If you miss the phrases "Boomshakalaka" and "Is it the shoes?" coming out of your TV, then you're gonna love the new NBA Jam! Not only is the original commentator, Tim Kitzrow; back in the hot seat, but the latest NBA Jam title is definitely the greatest. With all your old favorite dunks and stars of the NBA, but with lots and lots of new features and unlockable content. The arcade classic has just gotten a whole lot better!
Jam points also accumulate and after each game you can use them to purchase unlockables in the Jam Store. Items such as new courts, cheat codes, and new attire for existing or your created characters, which is also a new addition to NBA Jam. The create-a-character option isn't as expansive as other games, but it does its job. You can also use your jam points to increase your created character's attributes or make a dream team consisting of all your favorite stars.
The best new feature to the series is the Jam Tournament and Legends Tournament. The Jam Tournament pits you against all 29 NBA teams in order to make it to the top. The Legends Tournament is what really makes this game stand out above all the others. In order to win, you must play teams of the best players from the past to the present. You start out playing against Pre-70's teams. Not only are you playing players whom retired MANY years ago, but also you see the game as it was back then, Black and White! You also get to listen to music from that time period and an old time style commentator. As you beat all the teams in a time period, not only do the characters become playable, but you move on and the display, music, and commentator all change. One complaint though is the AI is really cheap.
Every chance they get they steal the ball or knock you down. Eventually you will learn their tactics, but it can be really frustrating at first. And for people who want to pick up the controller and have a good time, there unfortunately is no option to switch the difficulty. The default camera can also be annoying at time, but luckily there is the option to change that. My biggest complaint of all is that it's not playable on Live. They added the ability to download content in the future, but no play on Live? WHY???????
The new dunks and animations look spectacular and really light up your TV screen. When the players are souring through the air doing backflips well above the backboard, it makes me wish I had a big screen TV.
Unlike past NBA Jam titles, the commentator has plenty of sayings so you won't get sick of hearing the same things over and over. One of my favorite sayings is from the pre-70's commentator, "he's heating up like an electric blanket".
Ubisoft has just announced Spartacus Legends, a Free-To-Play fighting game for Xbox Live Arcade. And just like the Starz TV series that inspired it, it’s violently gruesome. Avert your eyes, kids.
As Xbox One will reportedly need to check-in via the internet every 24 hours in order for games to be playable on the console, a common fear is that should the servers ever close, gamers’ libraries will become useless. Not so, says Major Nelson.
Despite its launch troubles, State of Decay is still the fastest selling original game on Xbox Live, and developer Undead Labs isn’t resting on its laurels. A new "pure survival" sandbox mode is in the works, and a follow-up game is under discussion.
Shortly after our review of State of Decay was submitted last week, Title Update 1 was released in order to address the game’s many bugs. We tested it and found that it only works with brand new gamesaves. Developer Undead Labs is working on a fix.
It doesn’t seem to get any easier for the western studios owned by Square Enix. The developer behind the Hitman franchise was cut down to half by the Japanese publisher, reportedly in order to refocus solely on a future "Triple-A" Hitman title.
Xbox One Killer Instinct purists who want to purchase the entire roster of fighters rather than pay for each one piecemeal can rest easy, as a Season Pass option will be available at launch. Either way, the game will be download only, though.
Of course, there might be other solutions to the Xbox One’s apparent PR struggles that don’t involve changing Microsoft’s proposed always-on strategy. Wedbush Securities analyst Michael Pachter has his own solution...and naturally, it involves money.
