary that precisely follows the action of the game. Loads of hidden tricks and guest appearances make this one an arcade slam dunk.”

Tournament Edition

An update named NBA Jam Tournament Edition (commonly referred to as NBA Jam T.E.) was released in arcades. NBA Jam T.E. included updated rosters, new features and Easter eggs combined with the same gameplay of the original. Jon Hey created new music specifically for NBA Jam: T.E. to replace the original NBA Jam music. Teams now consisted of three players (though only two could be on the court at any time; in practice, the extra player meant greater variety in lineups), with the exception of the new “Rookies” team, which consists of five players, all picked in the 1994 NBA draft. Players could be substituted into the game between quarters. The game also featured new hidden teams and secret playable characters. Early versions of the game included characters from Midway Games‘s Mortal Kombat games. Players were also assigned more attributes, including clutch and fatigue levels. In addition, the game also introduced features such as a “Tournament” mode that turned off computer assistance and on-court hot spots that allowed for additional points or special slam dunks.

The test version of NBA Jam Tournament Edition included eight hidden characters which were taken out of the final version at the request of the NBA: Elviscious, Grim Reaper, Kongo, Raiden, Reptile, Scorpion, Sub-Zero and Tim Coman. Midway also stated they would update all test version cabinets to remove these characters.

In addition to the arcade version, NBA Jam Tournament Edition was ported to the Super NES, Genesis, 32X, Game Boy, Game Gear, Sega Saturn, PlayStation, and Atari Jaguar, with the PlayStation port serving as a North American launch title.

In popular sports culture, the phrases “He’s heating up”, “He’s on fire”, and “Boomshakalaka!” are identified with NBA Jam. In the game, these catch-phrases describe when a player hits two or three shots in a row. When a player is “on fire”, the ball literally catches fire and singes the net. Voiced by Tim Kitzrow, the announcer is reminiscent of Marv Albert and has contributed numerous memorable lines to the basketball lexicon. The NBA Jam script was written solely by Jon Hey, although Kitzrow has stated that the lines were largely improvised.

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