NBA Jam


IS IT THE SHOES?!?

Go to the hole.  Go strong.  Deliver the facial.  Show them your stuff.  And your 360 rimrocker.  And a Tarzan slam for good measure.  You're on fire!  This is the NBA, and your playing NBA Jam, the toughest two-on-two competition around and the only game in town!

Play with superstars from all 27 NBA teams-from Ewing and Pippen in the East to Barkley and Robinson in the West-with veteran superstars like Malone and Parish to sensations like Mourning and Laettner-each with his own on-court personality and attributes.  Play one-player, two-players on the same side, two-players against each other, or with the Team Player Multi-Player Adaptor, start a two-on-one or four-player game with your friends!

All the hard-hitting hardwood and "incredible dunks" of the arcade are here, complete with speech, record-keeping, seasonal play, and the half-time report, with new features like tag mode, making not playing NBA Jam a very "bad decision."


SETTING UP FOR THE JAM

When the title screen comes up, press the START BUTTON.  You will be presented with three choices-

player vs. player (or computer)

2 players vs. computer

or set OPTIONS.

Highlight your selection using the D-PAD and press the START BUTTON.


OPTIONS SCREEN

  This allows you to set certain game options.
 

  Press the D-PAD up and down to highlight
  the desired option and left or right to change
  it.

TIMER SPEED:
Allows you to choose how fast the game clock will count down each quarter, form Very Slow to Very Fast.

DRONE DIFFICULTY:
Allows you to select how smart computer opponents are on a scale of 1 (low) to 5 (high).

TAG MODE:
In a one-player or one human per team game, NBA Jam, allows you to select how you wish to control your teammate.
OFF is the default.  Like the arcade, you control one player the entire game, and the computer controls your teammate (unless a human player should "jump in" by pressing his START BUTTON).
ON enables you to control both the movement and the ball handling of whichever player on your team has the ball.  In other words, you pass off control when you pass off the ball.  The "tag" occurs when your teammate gains possession, so if a pass is intercepted, you retain control of the player who passed.

COMPUTER ASSISTANCE: 
If a team falls far behind, this feature increases the odds that that team's shots will go in, ensuring a close and competitive game.  If this feature is off, both players are given a "fair shake."

CONTROLLER CONFIGURATION:
Allows each player to select which commands are associated with which buttons.  Press the D-BUTTON left or right to cycle through the available combinations.  The default configuration is as follows:

 Button

 Action

 A BUTTON

 SHOOT / BLOCK  

 B BUTTON

 TURBO

 C BUTTON  

 PASS / STEAL

VIEW/DELETE RECORDS: 
Activating this option will take you to the record screen.  NBA Jam stores records and stats for up to 15 different players!  Sometimes however, you will want to make room for a new one.  To erase a record, use the D-PAD to highlight the desired record and press the A BUTTON.  You will then be asked to confirm whether you truly wish to delete this record.  Press the A BUTTON to abort your deletion or the B+C BUTTONS to erase the record.  Press the START BUTTON to return to the OPTIONS screen.

Pressing the START BUTTON will exit OPTIONS.


STARTING A GAME

To begin playing NBA Jam, select either HEAD TO HEAD or TEAM GAME mode from either controller.  There are 4 different player positions on NBA Jam.  Players numbers 1 and 2 are teammates, and 3 and 4 oppose them on the other team. 

A TEAM GAME puts both players on the same team, making the person with controller 1 player 1, and the person with controller 2 player 2. 

HEAD TO HEAD mode puts the two human players on opposite teams.  The person with controller 1 is still player 1, but the person with controller 2 is player 3

All players who wish to participate should then press START on their controllers.

If you are using the Team Player Multi-Player Adaptor, select START GAME. Select the controller letter corresponding to the player you wish to control-controller port 1 is player 1, A is 2, B is 3 and C is 4.  Everyone who wishes to participate should then press START on their controllers.

Whether you are using the Team Player Adaptor or not, you will then be asked if you wish to enter your initials for record-keeping. Use the D-PAD and the A, B, C or START BUTTON to choose.  This decision affects all players; no player can enter initials if "no" is selected.  If "yes" is selected, each player will then be asked to enter his/her initials.  Use the D-PAD to move the cursor on top of the desired letter and press the A, B or C BUTTON to select.  If the initials entered are one of the fifteen in NBA Jam's memory, your record will be immediately recalled.  NBA Jam's record-keeping feature stores each player's record, ranking, winning percent, the current streak and the teams defeated!

Next, players must choose their teams.  Use the D-PAD to highlight the teams.  Each team is composed of two NBA teammates, each with ratings in 4 categories:  Speed, 3 Pointers, Dunks, and Defense.  Pressing A, B or C BUTTON switches which of the teammates your player controls.  Press the START BUTTON when your selection when your selection is made.

If a game is already in progress, another player may "jump in" at any time, taking over control of one of the computer-controlled playerd by pressing the START BUTTON on their controller.


JAM RULES & CONTROLS

An NBA Jam game is divided into 4 quarters of three minutes each.  A game begins with a tip-off, as two players leap for the ball in order to gain control.  Possesion of the ball at the beginning of the second and fourth quarters goes to the home team (team two), and to the visiting team (team one) starting the third regardless of who wins the initial tip or who possesses the ball when the previous quarter ended.

The object of the game is to have outscored your opponents when the final buzzer sounds.  There is a 24-second shot clock in effect.  A basket counts for two points when it is shot from inside the three-point line, and three points when shot from behind it.

A defensive player can block a shot, but only when the ball is on the upward part of its arc.  If it is touched by a defender on its downward flight, a goaltending call is made, and points are awarded whether or not the basket was going to go in.  Once the ball touched the rim, however, it can be grabbed by any player, either offensive or defensive.

To make identifying the ball-handler easy, whenever a player has possession of the ball, an orange basketball indicator will apear behind his name at the top of the screen.  If nobody has possession-the ball is in the air or has been knocked away, there is no indicator.

If a player scores three baskets in a row, he is "on fire!"  During the time, he has unlimited turbo, and a much better chance of sinking shots from anywhere on the floor!  Only one player can be "on fire" at a time.  Being "on fire" lasts until the next opposing basket goes in, meaning that a teammate can score without disrupting the fire.  Even if the opposing team cannot score, however, your fire will eventually go out by itself.  The ball glows when the player on fire holds it and smokes when he shoots it!

Beyond those, there are very few rules to a NBA Jam session.  There are no fouls-no reaching in, no hacking, not even a pushing foul, so play strong and take no prisoners!  The controls are as follows:

D-PAD:
Moves your player up and down the court.  When any player if off-screen, his position is marked by an arrow with his player number and color, the height of the arrow showing where he is vertically on the court, and distance from the edge showing how far off-screen he is.

SHOOT/BLOCK (BUTTON A):
When your team has the ball, the SHOOT button will cause you (and on a one-human team, your computer teammate as well) to shoot for the basket.  Your player releases the ball when you release the button.  Releasing the ball at the apex of your leap gives your shot greater accuracy, but releasing it quickly or very slowly can often prevent a leaping defender from blocking or stealing the ball.  Tapping SHOOT quickly executes a head-fake which may deke the defense out of its shoes, but it discontinues your dribble, so you must either pass or shoot the ball before you can move!
When your team does not have the ball, SHOOT/BLOCK causes your player to jump up for a block.  Timing is crucial to denying the shot.  Jump too early and the shooter can wait until you fall out of the way, jump too late and the shooter can shoot it over you!  Many times your defender will get a piece of the ball without rejecting the shot completely.  The ball will flash white whenever your defensive player makes contact with it.

PASS/STEAL (BUTTON C):
When your team has the ball, the pass button will cause you (and on a one-human team, your computer teammate) to pass the ball to his teammate.  But a passed ball is easily intercepted by a defender, so look before you pass!
When your team does not have the ball, tapping this button causes your player to swipe at the ball in the hopes of either stealing it or knocking it out of an opponent's hands.

TURBO (BUTTON B):
TURBO  causes your player to run faster than he normally would (determined by his attributes), whether on offense or defense, allowing you to blow by a defender, or to step around a pick and block a shot!  Unfortunately, your player has only a limited amount of turbo power, indicated by the meter under your players name.
As you use it, the meter runs down, but when you release TURBO, it begins to regenerate.  A player using Turbo can be spotted by his colored shoes!  When a player is "on fire," he has unlimited turbo until his fire is put out, but to use the turbo, the button must still be held!
Tapping TURBO several times quickly causes your player to grab the ball and throw his elbows, a move which can often knock defenders away and give you a clean shot at the basket.

TURBO + SHOOT/BLOCK (BUTTONS A+B):
When your player has the ball near the basket, pressing these two buttons causes you (and on a one-human team, your computer teammate) to go for the jam, slam-dunking the ball into the basket.  There are many spectacular "Ultra-Jams" that can be executed, depending on the number of factors such as the players dunking ability and position.  Sometimes these rim-rockers will even shatter the backboard!  Your player will only jam if he is moving, however, so be sure to drive towards the hole if you want to slam!
When your team doesn't have the ball, pressing these two buttons make your player go for a super block, jumping higher than he ordinarily would!

TURBO + PASS/STEAL (BUTTONS B+C):
Pressing these buttons will cause the ball-handler to execute a much faster and safer pass than the PASS button itself.  Often these will take the form of behind-the-back or bounce passes.
Pressing these buttons when your player doesn't have the ball makes your player shove.  When the shove connects, it knocks a player down onto the floor, out of the way, or even into the stands.  Be careful, because you can knock down your teammate too!  Defensively the shove is a useful tool for stealing the ball, bringing down rebounds, and stopping "easy jams!"  Offensively the shove is a good way to clear an area so a teammate has a clear shot at the basket.

START:

START pauses or resumes a game.


Offensive Controls
Player has possession of the ball: (Default Buttons are in Parentheses)
 TAP BUTTON  HOLD BUTTON  PRESS + TURBO
 SHOOT/BLOCK
 (A-BUTTON)
 Head Fake  Jump Shot  Dunk
 PASS/STEAL
 (C-BUTTON)
 Pass  Pass  Super-pass
 TURBO
 (B-BUTTON)
 Throw Elbows  Run Faster


Defensive Controls
Player does not have possession of the ball: (Default Buttons are in Parentheses)
 TAP BUTTON  HOLD BUTTON  PRESS + TURBO
 SHOOT/BLOCK
 (A-BUTTON)
 Head Fake  Jump Shot  Dunk
 PASS/STEAL
 (C-BUTTON)
 Pass  Pass  Super-pass
 TURBO
 (B-BUTTON)
 Throws Elbows  Run Faster