Double Dribble
Reviewed by Brian Mulholland
Double Dribble is semi-realistic basketball sim that isn't a terrible game
but which can be dominated with minimal effort and offer no season,
playoffs or other attractions. It looks like what it is, a preliminary
attempt to do a basketball game.
Graphics 8 out of 10
The normal play graphics are basic and functional. There's some
proportionality problems where the game makes it possible to leap
and dunk from the three point line. It's possible for multiple players
to occupy the same physical space, and sometimes it's not easy to pick
action out of these crowds and react well. The cut scenes for dunks are
pretty sharp and well stylized for 8 bit.
Music and Sound 5 out of 10
The music is non-existent and not even worth mentioning, but the effects
are quite decent with nice sneaker noises. There's also a nice swoosh as
the ball does through the net, but that dribbling noise is both unrealistic
and IRRITATING. If it were a bit quieter a noise it would be tolerable but
it's very much a foreground noise and repetitive and monotonous.
Game Challenge 3 out of 10
If you play anything other than the hardest level and don't come away
doubling your opponent's score as a minimum you should throw your NES
away and hide your head in a bag in shame because those levels are
shamefully easy. The jump to the hardest level though is significant and
when you first make the leap from easiest to hardest (as I did) the
difference will catch you off guard and frustrate you...for about 5 minutes.
By then you'll figure out that at the highest level you have to watch your
passing lanes, and avoid defenders because they steal automatically if
you get to close. But the computer plays a sloppy man to man and it isn't
to tough to penetrate into the paint and dunk every time you touch the ball.
Worse yet, you should be able to steal from the computer at least half his
possessions. The only things that make the computer competitive is that
sometimes it's tough to get away from the full court press of the computer.
Once you do you're in ! the clear since their half-court defense is dreadful.
Also the computer will very nearly never miss a shot at this level. However
the computer doesn't take enough shots and you usually can get the steal
before they shoot because the computer will pass it around and try to
work it into the paint before they take their shots.
Game Play-Fun 7 out of 10
It's fun when you're first starting, but after a few games the only way to
make it a challenge is to try to get double your foe's score...then triple...then
quadruple...well, you get the point. But the game is fast paced and
entertaining until you have mastered it.
Frustration
You shouldn't get frustrated except for the brief adjustment period
between difficulty levels as you adapt to the computer stealing the ball
more. Once you adapt it's just to easy.
Replayability 2 out of 10
Once you master it, the game is dead to you. If you pick it up months later
thinking your skills have atrophied you'll find it only takes a minute or two
for you to re-acclimate yourself and to start dominating again.
Game Value 5 out of 10
I bought the game used relatively recently and paid a buck. How can I say
it's not worth a buck? I mean for the price of a soda from certain vending
machines you can get a marginal video game. You get what you pay for in
this case simply because you didn't pay much!
Overall 4 out of 10
Basically it's not a terrible attempt at representing the sport for an 8-bit
game. Actually I've played quite a few basketball games both in the arcade
and on other systems and given how extremely BAD most of them are, Double
Dribble really was a pretty decent effort. But only by comparison to a weak
field. I've played modern basketball sims that Double Dribble could hold it's
own against, but I don't mean that as a compliment towards Double Dribble
so much as an insult of basketball games.