NBA Live 97

NBA Live 97 is a basketball game developed by NuFX and published by Electronic Arts for the Sega Genesis in 1996.

The third entry in this franchise that started with NBA Live 95 also had its adaptations for MS-DOS, Playstation, and Sega Saturn that same year.

Even though, to keep veteran players, the gameplay has remained almost the same as the previous installments, this new release had several changes that give a much larger share of diversity. First, many moves and features were added to the players, so the gamer has several alternatives to impose his style on the court. Besides, you can create players and even entire teams, to which you can add classic figures like Michael Jordan or Charles Barkley.

Additionally, the graphics were significantly improved compared to NBA Live 96. The faces of the basketball players were retouched so that you could even distinguish which one you were embodying (something very advanced for the time). Also, several cameras and sound effects enhancements were added to give an experience similar to watching a match on TV.

The video game, featuring Sacramento team players Mitch Richmond and Tyus Edney for the motion capture of the animations and Al Murdoch and Ernie Johnson Jr. for comments, received very positive reviews. Similarly, various gaming journalists considered it the best sports game on the SEGA Genesis/Mega Drive console.

This is a must-download if you like basketball titles and want to know what inspired those in circulation nowadays. As a bonus, since it came out 24 years ago, you will have the advantage that you will not only have one or two classic characters but the entire roster.