Pros: BOOM-SHAKALAKA! If you don’t recognize this phrase, then you probably lacked a childhood and/or friends. For those unfortunate ones,...

Cons: No online play. WTF, Nintendo? The online Wii experience has always been lackluster, but they should have gotten their shit together for...

Pros: BOOM-SHAKALAKA! If you don’t recognize this phrase, then you probably lacked a childhood and/or friends. For those unfortunate ones, this phrase comes from the much beloved game NBA Jam. The game has evolved over the years from its old school SNES/Arcade origins, but few iterations of the game have done justice to the original. With the Wii’s version released, that is no longer a problem. This game goes back to the classic 2v2 gameplay that is made up of crazy arcade style play. Lucky for the wii, this game does not require dazzling graphics required of something like 2K11. Even though the wii has its limits, the game still looks great. Players’ heads are real life pictures of them which makes things look good and adds a level of funny as your player makes various faces. It’s hilarious to see your guy go up for a monster jam with a “In your face” look. The background also contains the team bench, coaches and mascot with each doing their own predetermined reactions. Even though they are pretty limited, it still adds fun to see the coach yelling and the mascot cheering. With this game, however, you will not have enough time to appreciate the background. The pace of the game is too fast and crazy to allow one to take their eyes off the game to notice the background. Honestly as I write this I cannot remember if there is even much of a crowd in the game because the game is that crazy. The game is pretty easy to pick up and there really isn’t much of a learning curve to it. Shoot/Block, Turbo, Push/Steal, Spin/Juke, pass. It’s all mapped to 4 buttons and pretty simple. Even though it is easy to play it doesn’t mean that there isn’t any strategy to the gameplay. Choosing whether to block or steal can determine whether you get the turnover or they score on you. As much fun as dunks are in this game (believe me they are awesome) it takes a good balance of dunks, shots, 3-pointers and alley-oops to beat someone. This is especially true when playing the computer on hard. They are ****** ridiculous on this level and none of my friends have been able to beat them on that level. Mentioning friends, this game is the perfect group pickup game. Games generally last 10 minutes so it’s a great game to play when there is a short break in your day. It also offers a bunch of different modes and unlockables that keeps players playing. On a final note even if you don’t play the game, watch and listen to it just to hear the announcer. The announcer is hilarious and I enjoy just listening to him while my friends are playing. This is a great game to pickup if you have some buddies always around to play.

Cons: No online play. WTF, Nintendo? The online Wii experience has always been lackluster, but they should have gotten their shit together for this game. This game is best played with friends and other people. It’s like old school NFL Blitz: a great game with friends, but who the hell plays alone? With the game being arcade style, it doesn’t really appeal to long solo sit downs like Madden. So for Nintendo to forgo online play, they are basically killing a ton of replay value for those who don’t live in a situation like I do where my friends are constantly coming in and out of my room. As I mentioned before, the computer can be crazy hard and sometimes it’s plain retarded. The difference between medium and hard is too large and you’re either faced with a mediocre challenge or one that will make you put your foot through a tv. All in all, I love this game and it’s a great pickup for the old school gamer and/or arcade style gaming fan. Just make sure you have plenty of friends around to play… and beer.