NBA Jam is one of the most influential video games ever.
If you’re a basketball fan, then, surely, you know about NBA Jam. If you’re a video game fan, then, SURELY, you know about NBA Jam.
The intersecting of those two genres (along with a paint of the absurd) made for one of the greatest video games in history. It is UNDENIABLE what NBA Jam has done for both the basketball world and the gaming world.
And you can know about the history of NBA Jam in this outstanding book that is simply titled, NBA Jam.
This is NBA Jam, written by the illustrious Reyan Ali.
Reyan Ali went through lengths to talk to most of the people involved with the game. He also talked about their backgrounds to give the reader a picture of how they started to how they got involved with the game.
Gamers might remember Mark Turmell. He was the project leader for NBA Jam. Sal DiVita? He was one of the developers of the game. Remember the character Air Dog in the home version of NBA Jam? They are just a few of the names that Ali talked to in this book.
Ali also talked about the painstakingly long process that Midway (the company that created NBA Jam) went through to make this game. People in this generation may not know this but video games were not as mainstream in the 90s. In fact, video games were looked down upon. Arcade machines were thought to be in seedy places like bars. It took the NBA some convincing from Midway to get the license from them.
While Midway tried to get a prominent voice for the game, they ended up getting Tim Kitzrow, who has become an iconic voice and made some iconic phrases that we have embedded into our lexicon. Read about how “BOOMSHAKALAKA!” was created. That is something people immediately say when talking about NBA Jam. Even people who weren’t into basketball were saying things like “HE’S HEATING UP!” and “HE’S ON FIRE!”
The game was big right from the get-go. Being an NBA fan myself (I mean, duh, I keep a web site), I was THRILLED to see an arcade game about the NBA. It had never been done before. And we had never seen players jump 20 feet into the air while throwing down ridiculous dunks. It was the coolest game at the time (and still is one of the coolest games EVER). It kind of sucked for me that there was always a crowd around NBA Jam but this game was the most popular thing going in my local arcade.
NBA players themselves were going crazy over the game. Shaquille O’Neal and Glen Rice were among the stars that played the game. It was bonkers. That’s how huge NBA Jam was.
Acclaim did the home console translations for Midway in those days and they did a wonderful job bringing them to the Sega Genesis, Super Nintendo, and other consoles (portable and home). I can tell you for myself that I eschewed my homework to play NBA Jam with friends and cousins. One time, my cousin and I went 8 overtimes in one NBA Jam game. It was such an exhilarating video game experience that I’m very very sure that we won’t duplicate ever again. And of course, my cousin and I played a few more games after that 8-OT session.
As some of you may know, NBA Jam got even hotter when Midway (and then Acclaim) released a Tournament Edition of a game. It expanded the roster from two to three players and added more absurdity (crazier dunks) to the game.
Eventually, Acclaim got the NBA Jam license, which meant Midway didn’t get to use the name for future arcade games anymore. Still, they used that formula for future sports games (they continued to do NBA games under different names) and it worked wonderfully (examples being NFL Blitz and MLB Slugfest).
NBA Jam (the book) also did a wonderful job chronicling the rise and fall of Midway. Midway was such a mainstay in the arcade and then home video game department that it was so sad to see it fall. And as you know, Midway had a lot of signature games outside of NBA Jam. Video gamers know that Midway is behind Mortal Kombat. They also had Rampage, Smash TV, Spy Hunter, and the Cruis’N series (among other franchises).
While Midway (and Acclaim) did fall, EA Sports was able to acquire the license to NBA Jam. We were able to see a revival of the game in the early 2010s with most of the original team. It was great to see that generation experience NBA Jam. That was also talked about in the book as well.
NBA Jam is etched in video game AND basketball lore forever. And Ali’s book will remind you of that. Ali really did an excellent job talking about the ins and outs of the creation process of NBA Jam, the popularity of the game, and how the game impacted basketball and video game culture. If you really want to know about the deep history of this standout game, you can absolutely do no wrong with NBA Jam the Book from Reyan Ali.
Special thanks to Reyan Ali, the author of NBA Jam (the Book), for providing a copy.
You can get NBA Jam (the Book) from its publisher, Boss Fight Books. And you can also get it from Amazon.
You can also follow the Twitter account at @nbajambook. I highly recommend the follow, especially to those who love video games.
Rey-Rey is on Twitter at @TheNoLookPass.
TNLP on FaceBook.