Reviewer: Agent K
Company: Milton Bradley
Rarity: Pretty Common
Expertise: Win with either Bird or Jordan
I must say I'm probably biased towards this game. Michael Jordan was my hero growing up in Chicago and I fondly remember the PC version of this game. But saying that I must say this game isn't all that great. There's a bunch of different, cool things you can do but the gameplay and graphics aren't all that great. You can have a slam dunk contest as Michael Jordan or play one on one with MJ against Larry Bird.
Positives:
Lots of different options
Glaring Negatives:
One on one graphics are terrible.
Graphics and Sound: Not Good
The graphics in the one on one game are pretty terrible. However, the graphics in the slam dunk contest aren't too shabby. For instance the toss slam is pretty cool looking as Mike tosses the ball up and slams it home.
Gameplay and Controls: Not Good
The one on one game isn't all that fun. When playing Michael Jordan you get called for a ton of charges and they sure don't look like charges. Also Michael is way faster but is a terrible shooter. In fact he often misses layups. As Larry Bird you make almost all of your 3-pointers. Also you can try to steal, but you never actually steal the ball. When I save never, I mean never. I haven't even stolen the ball once. You can also attempt to block the shot. I've actually blocked one shot, but when you miss you're out of position to rebound. The dunk contest is a little better for gameplay. Just find the spot on the floor to jump from and then hold down A. Release it when Mike looks like he will dunk the ball. Not too tough, not too complex.
Features: Lots
This is what saves the game from the D range. You can have a dunk contest, play follow the leader with dunks, play one on one to eleven or 15 as either Bird or Jordan, or play a full game one on one. Also in one on one the computer has variable skill levels from 1 to 4.
Fun?: Some
The dunk contest is great until you figure out how to do all the dunks, then it's kinda boring. One on one is okay, the gameplay and graphics aren't great.
Challenge: Not to hard
Once you figure out a couple of tricks listed below, one on one is a cinch. The dunk contest is a liitle trickier as you need to figure out how each dunk works.
Replay: Not much
Once you've figured everything out it gets boring rather quickly.
2 Player: Good
Everything in the game has 2 player modes, the dunk contests and the one on one games.
Online Manual?: Yup
There's one on TSR's site
Bottom Line: Probably not
If you're a big Jordan or Bird fan this game will probably be pretty fun. If not you may want to try one of the other basketball games.