Summary
No, this was a great basketball simulation!
The Good
It's so difficult to appreciate a good computer game if it was made a while ago. We always seem to forget how limited the technology was, and how many groundbeaking games appear plain and ugly to us. In 1989, games were released and got the same reviews like today's products: "Incredible graphics... realistic atmosphere..." etc.
Some genres, such as strategy, adventure and action, deal with this age problem better than others - such as RPGs, which requires a magic, convincing atmosphere - and it was so difficult to achieve it in the old days. The simulation genre seems to suffer the most from the problem. Now we have racing simulations where cars look like real cars, and basketball simulation where players look like real people. Who'd be interested in a 16-colored, 2D basketball game where all the players look alike and each moment you feel you're just plaing a computer game?
And still, "Lakers vs. Celtics" was, and is, a great basketball simulation. The gameplay is very good, the sound effects great, and you have to be concentrated, make good passes and not let the other team steal the ball. The computer's AI is very high - much better than NBA Live 1998, for example.
The Bad
All the flaws of this game are only due to the limited technical possibilities of the time. For 1989, it was a groundbreaking, innovative, enjoyable game.
The Bottom Line
Of course, it's funny to play it after NBA Live 2000, but it's still fun as an arcade game, and one shouldn't forget it was THE basketball simulation for long time.
