NBA ShootOut

NBA ShootOut (Total NBA in Europe) is a series of basketball video games based on the NBA and released for the PlayStation and PlayStation 2. The first two entries, released in 1996 and 1997, were developed by Sony Computer Entertainment's British in-house development team.^[1] Later entries were developed by 989 Sports, including NBA ShootOut 2000, the only game in the series to be released for Microsoft Windows.

In the games, players can choose an existing NBA franchise and play exhibition or regular season games, as well as create their own players to include in regular season team rosters. Charles Barkley, Shaquille O'Neal and Michael Jordan were represented in the game with other names (Forward, Center and Guard respectively).

Installments

Reception

The first two games were well received, with the Official UK PlayStation Magazine awarding 9/10 and a Starplayer award to both. They praised the motion capture and the playability.^[2]

Most critics hailed NBA ShootOut '97 as a dramatic improvement over the original. Kraig Kujawa and Dean Hager of Electronic Gaming Monthly praised the faster game speed and new icon passing system. Both gave it a 9 out of 10.^[3] Kujawa wrote a longer review of the game for GameSpot, in which he additionally complimented the authentic NBA sounds and visuals and criticized the small play book. Despite similar comments, his score changed to 7.9 out of 10.^[4] GamePro's Johnny Ballgame gave it a 3.5 out of 5 in sound and a perfect 5.0 in every other category (graphics, control, and funfactor), saying that it "shakes up the basketball world, cooking the court with spectacular, slam-dunkin' gameplay and the most realistic five-on-five hoops action ever brought to the 32-bit arena." Like Kujawa and Hager, he highly approved of the icon passing system.^[5] A Next Generation critic called the game "the first true basketball simulation for a console", elaborating that unlike previous basketball video games, the statistics have a significant impact on how players perform in actual gameplay. He also commented positively on the icon passing, but said the game was not as fun as NBA in the Zone 2 due to the controls, explaining that "the game has an almost clinical feel, almost as if the player isn't really affecting the outcome of plays." He gave it four out of five stars.^[6]

References