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NBA Jam: Tournament Edition

The second edition to the crazed Jam series. This game features expanded roster from its predecessor, NBA Jam, more hidden surprises and hidden power-ups, upped "juice" speeds, expanded dunks, as well as a host of other additions. But the basic premise of in-your-face, dunk-it-up gameplay that made the original game such a hit with gamers remains the same. After all, why fix something if it's not broken?


Graphics: 7/10

Graphics feature larger sprites from the previous Jam game. More color palletes are present as well. In-game animation features more varieties of dunks, lay-ups, as well as several more jump shots. The faces and logos for each team is made clearer in presentation. The animation is also made much smoother. The overall visual is updated, although still doesn't warrant it a spot as a "graphical masterpiece".

Sound & Music: 7/10

The catchy opening tune is reminicent of musics from TV shows such as NBA Inside Stuff, NBA on NBC, etc. This is not a bad thing at all. Because of the nature of the game, it is very similar to the "Jam Session" on NBA Inside Stuff, therefore the opening music creates a believable atmosphere. However, the lack of in-game music really hurt this score. The color commentary only has a few editions from NBA Jam. Not bad sound, but certainly not the best.

Gameplay/Fun Factor: 10/10

This game is a lot more fun than its predecessor. Because the animation is smoother, therefore you are able to pull off moves with more precision. The expansion of each team's rosters really brought in more strategies. Now you can do some subsituting between each quarter to adjust to injuries. Also, if opponent is good at blocking shots down under? Then switch to a three point shooter! Along with others, the usual stuff is still here such as ultra-high field goal percentage, spectacular dunks, as well as just about every other move you can think of in the NBA(no alley-oops though), NBA Jam TE hast it.

Conclusion/Overall: 9/10

This game is a big upgrade from the previous "Jam" game. The overall atmospheric presentation made this a much better game than its predecesor. Although it still plays almost the same as NBA Jam, but once again, why fix something if it isn't broken?
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