While there have been “NBA Jam” games on the N64, they’ve not been much like the original NBA Jam – instead, the actual gameplay sequel to NBA Jam was NBA Hangtime. Following on from that is NBA Showtime, which brings the format into 3D. This can often be tricky, especially for such a fast-paced game, but the developers did a great job at recreating the feel in an extra dimension.

This means a very fast-paced, frantic arcade basketball game that manages to run extremely smoothly. While I wasn’t a big fan of Hangtime, I can appreciate that this keeps the same style of gameplay, and doesn’t need to compromise anything for making the game 3D. The features are still extremely light – with a basic create a character (or more choose from a list of characters and name them), and nothing outside just playing matches.

Fun

Remake or remaster?

I think fans would like to see it return. A new game with the same kind of style, called NBA Superstars, been released in arcades, but there seem to be no plans for a home release.

Official ways to get the game.

There’s no official way to get NBA Showtime.