NBA JAM: On Fire Edition is what fans have been waiting for
(CBS) - Last year's NBA Jam for the Xbox 360 and PS3 was good, but not as feature-rich as it should have been. Its brand of over-the-top basketball has been loved by many for decades, but the new inclusions to the series were not universally praised and easily forgotten.
One year later, EA has made things right by releasing NBA Jam: On Fire Edition as a downloadable game and offering plenty of content that can be enjoyed either alone or with others. This is what arcade basketball fans have been waiting for.
Taking a cue from last year's NBA Jam, On Fire's Road Trip is the game's primary mode and replaces Remix Tour where you played against all 30 NBA teams in various match types. This time, the matches are broken up by medal statuses, with the first round of matches being classic, two-versus-two games.
After winning the first, bronze match against a team, you immediately unlock their silver match; completing that, unlocking gold. Unlike last year where you had to win all of the first round matches against all teams in a particular division to unlock the next set of matches, you can play teams in any order. If you beat the Pacers' bronze match, then you can take on silver and gold matches immediately afterward. Conversely, if you want to jump around the league to mix and match, nothing is stopping you from doing so.
NBA Jam is over the top basketball at its finest and that same, wild experience from last year is still on showcase in On Fire. Among the improvements and additions is the inclusion of Tag Mode, which allows you to control both players on a team instead of relying on the AI. This way, any mistake that is made is the player's fault, and it puts more pressure on knowing the right thing to do.
Additional animations and even deeper commentary by legendary NBA Jam announcer Tim Kitzrow are included and add to an overall great package. Those who felt burnt by last year's game can think of NBA Jam: On Fire Edition as EA's way of apologizing for it.