Review: NBA Hangtime (PS1)

A while ago, I reviewed NBA Hangtime for the Nintendo 64. While I personally own that game, I don’t own the PlayStation version. I can only play it via Vizzed Retro Game Room. That needs to be mentioned, as I can only grade what I played on the site.

Graphics

The graphics for this port are identical to the original arcade game. Like the rest of the ports, the whole game is particularly based on the “Maximum Hangtime” revision of the game. There really isn’t much to say at this point. The graphics are arcade perfect.

Sound

This is where this port diverges from both its siblings and progenitor. For example, “In the Zone” (the main theme of the game) only appears on the player and team select screens. All quarters in the games have what seem to be two remixes of the first and third quarter themes of the arcade game. Most glaring of all, the post game music lacks its theme, unlike all the other ports I am personally familiar with. With that said, every other sound from the announcer and other sounds are spot on.

Replay Value /Depth

This game has a lot of value as a pick-up-and-play game. As a link in the NBA Jam chain, it has the same style of play: 2 on 2 arcade with lots of flips, dunks, and fire. The ingenious formula is in full force here, though it is better in short bursts than anything else.

Summary