NBA Live 99

Moby ID: 110896

A horn-heavy boogie gleefully intros NBA Live 99, a festive hoopfest that emphasizes instant playability and old-time fun over superrealism and messy labor disputes.

Pick the N64-exclusive Arcade mode, for example, and you'll hear the corniest sound effects this side of a bad Hong Kong action flick. The flames generated by monster dunks look more like orange smears than anything you could roast a hot dog over. But retro animation is very In these days -- just check out South Park -- and Live 99's goofball works its own charm, even on this basketball junkie.

The polished graphics include player's shadows and the reflections of the arc lights on hardwood. EA Sports has sweated such details as the Skydome's parquet floor and teams' "Sunday" uniforms, but the crowds, ceilings and Jumbotrons all look pretty much the same. For some reason, benchwarmers don't have reflections in the out-of-bounds areas, but dasherboards do. Player movements are generally smooth and realistic, although fast-moving arms appear a bit herky-jerky.

Live 99 contains five modes: Exhibition, Season, Playoffs, 3-Point Shootout and the aforementioned Arcade. A full complement of options includes four difficulty levels, customized rules, and quarters and playoff series of varying lengths.

An unwieldy menu system compels you to start a game before selecting your strategy. Live 99 offers seven offensive strategies, including two versions of Chicago's famed Triangle Offense, five defensive strategies, and three settings for defensive pressure. You can also assign one or more defenders to specific players and set the level of pressure on each. Given all those options, a Practice mode like that found in EA Sports' Madden NFL 99 would have been nice.

Like most sports games these days, Live 99 comes with a built-in database that can slice and dice stats just about any way you please. When selecting teams in Season mode, for example, you can sort the squads by offensive, defensive and other measures. An in-game Shot Display shows you who made and who missed shots and from where.

Live 99's bountiful general manager options allow you to trade players, claim free agents and edit the abilities of existing players in 12 categories, including clutch performance, steal ability and defensive awareness. Because the game's artificial intelligence doesn't reject dopey trades, we were able to pick up Grant Hill for a player would have a hard time putting up points against Dr. Laura. Through such skullduggery, you can put together four custom teams that would put the '95-'96 Bulls to shame. There's also All-Star teams from the Western and Eastern conferences.

The rosters were updated July 1, but lack rookies from the '98 draft. However, resourceful Grizzlies fans can use the create player feature to construct their very own Mike Bibby. There's room for 20 custom players, so you can fashion practically every number one pick from Michael Olowokandi on down.

And oh yes, Rodman's hair in the game is green.

Source:

www.nintendo.com – Nintendo 64

The Soul of Hoops

Comes to LIFE on the N64

  • New high-flying arcade mode
  • Classic NBA Live gameplay
  • Crossover, spin, shake, and more
  • All-star action - 3Pt shootout
  • Authentic high-res NBA arenas
  • Game features
    • Simulation Mode - Realistic NBA Live Basketball
    • Unbelievable High-Res Graphics
    • Pro-Action AI: Real-Life Player Reactions
    • Real NBA Motion-captured Moves
    • Create, Trade, Sign, and Release Players
    • Play-by-Play Speech
    • All the Teams, all the Players

Source:

Back of Box - N64 (US)


Contributed by Joshua J. Slone, Evil Ryu.


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