The greatest game of them all, NBA Jam, is turning 25 glorious years old this year. And to celebrate, there’s a hot rumour that some sort of reboot or new version could well be on the way in time to celebrate its silver jubilee.
The iconic two-on-two basketball arcade game – one of the first to feature officially licensed NBA franchises and players – was already given a high definition remix in 2010 to reasonably middling results. But another crack at a reboot – *crosses fingers* one slightly more faithful to the game’s arcade-like beginnings with any luck – would be enough to send fans into a dunk-smashing frenzy.
Tim Kitzrow, the unmistakable voice of the game who brought such phrases as “boomshakalaka” and “is it the shoes?” into the basketballing lexicon, is hinting that the birthday celebrations for the game could culminate in a brand new version.
Speaking to ESPN, Kitzrow hinted that *something* was in the works over at Microsoft and EA, the two companies that own the rights to the game.
I can’t speak anything to the specifics. But, I can tell you there is movement in the works to get it done for the 25th year. So I’m hoping that we get a remake that does justice to the original.
Mark Turmell, who was one of the original creators of the game, stated that the genre is rich vein to mine given how insanely playable and fun the OG versions were.
I helped on the reboot of the franchise. They did a pretty good job. But there’s so much more that can be done. It’s really sort of an untapped category, to have that over-the-top NBA action with the official license. It’s a great brand.
‘Course that’s all the info we’ve got at the moment. Will it be an expanded, slightly more glossy version of the original with an all-new roster? Will it be a re-release of the OG Tournament Edition classic? Will we see brand new arcade cabinets produced and flung around the globe? Hard to say.
All I know is I spent way too many hours throwing massive dunks and reigning bomb threes using Shawn Kemp and Detlef Schrempf of the Seattle Sonics back in the day. So any new version that’s even partway good is gonna own incredibly hard.
K-E-E-N.
