Pat Riley Basketball

[Melf]

The early days of the Genesis were marked by big name licenses attached to... not so big games. Buster Douglas Knockout Boxing, Tommy Lasorda Baseball, and Pat Riley Basketball were just a few of the titles that were pushed based on their endorsements, rather than their features and gameplay. Pat Riley was particularly offensive in this regard, sporting - no pun intended - dull gameplay and some wacky physics. Read our full review, and then go hug that copy of Bulls vs. Blazers. Trust us, you'll feel much better.

[Aarzak]

I find that synopsis for the Genesis' first big-selling game (500,000 copies, one of the first to be re-released as a "Sega Classic" in 1992) HIGHLY offensive!!!

The game's got great music.

[Alvatron]

Is this review complete? It just kind of ended with the paragraph about the options.

[Phantar]

Ah, so THAT'S the Basektball game I had as a kid! Okay, I had the Japanese version without the Pat Riley-license, but looking at the screenshots sure brings back memories...

The game aged badly, but I wouldn't go as far as to only grant it two points. It had its merits, and looked rather nice. The biggest gripe I had with the game was that in order to defend (even in the close-up-screen to prevent a successful dunk), you practically had to wildly mash the buttons and hope that you succeed (I never quite found out what it was that caused a successful defense or not).

This is one of the games that I got imported from Japan, at an age where I didn't venen know how to properly speak or read English - and this had a Japanese manual. It wasn't too hard to figure out the basic controls, though, even with the "press B to jump"-action.

[Benjamin]

Ah, so THAT'S the Basektball game I had as a kid! Okay, I had the Japanese version without the Pat Riley-license, but looking at the screenshots sure brings back memories...

I picked up Super Real Basketball a few years ago on a whim when I was grabbing some Japanese releases of American titles just to see how they were handled over there. I don't recall there being any changes in the game itself, and I would not be surprised if it's one of those Genesis cartridges which house both region editions, switching appropriately based on the region of the console.

The game aged badly, but I wouldn't go as far as to only grant it two points.

Sports games do tend to age horribly, but two points does seem a bit low. I remember Frank Eva in VG&CE giving Pat Riley Basketball at perfect 10 score in his review because, at the time, having a 5-on-5 basketball game with no flickering and "big" sprites was unheard of on a console. Now, it's a "2."

[The Sports Guy]

Is this review complete? It just kind of ended with the paragraph about the options.

Yeah, I have another paragraph that either Ken didn't get because I sent another version of it to him or he just didn't like it. I PM'd him about it.

Here is the lost paragraph that'll hopefully make it on there:

Listen, I know what your thinking. Yeah, I am beating the living crap out of this game and it was realistically a launch title and launch titles are very rarely the best games on the system (See: Nintendo). But, this game is bad! This game is worse than bad! Just let this game sit on your shelf and collect dust until you forgot that you had it and then when you find it again a while later, don’t play it. It is one of the only games that I have paid $1.98 for and felt like I paid too much. It’s also the only Genesis game where it makes me feel l can’t be 100% convinced that Genesis does. Does that tell you how bad this game is?

Maybe that second to last sentence needs to be edited out or something. I don't mind. I just think it needs a conclusion.

I gave this game a 2 because the experience of playing a game to me is way more important than it's features or sounds. I was bickering between a 2 and a 3 about this game, but I just don't have much of any fun with it, frankly.

At least this wasn't a Super Thunder Blade level of egregiousness, lol.

[Alvatron]

Thanks, it's a good review, I just thought I might have missed some of the info. Other than that, the review seems fair.

[The Sports Guy]

You know, I always think my reviews are good when they stir up the most controversy. See: Outrunners.

My reviews are my personal statements about the experience with the game mixed with what is actually contained within the cart. Don't worry, I always tell the readers whether to check this game out or not at the end of the review.

And Aarzak: You were the one that asked me to review it! haha, I gave you my opinion.

[superlarz]

I actually enjoyed this game when it came out. I thought it was much better than the EA sports basketball games until Coach K and the Live series started.

[Melf]

Really? I thought Lakers vs. Celtics shat on this from a great height.

[The Sports Guy]

A "sky dump" or "upper decker" if you will, haha.

[Aarzak]

C'mon now, Sega of Japan pretty much shoved all of their unsold stock of "Super Real Basketball" down SoA's throat and forced Michael Katz to sell 'em somehow! He was just doing his job! Right Melf?

Hmm, a quick rundown of Sega's first-gen sports lineup:

"Tommy Lasdorda Baseball": Good game, THE only baseball game on the Genny until "Sports Talk" and RBI popped up around 1992. EGM gave it good scores in the 7.0-8.0 range back in late '89.

"World Championship Soccer": Not a fan of soccer, haven't played this game as much. Nice music though, which is something that can be said of the Genny's early sports lineup.

"Arnold Palmer Tournament Golf": Ditto, somewhat nice graphics though. WCW/WWE wrester Paul "The Big Show" Wight said this was one of his favorite games growing up, and that its graphics impressed him.

"Pat Riley Basketball":........It had great music. Otherwise, the weakest of the first-gen sports titles by far.

"Buster Douglas Knockout Boxing": Technically not developed by Sega (it was a re-brand of the Mega Drive title "Final Blow" from Taito, originally from the arcade), but still a solid, fun game for about an hour or so. Best first-gen sports title IMO.

"Joe Montana Football": I'm as far of a fan of football as anyone, so I don't know. I hate how Sega tried to shove this franchise down people's throat though.......Madden came out first, game over!

[Melf]

I really enjoyed Arnold Palmer Golf (still do), and while it's not as technical or accurate as the PGA series, it's fun if you just want to play a few holes.

[chrisbid]

arnold palmer golf had a great quick pace, and the silly catchy music and (for its time) extremely large golfer screamed "16-BIT!!"

i liked pat riley when it came out. i liked joe montana when it came out (well before madden... thankyouverymuch). these games had more color, full teams of players, and little slowdown compared to NES games. none of the games are unplayable or broken, and they do not deserve a score of 2.

[vintagegamecrazy]

I have to rant about something, and I am not doing this out of anger or spite but just to voice a point. It seems like every game that gets a 1 or 2 score has a ton of people jabbing at the reviewer saying how he's too harsh on the game. I would like to say that there's plenty of games that deserve that score and I agree with several of the low scored reviews.

I also have a question for all of you, why do so many of you disagree with these reviews so strongly and never post comments in the review itself? I would start commenting more on the games so that your opinion will be heard.

Like I said, it's not a yelling session for all of you, I just wanted to voice a point and encourage more comments in the reviews.