Sports games evolved as the N64 got older, with more realistic looking players, better animation, smoother gameplay, and better visual effects. NBA Jam 2000 didn’t get the memo, and brings us a clunky game with gormless players that don’t look like they’re even standing on the court.

On top of that, the first message that pops up when you start the game is a notice: this game requires two Controller Paks to save properly – and each mode uses the entire 123 pages of an official Controller Pak, so neither can be used for any other game.

That is due to a proper “Jam” mode, which brings back the 2-vs-2 arcade style, similar to the older NBA Jam games. In the previous N64 NBA Jam game, it was just the regular game with different settings, now it’s more of its own thing (but still not a good excuse for the Controller Pak issue).

Compared to NBA Showtime, which came out before this, this is antiquated in both looks and how it plays, being slow and clunky. Showtime didn’t get released in Europe, so I think N64 Magazine were much kinder to the game due to that.

So while you have the “deal” of having two games in one, the “sim” mode is nowhere near as good as the NBA Courtside games, and the “Jam” mode is embarrassing next to NBA Showtime. And is it really a good deal once you add in the cost of two Controller Paks?

Fine

NBA Jam 2000 gets full marks for value then. The two modes Sim and Jam, share some of the same elements, such as the basic control system and graphics engine, but just about everything else feels different. The Jam players have more detail; the Sim players have more moves. The sim game is filled with stats, sober commentary and TV-style presentation, whereas the Jam game is faster, has no rules, and says ‘boom-shack-a-lack’ rather a lot.

Martin Kitts, N64 Magazine #37. Review Score: 80%

Remake or remaster?

Better basketball games exist.

Official ways to get the game.

There’s no official way to get NBA Jam 2000.