NBA Live 99

NBA Live 99 is the 1999 installment of the NBA Live video games series. The cover features Antoine Walker of the Boston Celtics. The game was developed by EA Sports and released on October 31, 1998 for the Windows and PlayStation, then in November 4, 1998 for the Nintendo 64. Don Poier is the play-by-play announcer. It was the first NBA Live game released for Nintendo 64. NBA Live 99 was followed by NBA Live 2000.

NBA Live 99
Antoine Walker on the cover of NBA Live 99
Developer(s)PlayStation/Windows: EA Canada
Nintendo 64: NuFX
Publisher(s)EA Sports
Composer(s)Traz Damji
SeriesNBA Live
Platform(s)PlayStation, Windows, Nintendo 64
ReleaseWindows
  • NA: October 31, 1998
  • EU: 1998
PlayStation
  • NA: October 31, 1998
  • EU: 1998
  • JP: April 28, 1999
Nintendo 64
  • NA: November 4, 1998
  • EU: December 1998
Genre(s)Sports (Basketball)
Mode(s)Single-player, Multiplayer

Summary

NBA Live 99 is EA Sports' NBA release for the 1998–99 NBA season. Some of the major additions in Live 99 include Practice Mode and multi-season play featuring player development between seasons. Although it did not feature free agency or generated rookies, it would turn out to be the forerunner to Franchise Mode.

Live 99 shipped with 1997-98 season rosters due to the NBA lockout of 1998–99, putting a hold on player movements and rookie signings during the summer of 1998. Some prominent bugs led to the NBA Live Series Center fan site submitting a patch petition to EA Sports which resulted in two official patches which included roster update for the 98–99 season.

As Live 99 kept the same file formats as Live 98, patchers were able to produce the same wide variety of patches using an updated version of the EA Graphics Editor and the NBA Live 99 Toolkit.

Features

LIVE Hoops

  • Fresh new moves, including jab steps, fake passes and aggressive rebounding, plus high-flying new dunks.
  • Real NBA stats, real NBA players, real NBA moves.
  • Create a dynasty with new multiple seasons - players evolve over time.
  • Enhanced GM mode with full NBA draft and realistic computer trading.

LIVE Technology

  • New Sports Ticker via the Internet - check NBA scores as you play.
  • Unreal 3D graphics with real-time lighting and hundreds of animations.
  • Unbelievable player detail, including fully modeled heads and facial animations.

LIVE Style

  • New Pro-Action AI includes smarter, more realistic player reactions.
  • TV presentation - moving cameras focus on player highlights.
  • New enhanced Play-by-Play and Color Commentary.

Platform differences

The Nintendo 64 version is actually an updated port of NBA Live 98, and not the same as the PC and PlayStation. The PC and PlayStation versions also featured a bug, out of the box, where players did not fatigue properly. While the PC version received a patch, it is unknown if, but highly unlikely, the PlayStation version was fixed in later production versions.

Reception
Reception
Review scores
PublicationScore
N64PCPS
AllGameN/A[1]N/A
EGM7.5/10[2]N/A8.67/10[3]
Game Informer7.25/10[4]N/A7.75/10[5]
GameFan72%[6]N/A91%[7]
GamePro[8][9][10]
GameRevolutionN/AA−[11]B+[12]
GameSpot7.2/10[13]8.9/10[14]8/10[15]
IGN8/10[16]8.6/10[17]9/10[18]
Nintendo Power7.1/10[19]N/AN/A
OPM (US)N/AN/A[20]
PC Gamer (US)N/A92%[21]N/A
The Cincinnati EnquirerN/A[22]N/A
Aggregate score
GameRankings78%[23]86%[24]88%[25]

The game received "favorable" reviews on all platforms according to video game review aggregator GameRankings.[25][24][23]

Notes
  • Due to the NBA lockout, Live 99 featured final 1997–98 rosters accurate as of July 1, 1998 rather than early 1998–99 rosters featuring the draft class of 1998. EA Sports released two official patches, the first updating the rosters, adding the 50 game schedule and addressing several gameplay issues, while the second served as a midseason roster update.
  • Multi-season play and Practice Mode were introduced in Live 99.
  • Prior to the official roster update, Michael Jordan was once again represented by a "Roster Player" for the Chicago Bulls.

References
  1. Sutyak, Jonathan. "NBA Live 99 (PC) - Review". AllGame. Archived from the original on November 14, 2014. Retrieved April 27, 2015.
  2. "NBA Live 99 (N64)". Electronic Gaming Monthly. 1998.
  3. EGM staff (January 1999). "NBA Live 99". Electronic Gaming Monthly.
  4. "NBA Live 99 - Nintendo 64". Game Informer (68). December 1998. Archived from the original on September 8, 1999. Retrieved April 27, 2015.
  5. McNamara, Andy; Anderson, Paul; Reiner, Andrew (January 1999). "NBA Live 99 (PS)". Game Informer (69): 47. Archived from the original on May 23, 2000. Retrieved April 27, 2015.
  6. "REVIEW for NBA Live 99 (N64)". GameFan. November 16, 1998.
  7. "REVIEW for NBA Live 99 (PS)". GameFan. November 20, 1998.
  8. "NBA Live '99 Review for N64 on GamePro.com". GamePro. 1998.
  9. The GamePros (1998). "NBA Live 99 Review for PC on GamePro.com". GamePro. Archived from the original on December 13, 2004. Retrieved April 28, 2015.
  10. Air Hendrix (1998). "NBA Live 99 Review for PlayStation on GamePro.com". GamePro. Archived from the original on December 25, 2004. Retrieved April 28, 2015.
  11. Cooke, Mark (December 1998). "NBA Live 99 Review (PC)". Game Revolution. Retrieved April 28, 2015.
  12. Dr. Moo (November 1998). "NBA Live 99 - PS". Game Revolution. Archived from the original on July 24, 2008. Retrieved April 28, 2015.
  13. Gerstmann, Jeff (November 10, 1998). "NBA Live 99 Review (N64)". GameSpot. Retrieved April 27, 2015.
  14. Chin, Elliott (December 9, 1998). "NBA Live 99 Review (PC)". GameSpot. Retrieved April 27, 2015.
  15. Gerstmann, Jeff (November 20, 1998). "NBA Live 99 Review (PS)". GameSpot. Retrieved April 27, 2015.
  16. Schneider, Peer (November 5, 1998). "NBA Live 99 (N64)". IGN. Retrieved April 28, 2015.
  17. Blevins, Tal (November 10, 1998). "NBA Live '99 [sic] (PC)". IGN. Retrieved April 28, 2015.
  18. Harris, Chris (November 6, 1998). "NBA Live 99 (PS)". IGN. Retrieved April 28, 2015.
  19. "NBA Live 99". Nintendo Power. 115: 130. December 1998.
  20. "NBA Live 99". Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine. January 1999.
  21. Smolka, Rob (February 1999). "NBA Live 99". PC Gamer. Archived from the original on March 11, 2000. Retrieved April 27, 2015.
  22. Hopper, D. Ian (1998). "Another swoosh for EA Sports". The Cincinnati Enquirer. Archived from the original on April 28, 2001. Retrieved April 27, 2015.
  23. "NBA Live 99 for Nintendo 64". GameRankings. Retrieved April 27, 2015.
  24. "NBA Live 99 for PC". GameRankings. Retrieved April 27, 2015.
  25. "NBA Live 99 for PlayStation". GameRankings. Retrieved April 27, 2015.
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