But the prevailing wisdom in early 1999 was that 989 Sports might use the extra time created by skipping NBA Shootout 99 to develop an NBA Shootout 2000 that could finally topple NBA Live from its perch as the premier pro basketball game on the PlayStation. Expectations were raised when the deep but flawed NBA Live 2000 was released in November 1999. This just might be the year that 989 could do it.
Well, dream on. NBA Shootout 2000 is one of the major sports-gaming disappointments of the year, even after the extensive development time afforded by the cancellation of Shootout 99. This is yet another mediocre release from 989 Sports marred by flaws in every aspect of play, especially gameplay. Read on to find out why. Gameplay:
While NBA Live 2000 might have cornered the PlayStation basketball market when it comes to player face wraps and overall longevity, the foul and offensive-rebounding bugs in that game created a huge opportunity for 989 Sports to step in and create a more realistic game of pro basketball.
That didn’t happen. Like so many 989 releases, the gameplay in NBA Shootout 2000 tries to be a sim but is ruined by so many unrealistic, arcade-like qualities. So the result isn’t sim or arcade gameplay. The result is bad gameplay.
After my first few games with NBA Shootout 2000, I wondered if the title had been misnamed. Maybe NBA Dunkout 2000 would have been more apt. There are way too many dunks in this game by the computer-controlled team, at all four skill levels. Guards and small forwards will take flight from anywhere inside the three-point line if they’re given even a sliver of space, resulting in a power dunk. In fact, Ray Allen of Milwaukee started his rocket ride toward the hoop for a Jordanesque dunk from OUTSIDE the three-point line numerous times in a game against me, even when I had tight single and double coverage on him. I tossed my controller to the ground in disgust after a while.
This dunking frenzy is exacerbated by a total lack of help defense programmed into this game, just like in 989’s Final Four 2000. Once a CPU player gets a step to the hoop, kiss him goodbye and watch the dunk. None of your teammates will slide over to help. But there still is hope because both human and CPU players miss an extraordinary number of dunks in this game. I once saw seven missed dunks in a game with three-minute quarters. When is the last time you saw seven missed dunks in 12 minutes of NBA play?
There also are too many steals and blocks. I recorded double-digit numbers of blocks in games of just three-minute quarters. That’s right – 10 or more blocks in just 12 minutes of play. See that often in the NBA, huh? The ball physics of the steals also are extremely unrealistic. The ball simply lays flat on the floor, like it’s deflated, before an opponent picks it up and starts a drive toward the hoop. Final Four 2000 was plagued by the same flaw.
Other than the shoddy physics on steals, the ball physics are a mixed bag. Shots have a nice variety of trajectories, and players will bank both layups and short jumpers off the glass. That’s a very nice touch that’s missing from nearly every other PlayStation basketball game. But the rebounding physics are suspect, as nearly every missed shot bounces straight up before bouncing out. There are no long rebounds like in EA Sports’ NCAA March Madness 2000, so don’t expect guards to snare a realistic number of rebounds.
The programming for fouls also is wretched. There are hardly any shooting fouls in this game. In fact, I played three games with three-minute quarters in which neither team went to the free-throw line. And that was with the foul-frequency setting adjusted to high! The CPU team committed only two shooting fouls against me in the first half of a game with nine-minute quarters, with the foul frequency set on high. Pathetic and unrealistic. Reach-in fouls are the only transgressions called with any consistency, and they are whistled too often.
The movement of players without the ball is decent when playing a half-court offense. But three are very few screens set. And the artificial intelligence of the computer-controlled team is brutal when it trails late in the game. The CPU team won’t foul quickly or press in an attempt to catch up. NCAA March Madness 2000 programmed this aspect of gameplay brilliantly. 989 didn’t.
Substitution patterns are handled well in longer games, as fatigue becomes a factor when playing with nine or 12-minute quarters. But players never tire when playing games of three-minute quarters. Combine that with the lack of fouls, and you’ll see your starting five on the court for the entire game. Programmers of all PlayStation basketball games – not just NBA Shootout 2000 – need to figure out a way to include fatigue logic. Fatigue must be accurately simulated for both short and long games. The programmers at EA Sports, 989 Sports and FOX Video Interactive haven’t figured that out yet.
There are a few realistic aspects of the gameplay in NBA Shootout 2000. The number of offensive rebounds is accurate and feels right, and the shooting percentages end up close to reality, thanks to the brilliant Touch Shooting. But the high number of blocks and missed dunks also keeps the shooting percentages realistic, an unfortunate way to achieve that task.
Longevity:There’s absolutely nothing wrong with the depth of NBA Shootout 2000 – if it was released in 1998. But this is 2000, and Shootout’s modes of play lag behind the competition. Shootout features single-game exhibition, season and playoff modes. And that’s it. There are no three-point shootout, no one-on-one challenge or no Legends modes like in NBA Live 2000, which set a new benchmark for NBA video-gaming depth.
NBA Shootout 2000 also features Arcade and Simulation modes. In the Arcade mode, players can’t foul out, and there is no fatigue. The Simulation mode provides fatigue and fouls, and closely follows the rules of the NBA. In theory, these two modes provide a nice distinction and depth for gamers. But in reality, the Simulation mode doesn’t provide nearly enough fouls or fatigue, so there’s very little difference between the two modes.
Still, there are some nice aspects of NBA Shootout 2000 that provide decent longevity. Season lengths can be adjusted to 28, 56 or 82 games. Games during seasons can be simulated, too. Players can participate in the NBA Draft, perform trades, and release and sign free agents while watching the salary cap and the trading deadline. Players also can be created and added to the free-agent pool. This is a fun wrinkle. Another fun addition is the Create Dunk feature, which allows players to customize the appearance of their dunks.
The setup of the Playoff mode is flawed. The length of playoff series can be adjusted only to a 5-7-7-7 game format or single elimination. This is a bit limiting. Why didn’t 989 Sports offer 1-3-3-3 or 3-5-5-5 configurations for playoffs? That would have been more flexible and fun.
All NBA teams are available for exhibition games and seasons. Players can either use the rosters for each team at the start of the 1999-2000 NBA season, or they can use the rosters that they have created through the draft, trades and free-agent signings.
Controls:Perhaps the most frustrating aspect of NBA Shootout 2000 is the control setup. The game includes probably the best control feature of any PlayStation basketball title – Touch Shooting. But the rest of the control scheme is so dodgy that the brilliance of Touch Shooting is almost lost in the shuffle.
989 Sports first used Touch Shooting in Final Four 99 and Final Four 2000. In those games, human players pressed the circle button to start a vertical shot meter. When the indicator in the shot meter hit a small, green “sweet spot” in the meter, players let go of the circle button to shoot. It was a nice concept but poorly executed. Touch Shooting made it was too easy to score in both Final Four games, as every shot that was released when the indicator was in the “sweet spot” swished through the hoop.
989 clearly learned from that mistake and refined Touch Shooting for NBA Shootout 2000. The vertical shot meter now features different zones of the “sweet spot.” Releasing the ball in the clear sector will almost certainly result in a miss. Releasing the ball in the red sector will result in a shot that has about 50 percent of actual accuracy of that NBA player’s shooting percentage. Releasing the ball in the yellow sector will result in a shot that mirrors that player’s actual NBA shooting percentage. And releasing the shot in the very small green sector will result in a made shot. The width of the sectors varies by player, location on the court and skill level being played. Touch Shooting adds skill to shooting, something sorely lacking in other basketball titles. It’s a new dimension to basketball video gaming not found in any other game. Don’t be surprised if EA Sports and FOX emulate this terrific feature in their future releases.
Despite the brilliance of Touch Shooting, the rest of the control setup for this game sinks downhill fast. First, 989 Sports decided to implement separate buttons for dunking and shooting. Players must hit the circle button to shoot and the square button to dunk. This is confusing and unnecessary, especially for novices. And the Total Control Dunking, in which players hit the L1 shoulder button and one of the front buttons to perform various dunks, creates way too much finger gymnastics. Considering that steals occur way too frequently, the time needed to decide which Total Control Dunk to perform usually gives the defender enough time to swipe the ball.
NBA Shootout 2000 offers a wide variety of player moves, such as spins, dribbles between the legs, crossover dribbles and dribbles behind the back. That wide array of moves should give human players the freedom to create artistic dribble penetration toward the hoop for a shot or a quick dish to an open teammate, just like in the NBA. Well, this game isn’t the NBA, folks. Nearly every time either a human player tries a simple drive to the hoop, he turns his back to the hoop and leans against the defender at the first sight of contact. This posting up and back-in move is automatic – there’s no control over it. It’s also frustrating as hell, creating a very slow feel to this game. Human players’ offense primarily consists of backing into the hoop and passing back to an open player for a jumper. It’s very unrealistic.
And the shot-fake function – tapping the circle button – also results in a frustrating lack of realism. When attempting a pump fake inside, a player will again back in to the hoop immediately after the pump fake. He won’t pump and then jump again for the shot. So when human players press the circle button to shoot again, the backed-in player will turn and face the hoop and, more often than not, be blocked by the defender. This is horrible programming.
NBA Shootout 2000 features a variety of plays that can be called. On offense, those plays include Pick and Roll, Clear Middle, Isolation, Handoff, Backdoor, Lob and Three-Point Play. On defense, plays include Full-Court Press, _-Court Press, Half-Court Press and Half-Court Trap. This provides nice flexibility and options for coaches. But unfortunately, 989 screwed up on the execution, again. Players must press the select button and one of the four front buttons to call plays. This is a clumsy setup that can lead to steals and loss of control, as the player must release their thumb from either the D-pad or analog stick to call a play.
This game does include controllable defensive matchups, Icon Cutting, Icon Switching, Icon Passing and Icon Screening, all nice touches. And the icons over each player’s head are very easy to see, unlike the tiny icons in NBA Live 2000. There’s also analog movement, a huge omission made by EA Sports in NCAA March Madness 2000. And NBA Shootout 2000 features probably the best vibration support of any PlayStation basketball title. There’s plenty of subtlety, ranging from intense vibration of powerful dunks to light buzzes on player hand checks.
Graphics:NBA Shootout 2000 approaches NBA Live 2000 in only one area, graphics. Shootout’s player and court models aren’t as pretty or detailed as Live, but the action is much, much more smooth.
This game features very little graphical slowdown. The player animation also is excellent. Players move smoothly around the court and perform a variety of sleek moves when gliding toward to the hoop. Moves include fadeaway shots, leaner shots, drop steps, crossover dribbles, no-look passes, finger rolls, reverse layups, players posting up in the paint with realistic physical contact, and 42 unique dunks, including perfectly executed alley-oops. One of my favorite default player moves is the dipsy-doodle, underhand scoop for the layup in the lane. It looks very realistic. 989 Sports used pro players Robert Horry, Jason Kidd, Brevin Knight, Bo Outlaw, Paul Pierce, Jerry Stackhouse and Trajan Langdon for motion capturing, and the effort paid off. Nice work and attention to detail.
The animation isn’t perfect, though. The rim bends downward on every missed shot in exaggerated, unrealistic fashion. It looks like players are shooting a medicine ball instead of a basketball. And nearly every dunk move that starts outside the key – and there are way too many – results in a Jordanesque flight with the player extending his arms to dunk, legs spread. It looks just like the Air Jordan logo. Too bad only Jordan did that move with any regularity in reality. 989 lets everyone do it in NBA Shootout 2000, even a scrub point guard.
Player models are solid. Players are scaled properly for height, as 7-foot-4 Rik Smits of Indiana will tower over 6-foot-1 John Stockton of Utah. Face-wrap technology is present, but it’s not as vivid as that in NBA Live 2000. Accurate renderings of players’ faces are shown up-close during replays in NBA Live 2000, but the faces are more distant during replays in NBA Shootout 2000. The face wraps look accurate, but it would have been nice to see them more closely.
The court and arena models are decent. Court markings are accurate, but the hard wood appears a bit washed out and lacks the variety in wood shades that was such a great touch in EA Sports’ NCAA March Madness 2000. But like in March Madness and NBA Live 2000, NBA Shootout 2000 includes realistic details such as the reflection of arena lighting on the court. The first few rows of each arena feature dynamic fans, a nice touch. Those fans also are very animated behind the basket during free throws by the visiting team, waving their arms wildly to try to distract the shooter. That’s excellent detail.
Sound:The sound in NBA Shootout 2000 is solid, yet unspectacular. New Jersey Nets announcer Ian Eagle handles the play by play, the first time that the Shootout series has a real NBA announcer.
Eagle does a workmanlike job with the play by play, giving accurate descriptions of play. He also avoids the vocal histrionics that made Quinn Buckner’s commentary so annoying in 989 Sports’ Final Four 2000, such as cliches like “string music!” after a swished shot.
The biggest problem with Eagle’s commentary is that it lacks insight. He does nothing but call the play. FOX raised the bar for basketball analysis in its otherwise flawed NBA Championship 2000. Play-by-play man Greg Papa and analyst Doc Rivers provided more than just game action; they analyzed game trends, provided tips for better gameplay and criticized poor play on the floor. It was an excellent package that neither Don Poier and Reggie Theus in EA Sports’ NBA Live 2000 nor Eagle in NBA Shootout 2000 could match.
989 was the only developer not to include an analyst in its NBA game this season. That’s a mistake. A play-by-play man and analyst have become the industry standard. A second voice must be added to NBA Shootout 2001, a voice that provides humor, insight and analysis.
The on-court sounds of Shootout 2000 are strong. Sneakers squeak with realistic regularity, and players call for the ball, provide intermittent trash talk and also urge teammates to play better. Accurate arena sounds are present, such as a public-address announcer who provides just the right amount of enthusiasm after a key basket by the home team. Nice touch. Various sound effects, such as a trumpet charge, organ riffs and songs such as “Mony, Mony,” play in the arena during certain points of each game, just like in real NBA contests.
Crowd sounds also are much better than in past 989 offerings. 989 Sports has earned a dubious legend in its sports releases for the last two years when it comes to crowd noises, as almost every release features the same droning, endless loop of crowd noise. That’s all changed in NBA Shootout 2000, for the better. The crowd noise ebbs and flows appropriately during the game, with a steady buzz during more dormant parts of each game. It sounds very realistic. In fact, about the only unrealistic part of the crowd noise is the screaming heard during visiting team’s free throws. It’s a cacophony of shrieks and moans that just sounds weird.
Menu music consists of the generic hip-hop that’s as common in today’s NBA video games as stubbed cigarette butts in bar ashtrays. Just once, I’d love to see a company step out and maybe include a little techno or hard rock in an NBA game soundtrack. Not everyone who likes the NBA also likes rap and hip-hop.
Overall:NBA Shootout 2000 is a huge disappointment. Since 989 Sports never released a ’99 NBA game, I figured the extra development time would have been used to create a strong rival to NBA Live 2000. That didn’t happen. NBA Live 2000 – a flawed game, too – still runs NBA Shootout 2000 out of the gym in every aspect of play.
This sub-par effort continues the downhill slide by 989 Sports. 989 was riding high after its NFL Gameday 99 and MLB 99 were better than EA’s Madden 99 and Triple Play 99, respectively. But it almost appears that 989 has rested on its laurels since. In fact, EA has cleaned house against 989 Sports in every head-to-head matchup in 1999 and early 2000 except for motocross racing, where 989’s Supercross Circuit is far superior to EA’s Supercross 2000.
Hopefully Sony Computer Entertainment’s recent decision to absorb 989 Sports will end this slide and create strong competition for EA Sports. Love them or loathe them, sports gamers everywhere should cheer for the success of SCEA sports games. EA Sports needs strong competition across all sports genres from a company with marketing might, and right now SCEA is the only company on the radar screen that can do that. Competition will produce stronger, more realistic titles from both companies, and all gamers will benefit.
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