NBA Hangtime

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NBA Hangtime

Developer(s)	Funcom
Publisher(s)	Midway
Release date(s)	N64 ^NA January 17, 1997 ^EU May 12, 1997
Genre(s)	Sports
Mode(s)	Single player, multiplayer
Rating(s)	ESRB: Kids to Adults (K-A)
Platform(s)	Nintendo 64, PlayStation, Sega Mega Drive, Super NES, arcade, Windows

NBA Hangtime is a basketball game for the Nintendo 64, PlayStation, Sega Genesis, Super NES, arcade and Windows. It was released for the Nintendo 64 in 1997.

When Midway and Acclaim parted ways, Acclaim kept the NBA Jam name. Midway made their own version of the Jam franchise, which was more popular than the Acclaim version, as it had more of an original Jam feel. New features of the series included create-a-player, alley-oops and double dunks. A software update known as NBA Maximum Hangtime was released for the arcades later in the life cycle.

The next NBA title from Midway was NBA Showtime.

[edit] Game play

At the main screen there are three commands: create player, enter name, and select teams. The Create Player port allows players to create an NBA player with specifications they choose and enter him into an NBA game (the Enter Name port facilitates this). Specifications include height, weight, power, shooting and defensive skills. Created players become more powerful as they earn additional attribute points after each four games won.

The Select Teams port allows the game player to select from any of the 29 NBA teams then in existence and match them in 4 quarters of NBA regulation basketball (3 minutes each), with three minute overtimes if necessary. The Enter Name option allows the player to load their created player and their progress through the NBA Hangtime challenge of defeating all 29 NBA teams. The carousel of teams begins with the Vancouver Grizzlies and ends with the Chicago Bulls (on their way to being NBA champions at the time of the game's release). After beating all 29 teams, the challenge continues as the player faces a number of secret characters.

The actual game play consists of a fast paced game of two-on-two basketball. Similar to NBA Jam, players have the ability to perform ridiculous moves, especially gravity-defying dunks. Players have a limited amount of turbo that allows them to move faster and execute special moves. If a player scores three baskets in a row without their opponent scoring, he will beocome "On Fire," providing infiinite turbo as well as a significant bonus to shooting accuracy. Fire lasts until the opponent scores. Also, if three alley-oops or double dunks are performed without the opponent scoring, the team will gain 25 seconds of "Team Fire" with both players on fire. Team fire can only be broken by the opponent scoring an alley-oop or double dunk. Different players have different skills that reflect their real-life counterparts. Players can be substituted at halftime. Field goals, three pointers, dunks, rebounds, assists, steals, blocked shots and turnovers as well as player injuries are counted in halftime and end of game stats, as well as a quarter-by-quarter summary of points scored.

[edit] Space Jam Conflict

Due to contractual obligations from acting in the 1996 movie Space Jam, several players were not allowed to be featured in NBA Hangtime. Chief among those barred from appearing in NBA Hangtime were Michael Jordan, Mugsy Bogues, and Charles Barkley. In an unrelated note, Shaquille O'Neal was unable to be featured in the game because of his contractual obligations to the movie Kazaam and the game Shaq-Fu.

Many faithful fans hope to see NBA Hangtime appear on the list of Nintendo Wii's Virtual Console games sometime soon.