NBA Jam (1993 video game)

Not to be confused with NBA Jam (2003 video game) or NBA Jam (2010 video game).
NBA Jam
Arcade flyer
Developer(s)Midway[a]
Publisher(s)Midway
Acclaim Entertainment[b] (consoles)
Designer(s)Mark Turmell, Shawn Liptak, Jamie Rivett, Sal Divita, John Carlton, Tony Goskie
Composer(s)Jon Hey (Arcade)
Rick Fox (Genesis/SNES)
SeriesNBA Jam
Platform(s)Arcade, Super NES, Genesis, Game Gear, Game Boy, Sega CD, 32X, Jaguar, Saturn, PlayStation
ReleaseArcade
Game Gear, Genesis, SNES
  • NA: March 4, 1994
  • EU: 1994
  • JP: April 29, 1994
Game Boy
  • NA: November 1994
  • EU: November 24, 1994
  • JP: 1994
Sega CD
  • NA: December 1994[2]
  • EU: 1994
  • JP: December 20, 1994

Tournament Edition

Arcade
  • NA: February 23, 1995
  • EU: February 23, 1995
  • JP: February 24, 1995
PlayStation
Saturn
  • NA: November 10, 1995[4]
  • EU: December 1995
  • JP: December 1, 1995
Genre(s)Sports (basketball)
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer
Arcade systemMidway T Unit

NBA Jam is a basketball video game developed and published by Midway for arcades in 1993. It is the first entry in the NBA Jam series. The project leader for this game was Mark Turmell.

NBA Jam was the third basketball video game released by Midway, after TV Basketball (1974) and Arch Rivals (1989).[5] The gameplay of NBA Jam is based on Arch Rivals, which was also a 2-on-2 basketball game. However, it was the release of NBA Jam that brought mainstream success to the genre.

The release of NBA Jam popularized a subgenre of basketball based around fast action and exaggerated realism, a formula Midway later applied to the sports of hockey (NHL Open Ice and NHL Hitz), American football (NFL Blitz), and baseball (MLB Slugfest).

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference EG was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ "Team EGM". Electronic Gaming Monthly. No. 65. Sendai Publications. December 1994. p. 254.
  3. ^ "The Games Every PlayStation Console Launched With". Kotaku Australia. 21 June 2020. Archived from the original on June 22, 2020. Retrieved 23 January 2022.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference nbajam saturn was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Ali, Reyan (22 October 2019). NBA Jam. Boss Fight Books. pp. 18–9, 34–5. ISBN 978-1-940535-20-3.


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