When it comes to sports video games, even in an age with online gaming and realistic, high definition graphics, nothing will ever compare to one of the original greats: NBA Jam. Released originally as an arcade game in 1993 and later on consoles, it quickly turned into an icon with its exaggerated style of basketball. Players jumped many times their height for slam dunks that defied all sorts of physics, while hot shooting made the ball literally catch fire and increase that player’s turbo and shooting ability, all while the announcer shouted “Boom shaka-laka!” and “He’s on fire!”.
Another reason this game was so great was that it was one of the first sports game to actually license the names and likenesses of actual NBA players, meaning fans could not only play as real people but pick and choose unique lineups from three players on each team.