PlayStation 1
Released in 1999 by EA Sports
Grade: C
This game can be pretty fun, but it’s got too many issues for a solid recommendation.
Where it falls in the series
It’s the fifth of eight Live games on PS1, but it’s the last before PS2 and Xbox editions started.
Praises and gripes
The action moves at a fun pace and baskets are scored in a variety of ways. There are more realistic physics than in previous versions, but the game looks very choppy, which sort of ruins the effect.
There are some new controls on offense; you can spin, crossover, stutter-step, back a player down, and take a hook shot. This would theoretically give you lots of 1-on-1 ability, but the control just feels too wild. The ideal release point on shots doesn’t seem right either, but at least there’s a practice mode for you to get used to it. The most annoying thing is that a head-fake-and-drive is a deadly weapon, but half the time your player dribbles before the head fake and you can’t even tell, so you’re stuck in place.
Some of the plays are useful, but pressing Select to activate them is a bit awkward. And can you believe this game has icon passing, but that the buttons aren’t mapped to the same player each time? Your point guard is mapped to X one minute, and Circle the next. That’s weird, right?
As is the NBA Live custom, this game is most fun on the no-rules “arcade” setting. But now, shoving players is curiously difficult, and gathering the loose ball is even harder. The other defensive controls can feel awfully sticky … yet the entire game is more defensive than earlier versions, because FINALLY you don’t have teammates constantly guarding the wrong guy. Defenders stick to their man and clutter the floor like a basketball team is supposed to do. All in all it results in a more basketball-like basketball game, even without fouls.
And yet, I just can’t get into this game. The control is wacky. The slow framerate is ugly. The action isn’t smooth. I switched to an isometric camera reminiscent of the 16-bit Live games, and it only made it more obvious how much smoother those old games played.