It's time to start yet another year with a look at an old sports title. And it's one that I never thought I probably would have never touched if I didn't dig it up at random.
But first, a little bit about my general sports fandom. While I am definitely more nerd than jock, I've always been a huge sports fan. Whether it's as a fan of my pro teams, as a reporter covering local high school teams or as a competitor myself, sports have always been a major part of my life. I watch as many sports as I can, though I wish I had time for more. I love learning about players, speculating about what teams will do with their offseasons, tracking statistics and immersing myself in various aspects of various types of athletic competition. To me, the new year is a great time for sports, the NFL playoffs are starting, MLB's winter meetings are underway, the NHL season is in full swing and NCAA wrestling is coming back from its holiday break. It also tends to be a pretty decent time for MMA cards too, though I don't think that's going to happen this year. But for all of my sports fandom, for all of the time I spend watching and following all of these leagues, I have never really been much of a fan of basketball.
I guess there are plenty as to why. I've always believed in something I call "secondary sport hate" where those of us that participate in more niche sports dislike whichever mainstream sport takes place during their season. As such, a lot of wrestlers tend to not really like basketball very much. Even beyond that, it was never going to be a sport that I would have had much of a future in. Guys who are 5' 7'' with a quarter inch vertical leap typically do not do very well at basketball. But for as much as I never really enjoyed playing or watching the sport, I've always had a soft spot for basketball video games. I especially have a soft spot for NBA Jam.
Even amongst non-sports game fans, NBA Jam is a title that needs no introduction. It's one of the greatest arcade style basketball games of all time, and an absolute icon of the 4th generation. From the crazy cheats to the over-the-top announcer, NBA Jam is one of those titles that has left an indelible mark on the gaming industry. Even casual gamers will still bust out a "he's on fire!" every now and then. It's an awesome game that holds up even today, even if you don't know a single thing about basketball. But I'm not here to talk about NBA Jam this week. I say this all to preface the fact that while I had heard of College Slam, it was never a game I would have ever had interest in.
Released in early '96 for both 4th and 5th generation consoles, as well as PC, College Slam was one of those titles that I saw everywhere back in the day. It was hard to miss that cover, with a monsterized basketball biting through a rim, as you browsed your local Toys R' Us or Funcoland. But even though it stood out visually, this wasn't a game I was ever going to take interest in. If I had limited interest in professional basketball, I had absolutely none in college hoops. As a northeasterner, college sports just aren't as huge part of our culture. NCAA basketball is a little bigger up here than football, Syracuse, UConn and even Villanova have pretty substantial followings in the tri-state area. But it isn't quite the same level of ride or die obsession like college football is in the South or basketball is on Tobacco Road. As such, it makes plenty of sense why I ignored College Slam when it came out. Had I known it was basically a clone of NBA Jam, I probably wouldn't have done so.
Full disclosure, I played the 4th generation versions, for the Sega Genesis and Super Nintendo, for the purposes of this review. I'm sure the Saturn, PlayStation and PC versions are superior, but these are the ones I had access to. There are some very noticeable differences, which we will get to later, but I will still be combining the reviews as the core gameplay was largely the same. And that core gameplay was largely the same as the aforementioned NBA Jam. You play 2 on 2, arcade style basketball with the ability to jump, hand check, pass and run via a turbo button. Just like NBA Jam you can perform crazy dunks and shots, catching fire if you score enough baskets in a row. It's good, simple arcade style basketball that even by 1996 was a proven formula.
If anything, it would have been nice to see one or two slight gameplay tweaks to make it stand out from its NBA-focused brethren. When I say this is basically NBA Jam but with college teams, I really mean it. It's the same controls, the same pace of play, the same crazy antics, it even has the same announcer. The one major difference is the ability to substitute players at half time, but that hardly matters in the grand scheme of things. They used some pretty basic ratings to differentiate positions, point guards are typically faster while frontcourt players tend to be stronger, but the difference is still pretty minimal. This might have been a bigger change with an NBA licensed game, but remember, this was before the thought of college players getting paid was even a consideration. As such, there are no real players on offer here. At least there are plenty of schools to choose from, most of the major universities are available here. It would have been nice to see some of the smaller schools here, but at the time I think this was probably the best they could have done.
Graphically, both versions of the game look pretty good, the SNES looks a little sharper but the Genesis seems to have bigger sprites. Nintendo has better and more detailed backgrounds, but Sega's players look a little better. The menus on the Genesis are also superior, which sounds like a nitpick but it's actually kind of shocking the difference in quality. It's hard to tell what some of the school logos on the SNES are supposed to be and the Genesis version doesn't have that problem. It's still not enough to really cause a concrete separation in scores. Nor were the controls, which were fine in both games. I feel like the SNES was a little bit more responsive, but the Genesis did feel a little less stiff and rigid. Neither game was bad in that department, so again, that won't cause a difference in scores.
What will lead to the Genesis getting a slight scoring edge is the music. Both versions sound okay during the pregame menus, nothing spectacular but not anything offensive. Both have the same announcer, who is ripped directly from NBA Jam. He definitely sounds a little clearer on the SNES, but not by much. It would have been nice to give him some new lines here, but I guess I can't complain too much. The Genesis has okay music during gameplay, but the SNES...has none at all. That's a major, major problem, especially in a fast paced, crazy arcade sports title. It completely messes with the atmosphere of the game to be playing in dead silence and it sounds really awkward when the announcer breaks that silence. To me, that's enough to give an ever so slight edge the Sega here.
Even still, I have to criticize both versions for not doing enough to separate themselves from NBA Jam. Looking back at reviews for this game, it was heavily panned for this and I can understand why. The pro and college games are so different that you would think they would have found some way to make something, anything about the gameplay different. The ability to choose from five players is okay, but they don't really feel different enough when you play them. I guess that would be okay, and this would have been a nice alternative for basketball fans who prefer NCAA, but College Slam doesn't have quite as many cheats or extras as NBA Jam has. The latter is iconic for all of the different unlockables it has and the former just feels a little light without them.
Still, the gameplay here is what matters and College Slam was a fun experience. Sure, it pretty much copies another game and gives it a new coat of paint. But if you are going to copy a game, it may as well be one as awesome as NBA Jam. One could argue that makes College Slam essentially irrelevant, that you may as well just play its more famous cousin. And to a point, I agree. But College Slam has its own charm and might even be preferrable to college basketball diehards. It might not have been the best game I've ever played, but I definitely had fun with it and it's a good, solid clone of an all time classic game.
Genesis: 8.25/10
SNES: 8/10
But first, a little bit about my general sports fandom. While I am definitely more nerd than jock, I've always been a huge sports fan. Whether it's as a fan of my pro teams, as a reporter covering local high school teams or as a competitor myself, sports have always been a major part of my life. I watch as many sports as I can, though I wish I had time for more. I love learning about players, speculating about what teams will do with their offseasons, tracking statistics and immersing myself in various aspects of various types of athletic competition. To me, the new year is a great time for sports, the NFL playoffs are starting, MLB's winter meetings are underway, the NHL season is in full swing and NCAA wrestling is coming back from its holiday break. It also tends to be a pretty decent time for MMA cards too, though I don't think that's going to happen this year. But for all of my sports fandom, for all of the time I spend watching and following all of these leagues, I have never really been much of a fan of basketball.
I guess there are plenty as to why. I've always believed in something I call "secondary sport hate" where those of us that participate in more niche sports dislike whichever mainstream sport takes place during their season. As such, a lot of wrestlers tend to not really like basketball very much. Even beyond that, it was never going to be a sport that I would have had much of a future in. Guys who are 5' 7'' with a quarter inch vertical leap typically do not do very well at basketball. But for as much as I never really enjoyed playing or watching the sport, I've always had a soft spot for basketball video games. I especially have a soft spot for NBA Jam.
Even amongst non-sports game fans, NBA Jam is a title that needs no introduction. It's one of the greatest arcade style basketball games of all time, and an absolute icon of the 4th generation. From the crazy cheats to the over-the-top announcer, NBA Jam is one of those titles that has left an indelible mark on the gaming industry. Even casual gamers will still bust out a "he's on fire!" every now and then. It's an awesome game that holds up even today, even if you don't know a single thing about basketball. But I'm not here to talk about NBA Jam this week. I say this all to preface the fact that while I had heard of College Slam, it was never a game I would have ever had interest in.
Released in early '96 for both 4th and 5th generation consoles, as well as PC, College Slam was one of those titles that I saw everywhere back in the day. It was hard to miss that cover, with a monsterized basketball biting through a rim, as you browsed your local Toys R' Us or Funcoland. But even though it stood out visually, this wasn't a game I was ever going to take interest in. If I had limited interest in professional basketball, I had absolutely none in college hoops. As a northeasterner, college sports just aren't as huge part of our culture. NCAA basketball is a little bigger up here than football, Syracuse, UConn and even Villanova have pretty substantial followings in the tri-state area. But it isn't quite the same level of ride or die obsession like college football is in the South or basketball is on Tobacco Road. As such, it makes plenty of sense why I ignored College Slam when it came out. Had I known it was basically a clone of NBA Jam, I probably wouldn't have done so.
Full disclosure, I played the 4th generation versions, for the Sega Genesis and Super Nintendo, for the purposes of this review. I'm sure the Saturn, PlayStation and PC versions are superior, but these are the ones I had access to. There are some very noticeable differences, which we will get to later, but I will still be combining the reviews as the core gameplay was largely the same. And that core gameplay was largely the same as the aforementioned NBA Jam. You play 2 on 2, arcade style basketball with the ability to jump, hand check, pass and run via a turbo button. Just like NBA Jam you can perform crazy dunks and shots, catching fire if you score enough baskets in a row. It's good, simple arcade style basketball that even by 1996 was a proven formula.
If anything, it would have been nice to see one or two slight gameplay tweaks to make it stand out from its NBA-focused brethren. When I say this is basically NBA Jam but with college teams, I really mean it. It's the same controls, the same pace of play, the same crazy antics, it even has the same announcer. The one major difference is the ability to substitute players at half time, but that hardly matters in the grand scheme of things. They used some pretty basic ratings to differentiate positions, point guards are typically faster while frontcourt players tend to be stronger, but the difference is still pretty minimal. This might have been a bigger change with an NBA licensed game, but remember, this was before the thought of college players getting paid was even a consideration. As such, there are no real players on offer here. At least there are plenty of schools to choose from, most of the major universities are available here. It would have been nice to see some of the smaller schools here, but at the time I think this was probably the best they could have done.
Graphically, both versions of the game look pretty good, the SNES looks a little sharper but the Genesis seems to have bigger sprites. Nintendo has better and more detailed backgrounds, but Sega's players look a little better. The menus on the Genesis are also superior, which sounds like a nitpick but it's actually kind of shocking the difference in quality. It's hard to tell what some of the school logos on the SNES are supposed to be and the Genesis version doesn't have that problem. It's still not enough to really cause a concrete separation in scores. Nor were the controls, which were fine in both games. I feel like the SNES was a little bit more responsive, but the Genesis did feel a little less stiff and rigid. Neither game was bad in that department, so again, that won't cause a difference in scores.
What will lead to the Genesis getting a slight scoring edge is the music. Both versions sound okay during the pregame menus, nothing spectacular but not anything offensive. Both have the same announcer, who is ripped directly from NBA Jam. He definitely sounds a little clearer on the SNES, but not by much. It would have been nice to give him some new lines here, but I guess I can't complain too much. The Genesis has okay music during gameplay, but the SNES...has none at all. That's a major, major problem, especially in a fast paced, crazy arcade sports title. It completely messes with the atmosphere of the game to be playing in dead silence and it sounds really awkward when the announcer breaks that silence. To me, that's enough to give an ever so slight edge the Sega here.
Even still, I have to criticize both versions for not doing enough to separate themselves from NBA Jam. Looking back at reviews for this game, it was heavily panned for this and I can understand why. The pro and college games are so different that you would think they would have found some way to make something, anything about the gameplay different. The ability to choose from five players is okay, but they don't really feel different enough when you play them. I guess that would be okay, and this would have been a nice alternative for basketball fans who prefer NCAA, but College Slam doesn't have quite as many cheats or extras as NBA Jam has. The latter is iconic for all of the different unlockables it has and the former just feels a little light without them.
Still, the gameplay here is what matters and College Slam was a fun experience. Sure, it pretty much copies another game and gives it a new coat of paint. But if you are going to copy a game, it may as well be one as awesome as NBA Jam. One could argue that makes College Slam essentially irrelevant, that you may as well just play its more famous cousin. And to a point, I agree. But College Slam has its own charm and might even be preferrable to college basketball diehards. It might not have been the best game I've ever played, but I definitely had fun with it and it's a good, solid clone of an all time classic game.
Genesis: 8.25/10
SNES: 8/10
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