NBA Jam Tournament Edition PS1 Review

NBA Jam Tournament Edition is an arcade port of the iconic classic game that was released for the PlayStation back in 1995 and this would have been part of the PlayStation's launch lineup especially in North America that takes all of the attributes and elements and takes all of the unique charm from the 16-bit ports seen on the likes of the Sega Mega Drive and Super Nintendo and just brings it to the PlayStation which again would improve on various aspects of the game's visuals with the graphics even the gameplay speed and generally how it plays overall. 

It keeps its iconic list of characters and even sport personalities from teams in the NBA league at that time and utilizes all of the quirky and unusual gameplay elements and unique special moves that had become iconic with the NBA Jam franchise. 

The NBA jam series during the 90s was something of a phenomenon as it was extremely popular in the arcades and with later ports of the game being added to the likes of the Sega Mega Drive and Super Nintendo systems just only added to the heightened excitement surrounding the game itself that would spawn many different sequels on future consoles even with the PlayStation itself and the game would also feature licensed teams players and even some of the in-game announcers as well that would have been reflective of that time where they added in loads of funny elements and humorous kind of quips and one-liners that just added to the overall fun experience that the game presented. 

It generally was a classic in its own right so by the time the PlayStation rolled around in 1994 in Japan and then with 95 in both North America and Europe it was only natural and that an NBA Jam game was going to appear on the system in some shape or form and quite rightly so and the game would prove to be very very popular among fans and it was a really good game to add to the launch lineup of the PlayStation as it had all of those elements that made for very fun experience and the fact is NBA Jam although while challenging especially when you're playing single player where people will get the most out of it as playing with their mates as it's just a lot of fun. 

Even from my own experience going back I remember a mate of mine that lived across the road, he had a Sega Mega Drive and I remember one particular weekend he took his Mega drive over to the house and he had gotten a loan of NBA Jam. 

Now I remember vaguely playing to a certain degree but I had no clue what he was doing, I didn't really understand it all that much but I remember my friend and brothers more specifically loved it. 

They were just addicted to it. 

They were having a ball playing it and you can see that it was just it was like basketball but on steroids, it was just on a completely different level and it's just it was so much fun. So even moving forward then with the likes of this version of the game now I never played the tournament edition originally on the PlayStation my experience with an NBA Jam game would be with NBA Jam Extreme that would be released in 1996 on the PlayStation that would move away from the 2D style visuals or 16-bit style visuals seen in the previous game to 3D elements but again that game was also an extremely fun game as well. 

I have covered that in a previous video on the channel so I made sure to drop a link in the description so you can check out that video also and the fun thing with that was I have to say now with typical NBA Jam style it was tough to get used to and hard to control but where you had so much fun with playing with your mates and even not just against your mates you'd be playing Co-op and be on the same team trying to compete against the computer and it was just a blast so it was. 

The commentary, the special moves there were certain moves that literally you go up like a helicopter and you nearly like as if you're flying out of the arena to come down and slam I nearly break the basket; it was just it was hilarious. 

So it does in itself I remember playing that game an absolute ton. Myself, mates and even brothers, we all love that game we just play it for ages. It was just so much fun but even going back to playing the original games and even with the tournament edition even go back to playing it now you can still see how much fun it is although I will admit I'm not as good as it as it used to be I can still pull off a few three pointers here and now but that's about it because the computer AI in this game is very aggressive when you try to get near the basket at all. 

I found the only way to really score points was to literally throw from outside of the three-point area to really have a chance especially if you're playing with a good player that has good three-point shooting abilities with the likes of Scottie Pippen of the Chicago Bulls. 

He'd be one of the better players to use because you can guarantee nearly nine times out of ten you would score 3 pointers at ease but if you're trying to dunk the ball especially against the AI opponents you may forget about it because no sooner if you've gotten rid of them they're literally shooting up the court after you and they block every shot that you take. 

It doesn't matter what you try and do if you do manage to pull off a dunk it's very very slim so I had to resort to taking shots from outside of the three-point area to have any chance of winning but even at that it is just so difficult even going back to playing it now it's as difficult as I remember and it hasn't changed. It still looks awesome for its time like considering it's more of a 16 bit game but just uprated to the PlayStations specs of the time with advanced visuals and smoother all around and faster gameplay than what it would have been seen on the likes of the Sega Mega Drive. But that still doesn't take away from how difficult this game is, this game is ridiculous. 

I remember even years later I ended up getting NBA Jam on the PS3 and again that was another awesome game although the online on it was terrible because you could never even get into a game which was a pity because you wanted to play with your mates and you couldn't even find a game on the servers. 

It was so bad on that game so you had to resort to playing and the single player modes and that was where you had the most fun, it really was a cool game. 

But in general any type of NBA Jam game that you go to play whether it be one of all the games or the more modern games they're still a fun selection of games to play. 

I even remember my mate getting an NBA Jam game on the PS2 and even that was a lot of fun as well. 

Although I will admit my favorite ones were definitely NBA Jam extreme and even the NBA Jam on the PS3 they would win the ones that I would have played the most. But even this early one the tournament edition is still an awesome game but again it's just it's really really difficult. 

Only more extreme players are more experience players will definitely get the benefit out of this because it's just it's all for me it's just so difficult but it's still a fun game. 

It doesn't take away from what this game represents and I would love to see a new NBA Jam game being released even in this kind of format but as long as it's made with modern controls and that it's easier to pick up and play I would definitely get it in a heartbeat and I play it all over again because it's just these games are a laugh. 

They're just so much fun and it was definitely a fitting entry to the early point of the PlayStation, it was definitely a good game to add to the launch lineup of games as it had everything in abundance. 

It had fun character, it had charm, presented a hell of a challenge but it was definitely one of the best multiplayer games that you could have played at that time so that in itself was a good reason to add it to the launch lineup and I would love to know your thoughts on NBA Jam Tournament Edition for the PlayStation and what do you think of the series of games overall did you manage to own this game back when you got your PlayStation back in the day and if so what did you think of the game overall. 

Did you enjoy it or did you find this frustrating as many of us have? 

I'd love to hear whatever stories you do have at this awesome game so be sure to share it in the comments below and be sure to keep watching to see more content on other games similar to NBA Jam Tournament Edition, you can check out the blog where we will be diving into the iconic elements of these classic video games and as always keep those gaming memories alive...