PlayStation 1
Released in 2003 by 989 Sports
Grade: D
This game feels clumsy and unbalanced, with sticky controls and primitive game logic.
Where it falls in the series
It’s the last of eight ShootOut games on PS1.
Praises and gripes
The game looks okay at first glance, making decent use of PS1’s graphical capability. Buckets are easy to make and games are high-scoring.
It’s also totally frustrating. Defensive controls are delayed and it’s hard to be in good defensive position. Players almost never swipe the ball or deflect a pass. The offense can easily pass around and get a shot from short range.
If somehow you do have trouble on offense, it won’t help that passes are sometimes unresponsive and sometimes headed to the wrong guy. The shot logic is wacky, rewarding ultra quick releases. Set plays feel useless, but without them, your teammates stand around doing nothing. Rebounds and fouls are a crapshoot.
There’s just not enough meat on the bone here. The game is too simple, without the pizazz that makes some simplistic sports games fun.