Super Nintendo
Released in 1995 by EA Sports
Grade: C-
Live is simple fun, but it’s full of annoying issues. I recommend playing it on Sega Genesis, which handles the speedy action better, despite the more limited controller.
Where it falls in the series
On Genesis and SNES, EA made five side-view basketball games in the lame “NBA Playoffs” series, concluding with NBA Showdown ’94. Then they gave the series a drastic overhaul, changing the name to Live and switching to an isometric viewpoint, a bigger court, and much more free-flowing action. The four Live games (95-98) are all very similar. My favorite is NBA Live 96 on Genesis.
Praises and gripes
The action is fast and loose, and players glide around like they’re on ice. When they come in contact, they just glide along together. You can even try steering a player out of bounds, but this game is most enjoyable with all the rules turned off.
Scoring is easy, but there’s enough realism that you should use some basketball sense, shooting from within each player’s range. Most points are scored on dunks and layups. The AI defenders are absolutely CLUELESS, regularly leaving someone open as they cut to the basket. The AI does you wrong when it comes to rebounding as well, and loose balls bounce around as you frantically track them down.
Passing is a breeze, and the isometric view is effective. With rules off, players can knock into each other or shove the ballhandler recklessly. Unfortunately, when playing the CPU even on the highest difficulty, the opponent won’t exploit these tactics, and it’s far too easy to win games. You need another human for full-on chaos mode.
The big problem with this version of the game is that it doesn’t have the same fluidity as the Genesis version. The controls can be sluggish at times, and the game literally slows down occasionally, like you’re playing on a bad wi-fi connection. It’s hard not to notice when it happens.
To be fair, I think more reviewers prefer Live on SNES because you can use the shoulder buttons for turbo and there are buttons for steal and shove. On Genesis, steals are automatic and you can’t shove. People also say the graphics are sharper, but like, come on, it’s barely noticeable.
I find 16-bit Live to be a little overrated anyway. Even as a hoops-obsessed 11-year-old with no other options, I didn’t really dig it. The only thing it has going for it is the magical fluidity. You take that away, and you’ve just got an average basketball game.