Hoops
Reviewed by Brian Mulholland
Hoops is an basketball game simulating two on two half-court basketball
that takes place all the time as opposed to the 5 on 5 sport that gets
televised. The game features a cast of 10 characters each with different
strengths and weaknesses.
Graphics 7 out of 10
Like all sports games the background graphics are almost not worth
mentioning because fields courts and what-not are all so easy to draw
and require little enhancement. The players are adequately drawn and
animated, but not spectacularly so. Mostly the graphics are functional,
but when a turnover occurs it is often difficult to tell, as well as anytime
more than two players collect in an area, it can be difficult to tell what
is happening.
Music and Sound 8 out of 10
The sound effects are decent in most respects, although there are a few
of those effects that all NES games have that sound like nothing in
particular. Those tick me off...would it be so difficult to make the effect
at least vaguely sound right? The music bears a lot of similarity to a lot of
other NES games. It's cute, catchy and upbeat...but all to repetitive. This
one seems to be particularly shorts and reptitive...more so than most games.
The games does offer a variety of choices in 2 player mode including team
and vs.
Game Challenge 7 out of 10
At first this game was completely kicking my butt because I had no
concept of how to do anything. As a result it took a few games before I
began to work out how to play the game. After that, like so many other
sports games for the NES, the game became a joke. When choosing skilled
interior shooters from the list of characters (Mr. Doc and Face are my
favorite duo), you should have no trouble overwhlming the opposition
with scoring. I won't quite say I dominate as thoroughly as in other sports
games (I haven't played it as much and as such am not much of a defender
in the game), but within a few games I was scoring almost every
opportunity, and holding the other team down reasonably well.
Game Play-Fun 4 out of 10
The game just lacks charisma. When playing I really never felt I could
get into the game the way I do so many other games. There's just not a
whole lot to do. 2 player mode offers more fun as all 2 player modes
do, but not by much.
Frustration
I get SO angry with this game's stealing situation. The computer players
(regardless of whether the characters chosen are supposed to be good
stealers, or your characters good ball handlers) will steal almost
automatically if given more than a passing opportunity. However this
does not go both ways as even if you choose great defensive characters
they won't steal well (they do steal, but nowhere near as often as the
computer steals from you). This fact means that even though it is possible
to dominate the computer, they're going to score on you from time to time.
What you can do though is force the computer to take only outside jumpshots
by basically goal-tending. If someone tries to dunk if an opponent is anywhere
close to the boards the defender will stuff the shot. By combining this
goal-tending with occasionally coming out to challenge someone trying to
take short jumpers, you can force the computer to take a lot of low-percentage
shots (which in this game basically means anything outside the paint), and the
defenders are given a major advantage in this game as far as getting rebounds.
On offense passes will also be stolen liberally...unless passed while the
character is jumping. As a result I developed a strategy where by I take a
few short steps, jump, and pass to my teammate who takes a step, jumps
and passes back. This strategy is pretty good at keeping the ball in your hands,
but can require patience as sometimes the computer-controlled teammate
will run AWAY from the net as if I really wanted him to work AWAY from
the hoop. But the result of both of these is limiting the computer to 5-10
buckets when the 25 points are reached.
Replayability 1 out of 10
Since buying the game and playing it as obsessively as I play all new games
when i first get them, I haven't even been tempted to plug it in since. The
game really didn't hook me then, and it's now in the pile of tapes furthest
in the back of my game closet.
Game Value 3 out of 10
I payed a buck or two of this game, and as ludicrous as it sounds, I can't help
but think I could have gotten better games for that money. It's hard to say a
game isn't worth a buck or two, but this one comes darn close to it. But I
spent an afternoon or two getting the hang of it, so for 4-6 hours of
entertainment, how can you argue with that price?
Overall 2 out of 10
If you see the game REAL CHEAP in some used bin, and it's stacked with a
bunch of other real bad games...don't buy it. Turn around and save your money.
This game just lacks punch. Don't bother. I give it a two just because it
seems to cruel to give it a one.