Well-Hung! (NBA Hangtime (PS))

Member Name: scream4bruce

Product:	NBA Hangtime (PS)
Date:	29/09/08 (52 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Easy to pick up, fast and furious end-to-end action

Disadvantages: CPU AI rebound, restrictive view, loading times

*A review of NBA Hangtime for the PS which primarily focuses on the single-player experience.*

When Acclaim and Midway had went their ways, the NBA Jam name was kept by the former, and with it saw a turnover of style to (basketball) simulation. Midway however, stuck to the two-on-two arcade action style of the original NBA Jam game for NBA Hangtime. Now to tip-off, I don't follow basketball; the N64 version of this title was the first game of the sport that I would play.

Like NBA Jam, NBA Hangtime doesn't play entirely by the rules of basketball, so players (preferably those of the opposition) can be pushed over, and elbows can be used for clearing out. The moves in this game are cool - beyond the fakes, some of the slam dunks are as exaggerated as they are spectacular. And, as a pair, there will be opportunities for alley oops as well as the difficult-to-pull-off double dunks. By scoring successively, the player, or the team, can become "on fire" whereby they can turn the heat up on the opposition with their enhanced abilities - but there are ways to put the fire out!

There are 29 NBA teams to choose from, and if you want to change more than the colour of Dennis Rodman's hair then there is a Create Player feature which is about fair for variety. Additional attribute points for use in this port are awarded from winning a number of matches and at the breaks, the Coaching Tips are welcome, but the loading times not so. After each match is a quiz question - answering these earns points, but the rewards are a long shot (especially for me) and will require more than a dozen three pointers. Unfortunately, there's no way to turn the trivia off - this along with the name and PIN system (which the game uses to store individual player records) makes for a delay between playing matches in the game's challenge to defeat all 29 NBA teams.

The view in NBA Hangtime works to a disadvantage for human players - defending man-to-man out-of-view is difficult despite there being arrows to assist. Visually, the game is sprite-based, sporting animation that is average at best, with a court surface only true to the background and lighting. Audio-wise, the rap song featured is pretty cool though the music and voice samples in this game were limited.

The three button controls is straightforward to get to grasps with, but for the single-player, each match against the CPU controlled team is too close to be comfortable, and this is regardless of the difficulty setting and whether computer assistance - which ups their intensity to keep the game competitive - is switched on or not. Yet it felt as if there was room for improvement in the CPU when on the same side.

Worth a shot if others are available to play.

Summary: NBA Hangtime for PlayStation