| NBA Showtime | |
|---|---|
| Developer(s) | Midway, Eurocom |
| Publisher(s) | Midway |
| Platform(s) | Arcade, PlayStation, Dreamcast, Nintendo 64, Game Boy Color |
| Release date(s) | 1999 |
| Genre(s) | Sports |
| Mode(s) | Single player, multiplayer |
NBA Showtime is a basketball video game by Midway. A descendant of NBA Jam and NBA Hangtime, Showtime is modeled after the NBA presentations on NBC. The original arcade version features team rosters from the beginning of the 1998-99 NBA season, while the console versions features team rosters that were accurate prior to the 1999-2000 NBA season. A newer "Gold" version for arcades features another roster update from later in the 1999-2000 season.
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Rather than 5 on 5 action like professional play, this game features 2 on 2 play with the ability to pick two players from any NBA team's starting line-up for the first half and can choose again for the second. In addition, after a player makes 3 consecutive shots he becomes "on fire", which allows him to easily make shots from almost anywhere, as well as goaltend without penalty and push opponents without being charged a foul. Play otherwise is similar to NBA rules. The arcade version accommodates up to 4 players, as do the home versions produced for the Nintendo 64, (Except for the PlayStation version as it only has 2 controller ports) and Dreamcast.
The players featured in the game included many of the most popular players of the particular year and era of the NBA season. But, like the previous games in the arcade-style basketball series—many players were left out and each team has a limited amount of players per position to choose from for the 2 on 2 gameplay.
As with the previous NBA Jam and NBA Hangtime games, the game contains many secret characters. The arcade version features the Universal Monsters Frankenstein's monster, Bride of Frankenstein, The Mummy, The Wolf Man and Creature from the Black Lagoon as secret characters.
Several Midway Games employees are also playable characters. Some of the available players include Mark Turmell, Rob Gatson, Mark Guidarelli, Dan Thompson, Jeff Johnson, Jason Skiles, Sal DiVita, Jennifer Hedrick, Eugene Geer, Matt Gilmore, Tim Bryant, Jim Gentile, John Root, Jon Hey, Andy Eloff, Mike Lynch, Dave Grossman, Larry Wotman, Tim Moran, Willie Morris, Greg Cutler, and Chad Edmunds.
The game-time commentary is particularly varied and colorful for basketball games of that period, featuring such phrases as "The dejection of the rejection!" "He just flat-out leveled him!" as well as "With the silky smooth move!" and "Look Ma, no rim!"
The original announcer from NBA Jam, Tim Kitzrow, returned, after Midway used the Bulls radio announcer Neil Funk in NBA Hangtime. Jon Hey produced all the sound, music and script save for the NBC basketball theme Roundball Rock by John Tesh. At the time, the music was influenced by 2Pac and Dr. Dre's California Love and Master P's Make 'em say uhh and previous NBA Themes written by Jon Hey for NBA Jam and NBA Hangtime.
The N64 version of the game received mixed reviews, receiving a score of 6.8 on GameSpot.com [1]
As NBA Showtime is an arcade game, all ports do not have a back button (in order to avoid dawdling on the arcade version), and certain menus even have a time limit (such as the high score initials, which are [like many arcade games] difficult to manipulate and often result in the initials being "AAA").
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