Since they lost the NBA Jam series to Acclaim Entertainment, Midway was forced to either forget about basketball, or create something similar, but under a different name. Opting for the latter, NBA Showtime was born. Sporting the same basic gameplay under a 3D mask, NBA Showtime was a huge hit in the arcades, and looks to do just as well on the consoles.

If you have played the NBA Jam series you'll know what to basically expect from NBA Showtime. It is a two-on-two basketball match in which most of the normal rules of basketball are thrown out the window. This allows the game to get down to the good stuff: shooting, stealing and, most definitely, dunking. NBA Showtime provides all the normal NBA teams and players that were available at the time development was finished on the game, although it does not, however, include such players as Michael Jordan (who has just begun to be introduced into the world of basketball games through Electronic Art's latest).

There is not much room to complain with the graphics in NBA Showtime, and you won't be disappointed at all unless you start comparing the game to the undeniably better Sega Dreamcast version. For the Nintendo 64, however, NBA Showtime sports some fast paced action that suffers from absolutely no slowdown whatsoever and the models featured are of a decently high quality that makes it so distinguishing between various players is not all that difficult. There was something, though, about the models that just looked odd to me, but I couldn't quite put my finger on why I thought that way. It could be a personal thing, but maybe not.

Environment wise, the crowd is usually something that becomes an annoying distraction because most current consoles aren't able to render them properly enough to stop them from being a large two frame moving sprite, but I found that the action during the games elevated so quickly that even glancing into the crowd meant missing an opportunity to score. Thus, even though the crowd it still mostly constructed of a gigantic sprite blob (that is usually motionless, actually), it isn't so much a problem as in other titles. Varying from the teams that you choose from are the courts that are available to play on. Say you pick the Chicago Bulls and the Houston Rockets, then it will be possible to play in their arenas in addition to two unique arenas that are located in places like a street or beach court. Two super duper secret courts, Midway and NBC, can be accessed by simply tapping a button. Personally, I ended up playing in the NBC court a good amount since it just looks so darn cool.

Don't look at NBA Showtime if you are looking for a depth filled experience that is chock full of options and features to keep you entertained. All that NBA Showtime has is the bare bones minimum that the arcade version featured, except with the inclusion of the mandatory option menu (even though these seem to be even more lacking than NFL Blitz 2000's home conversion). Start a game with between one to four players, enter your initials to keep a record, pick a team and player and the game begins. A create-a-player of sorts is in there, but there is a lack customizability that is limited only to changing basic costumes and attributes. This is one of those games that could last forever and ever if you have a group of friends with a strong interest, but don't look for a lasting appeal if you're on your own, since NBA Showtime does not include enough options to warrant it.