SEGA Master System

Great Basketball

O Campeonato Mundial de basquete está começando. As oito melhores seleções do mundo estão em quadra, dentre elas o Brasil. As partidas são disputadas em dois tempos de 3 minutos e, em caso de empate há uma prorrogação de 90 segundos. Cuidado com as equipes escolhidas, pois cada uma tem característica própria tanto na velocidade como nos arremessos.

É a vez da tradicional bola ao cesto. São jogos com dois tempos de três minutos cada. Em caso de empate, prorrogalão de 90 segundos. Oito seleções participam do campeonato.

The nonstop background music does grow on you, but the voice synthesis is so fuzzy that it's laughable. As awful as it sounds, Great Basketball is playable once you understand and accept its limitations. The side view of the court gives you a good angle of the action, the games are short, and the shooting controls are excellent. You even get a half-time show, although these cheerleaders look different than those on the sidelines for some reason. If nothing else, Great Basketball is at least good for a few laughs.

Yet again I’m saddened by what Sega of America did to the Master System. The great series was clearly a failure and should never have been marketed. The PAL market is lucky this set of suck didn’t drop the system down like it did over here, but then again they didn’t have to contend with Nintendo’s stranglehold either. Another thing is that they decided to change the artwork for some damn reason, the Japanese had it right, suck aside, using a cartoon-like design that really captures what they were trying to pull off even though they didn’t. Great Basketball is thus not only an embarrassment in gaming, it’s also an embarrassment to collectors because the cover is god awful. Stay away if you’re interesting in playing and only purchase this if you’re a sick, disturbed, obsessed completist, there’s no reason to own it otherwise.