Basketbrawl

JAM FESTIVAL

Just because a reviewer says a game is bad doesn’t mean you won’t enjoy it…

» Atari 7800 » 1990 » Atari

To be honest with you, the Atari 7800 is not a system I’m tremendously well-acquainted with, largely for lack of opportunities to dabble with it. I never came across one in a charity shop or at a boot sale, and rarely saw the system outside of conventions. Plus, it’s not like the library has been widely ported. That’s why I was so pleased to see the system represented on Atari’s collections for the Evercade – finally, I’d get a chance to sit down and spend some proper time with games like Motor Psycho, Planet Smashers and, of course, Ninja Golf. But while the unlikely mixture of long drives and high kicks is more notorious, I spent more time with another mixture of combat and sports – Basketbrawl.

I was having fun with it, so I decided to take a look online to find out how other people felt about the game. To my surprise, I learned that some people consider the game to be an absolute stinker. This game got 31% in Raze back in the day, with the reviewer complaining that “it is totally unplayable” and that “the computer opponent won’t let you join in”.

Now don’t get me wrong, there are definitely some oddities about this game. I often find myself wondering who keeps throwing knives onto the court, and whether that’s a particularly effective way of trying to harm players. But this feels to me like a reasonably solid two-on-two arcade basketball game in the mould of something like Arch Rivals, not the worst basketball-related videogame prior to the era of Shaq Fu. It’s not NBA Jam, but it’s far better than some of the critics out there would have you believe.

But that’s fine, isn’t it? Every time I smack the ball away from the hands of another player, I’m not thinking, “Ugh, this guy said the game I’m playing is rubbish.” I’m mentally planning my next drive to the basket. I guess that’s an important thing to remember – no critic is infallible, and you’re entitled to enjoy a game even if the reviews aren’t very good.