NBA Jam

Released

1993 on Arcade

Releases by Date (by platform)

Publishers

Developers

Midway Manufacturing Company

Moby Score

7.8

#3,495 of 155K

Critics

82% (67)

Players

(162)

Ranking

#29 on SNES
#42 on SEGA CD
#65 on Genesis
#72 on Game Gear
#184 on Game Boy

Collected By

121 players

Genre: Action
Sports
Perspective: Side view
Visual: 2D scrolling
Gameplay: Arcade
Interface: Direct control
Sport: Basketball
Misc: Licensed

Buy (updated 3/29 1:45 AM)

Arcade
eBay
Game Boy
Amazon eBay
Game Gear
Amazon eBay
Genesis
$10.96 used at Amazon eBay
SNES
Amazon eBay

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Description official descriptions

NBA Jam is a two-on-two basketball game You can play any NBA team, and you can play as players like Barkley, Starks, Pippen, and Grant. Each human player controls a single player, so choose your squad wisely to take team-mate skill into account. The game is action-oriented, and players can perform unrealistic slam-dunks. Full performance statistics are automatically recorded. The play clock and 3-point line apply, but other rules are largely overlooked.

Spellings

NBAジャム - Japanese spelling

Groups +

Screenshots

Promos

Credits (Arcade version)

46 People (24 developers, 22 thanks) · View all

Design Team	Mark Turmell Shawn Liptak Tony Goskie John Carlton Sal DiVita Jonathan Hey Jamie Rivett
Special Thanks	John Newcomer George N. Petro Linda Deal Jack E. Haeger Roger Sharpe Jake Simpson Tim Kitzrow Warren Davis Eugene P. Jarvis Mark Loffredo L.E.D. Betty Purcell Ray Gay Dan Forden Paul Heitsch Frank Suareo Chris Granner Alison Quant
[ full credits ]

Reviews

Trivia

1001 Video Games

NBA Jam appears in the book 1001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die by General Editor Tony Mott.

Athletes

One of the game's major features is the NBA license and the real athletes. The arcade version became such a hit that several NBA athletes requested to be included in the game. Some of those requests were fulfilled and special versions were sent to a few select arcade owners. One of those athletes was Michael Jordan who actually was featured in a pre-release version but taken out because he left the NBA. According to Mark Turmell, Shaquille O'Neal actually bought two arcade cabinets; one for his home and one for his hotel rooms when traveling.

Easter egg rumor

Another famous thing about the original arcade version is the big number of easter eggs, including hidden athletes and a free Battlezone variant (arcade owners really didn't like that one!). The promotional material of the game included photos of cheerleaders, portrayed by Playboy models. So everyone searched for the hidden codes to unlock their models in the game... Kerri Hoskins was even pestered with phone calls at home.

Sega Master System port

A port of the game for the Sega Master System was developed, but never released.

Success

According to the magazine Retro Gamer, the arcade version made over one billion dollar during its first year.

Awards

Electronic Gaming Monthly
- February 1994 (Issue 55) - Game of the Month (SNES version)* GameFan
- Vol. 3, Iss. 1 - Best SNES Action/Arcade Game of the Year 1994