Tecmo Super NBA Basketball: a mini-tribute
According to the internet, Tecmo Super NBA Basketball came out on March 11, 1993 in the US. Also according to the internet, that means that the game is 1 billion seconds old today. This means that I have to pay tribute to this game, as it’s one of my all-time favorite video games that has frankly been lost to time a bit.
Tecmo Super NBA Basketball suffers as a middle child of sorts. It was constantly overshadowed by its basketball contemporary NBA Jam which broke through as one of the biggest mainstream arcade hits of all time. And it was also overshadowed by its American football sister title, Tecmo Super Bowl, which broke through as one of the biggest mainstream console sports hits of its era. The very next year, the NBA Live series began in earnest and it would quickly differentiate itself as a more authentic and realistic 5-on-5 basketball game.
So yeah, Tecmo Super NBA Basketball is indeed lost to time. That said, while it’s not ever really considered among the greatest basketball games of all time, it may still be my favorite. Let’s count down the reasons why. (This list was originally published at my old website on 10/29/2013.)
#5: The halftime show
Sure, most games give you a breakdown of the halftime stats. But do they do it in style, like this?
And there's some attention to detail, too, with the cheerleaders changing their outfits to match the home team. Here's the Spurs' cheerleader doing her closing flourish:
Nice outfit!
#4: The music
The soundtrack can be found here, so listen along:
The menu music is borderline bad-ass, with its slower pace and prominent bassline. Perfect for making roster changes and simming through the other team's games.
On the other hand, the actual in-game music is delightfully, hilariously cheesy. Can't you just picture an intense Knicks-Bulls game against this upbeat, goofy music?
#3: The cutscenes
The game opens with a fantastic montage that includes most of the epic cutscenes that you seen during gameplay:
It was always an event when your game was interrupted to make your superb play look even more superb.
Just to illustrate, here's a regular dunk:
And here's the epic cutaway version:
Sick!
#2: The quirks
So, this was a 5-on-5 game, so it was more "realistic" than NBA Jam. But, that doesn't mean it was actually realistic. This game had some hilarious quirks. For example, the ref was always so pissed off when he had to make foul calls:
Every offensive player had a killer sky hook:
And perhaps my favorite, free throws were jump shots!
Maybe the quirky gameplay isn't as memorable as Tecmo Super Bowl's, but it still stands out to me.
#1: The roster
Until NBA 2K12 was released 13 years ago, Tecmo Super NBA Basketball had the best roster of players and teams of any basketball video game in history. Seriously.
Tecmo Super NBA Basketball came out just as legends from the 1980s were on their way out and stars from the 1990s were making their mark, so it has a perfect confluence of talent. Larry Bird? Magic Johnson? Michael Jordan? Check, check, check. The game actually starred the whole Dream Team (minus Christian Laettner) as well as famous Dream Team snub Isiah Thomas.
It also has two notable deceased players: Reggie Lewis, on the Celtics, and Drazen Petrovic, on the Nets. It's unfortunate that the world never got to see Petrovic play to his full potential on the biggest stage. The phenomenal Once Brothers 30-for-30 documentary highlighted just how good he was, and perhaps this game is another way that he can live on, forever.
Because sports games are literally outdated within 12 months of release, classic sports games are just as much a time capsule into who was relevant as they are a simulation of the rules of a sport. And that's why I love this game so much -- it features the key players who defined the league for a generation. I'll always go back to it.