NBA Jam (Sega Game Gear review)

Developer: Iguana Entertainment
Publisher: Arena Entertainment
Released: 1994

NBA Jam is a sports game that was first released in the Arcade in 1993.

+ Scaled-down port is remarkable, and the extravagant gameplay is addictive due to its fast-paced approach.

+ Includes an enormous range of official NBA players and their avatars are beautifully crafted for impressive likenesses.

+ Absence of fouls makes for some fun combat, and the half-time stats detail lots of information about each player.

+ Majestic jams look spectacular and there's a breathtaking amount of dunk animations to amplify the excitement.

- Combining Turbo with the face buttons for super moves is awkward due to the split placement of the Start button.

- Doesn't have a true Season or Playoff mode, and there's no Gear-to-Gear Cable support for 2P multiplayer.

- While understandable, the lack of Tim Kitzrow's voice clips hurt the presentation and text-only lines might have helped.

NBA Jam (Mega CD / Sega CD review)

Developer: Iguana Entertainment
Publisher: Acclaim Entertainment
Released: 1994

NBA Jam is a sports game that was first released in the Arcade in 1993.

+ Extravagant gameplay is highly addictive due to its fast-paced approach and control scheme that's easy to master.

+ Outlandish dunks provide showstopping moments, and the lack of fouls makes for some hysterical multiplayer combat.

+ Includes an enormous range of official NBA players and their sprites are beautifully crafted for impressive likenesses.

+ Turbo function is versatile for both offense and defense, and the metre always refills quickly to keep the action tense.

+ Iconic voice samples from Tim Kitzrow add excitement and the clips are higher quality than on the Sega Genesis (1994).

- No substantial improvements over Sega's cartridge version, and for some reason the load times are unbearably long.

- No true Season or Playoff mode means there's no real consequence to losing apart from your overall win-loss record.

NBA Jam (Sega Mega Drive / Genesis review)

Developer: Iguana Entertainment
Publisher: Arena Entertainment
Released: 1994

NBA Jam is a sports game that was first released in the Arcade in 1993.

+ Extravagant gameplay is highly addictive due to its fast-paced approach and control scheme that's easy to master.

+ Outlandish dunks provide showstopping moments, and the lack of fouls makes for some hysterical multiplayer combat.

+ Includes an enormous range of official NBA players and their sprites are beautifully crafted for impressive likenesses.

+ Turbo function is versatile for both offense and defense, and the metre always refills quickly to keep the action tense.

+ Iconic voice samples from Tim Kitzrow take the game's personality to the next level and interject pure excitement.

+ Half-time stats detail lots of information about each player, which can be useful for making second half adjustments.

- No true Season or Playoff mode means there's no real consequence to losing apart from your overall win-loss record.

South Park (N64 review)

Developer: Iguana Entertainment
Publisher: Acclaim Entertainment
Released: 1998

South Park is a first-person shooter that was later released on Microsoft Windows (1999) and Sony PlayStation (1999).

There's five episodes (with 3-4 levels each) and your objective is to defend South Park against a giant comet and wipe out enemies such as aliens and killer toys. The playable characters are Cartman, Kenny, Kyle and Stan, and your weapons include Snowballs and a Cow Launcher. It's immediately clear that the controls haven't aged well, as both options for moving your character have severe flaws; for example, using the analog stick is far too sensitive on the X axis (resulting in major over-steer), while using the face buttons to advance leads to an overly touchy Y axis (making it difficult to line up shots). It's possible to adjust the more you play, but you'll always feel like you're battling against them, particularly during boss fights. At least the level design is above-average with familiar locations for series fanatics and vast areas to explore; the latter could easily have become overwhelming (especially when you consider the poor draw distance that replaces detail with extreme fog), but thankfully the developers implemented arrow markers and a handy radar. There isn't much variety to the missions, but some are memorable such as the need to destroy stampeding clones before they crush the town. Another cool feature is how you're rewarded with multiplayer characters after finishing each level, as it nudges you into trying out the different gameplay types. The weapons are imaginative, although I do wish there was more ammo to pick up... trying to defeat bosses while only having the default snowball weapon takes forever! The whimsical music suits the action to a tee and the cut-scenes are hilarious.

South Park on the N64 does an excellent job of mimicking the style and humour of the TV show, but pretty much everything else about it is unremarkable. It's biggest issue is the hypersensitive controls and the more you advance the more they become the game's Achilles heel due to their effect on your shot accuracy.

Random trivia: A Game Boy Color version was in development, but was ultimately cancelled.

NFL Quarterback Club (32X review)

Developer: Iguana Entertainment
Publisher: Acclaim Entertainment
Released: 1995

NFL Quarterback Club is a sports game that was originally released on the Nintendo Game Boy (1993).

It features 28 NFL teams, the license of 19 top quarterbacks of the time and 430+ plays. There's also seven modes including Season, Playoffs (8 team tournament), and Simulation (placing you in various game situations). On Offense, it's not immediately apparent which plays are Pass or Run, so it's perhaps not as accommodating to newcomers as John Madden Football (1990, Mega Drive). However, the gameplay is smooth with responsive controls, and there's plenty of neat features such as the ability to see replays and switch between four camera angles. You can also preset your audibles, flip plays, and shift to a no-huddle offense, giving you full control over the action. There's tons of hilarious player celebrations too, and the voice-clips of the officials (e.g. when signaling a First Down) have good clarity. On Defense, providing you have a basic understanding of the different formations, choosing a play is a breeze. Executing your role in each play is simple too thanks to the fantastic controls and ability to switch between players in an instant. One annoyance though is that the game never remembers which player position you chose last; this is especially frustrating if you always want to be a Linebacker and constantly have to cycle through team-mates prior to each snap! The computer A.I. can be dumb too, such as calling unnecessary timeouts when they're ahead and about to punt the ball on 4th Down with less than a minute to go. Graphically, there's some cool scaling effects as you drive towards the endzone, but nothing that takes full advantage of the 32X.

NFL Quarterback Club is clearly a Madden clone, but it does a commendable job of providing a solid game of American Football. There's not much innovation and newbies will likely have a slight learning curve on Offense, but it has a wealth of plays, content and modes to keep you playing for a long time.

Random trivia: The game was also released on the Sega Game Gear, Sega Mega Drive and Super Nintendo in 1994.