Basketball
by Simbsoft,
Price: $11.95
Reviewed January 2004 by Tony Peak
While there's little doubt Simbsoft Basketball
is a very simplistic game, sometimes the simplest concepts
can be the most addictive. Whether or not this is the case
depends largely on the player and varies greatly person to
person. The best I can do is present the game's merits and
shortcomings to help you make that decision.
The gameplay has a couple of variations
to give the game a wider appeal, namely if the hoop is static
and whether you're limited by the number of shots or a timer.
The only difference between practice mode and normal mode
is that in practice, you have unlimited shots and time. So
the game boils down to a single player game of shooting hoops,
and each time the hoop shifts sides on the screen. Optionally,
it can also shift height or constantly move up and down.
While it's fun, sure, one can think up a whole list of things
that would make it more interesting.
For example, there are absolutely no AI
opponents, which would have really helped to add fun and
depth. What I really don't understand is why in static mode
the hoop is just barely higher than 4x the ball's height.
This is basketball-- the hoop should be up much higher on
the screen. For that matter, this game feels quite wrong
in portrait mode and begs to be played in landscape, but
that sadly isn't an option. One final complaint is that you
constantly have to shoot the ball from where it lands, even
if it's under the hoop. This isn't golf… a freethrow
mode in landscape, perhaps with scaled down sprites, would
have really taken advantage of the game's strengths.
For all its simplicities, the psychics
really aren't all that bad. The ball bounces and moves quite
well, even if it does feel a little heavy. Shooting the ball
is somewhat akin to flinging it with a slingshot. You tap,
drag, and release to send it flying. It's possible to get
pretty good with practice, but considering you only need
to cover about 240 pixels width and the static hoop height
is less than half the screen's height, it's really not all
that difficult.
Graphics are a bit of a mixed bag. The
sprites themselves don't look all that bad, but the animation
is almost non existent. Even the basketball is a static sprite
that doesn't rotate as it flies through the air or rolls
on the ground. The hoop graphic looks good and animates well,
but not always in correct sync with the ball. Backgrounds
are nothing more than static bitmaps dropped in behind the
sprites, and worse they really don't feel like a part of
the game in any way. Courts facing the wrong way with another
hoop in the background, a cookie cutter 3d island backdrop,
etc. Sound doesn't fare much better, with no more than a
swoosh, clang, and bounce making up the entire sound library.
Simbsoft Basketball really could have been
far more than what it is, but it's still an enjoyable way
to spend a few minutes at a time. If you've really been wanting
to shoot some hoops in a simple arcade fashion, this may
exactly what you were looking for. If you're looking for
something deeper however, you won't find it here. I don't
think anyone who buys this game looking for simple arcade
action will be disappointed, but you should really know what
you're getting into first. Definitely try the demo.
Playing Hints and
Tips
• The entire edge of the screen
can be used as the backboard. Of course this isn't how basketball
should be, but you can still use it to lob in shots. There
seems to be no limit noticeable ceiling to limit to how high
the ball can fly.
• It might be considered a bug,
but you can actually make multiple baskets in a single shot.
Just launch the ball with an extreme force about the length
of the screen, hard enough that it'll go through the hoop,
bounce back up through the hoop, and score another point.
I've scored 3 points from a single shot doing this. |
