"He's Heating Up"

Those were glorious words to me as I sat on the couch, Game Gear (am I the only person who ever owned one of these?) plugged in to the wall (Game Gear drained 4AA batteries in under an hour so plugging into the wall was a must) I am referring to NBA Jam, one of my all-time sports video games.

Granted, I loved Blades of Steel (NES)/NHL 94 (Sega), College Football 95 (Sega), Baseball Stars (NES) and of course Dale Earnhardt Racing (just kidding, I made this up, if its an actual game then I feel bad for anyone who ever bought it) but NBA Jam is the first in a long-line of memories for me.

NBA Jam is the two-on-two masterpiece that pitted all-star tandem's vs. all-star tandem's in a full court match up made for high scores, incredible dunks and of course, being on fire. All it took was three consecutive baskets with one player and your guy was unstoppable. He could hit half-court shots with ease, perform incredible dunks and take over the game. As basketball video games go, this is tops.

But as I grew older and realized staring excessively as a 3 inch screen was affecting my vision, I turned to a greater form of entertainment. This form of entertainment was College Football 95 for Sega Genesis. (I must have had the worst judgment as to what systems to get for Christmas) As alluded to in an earlier post, I still consider myself one of the top ten players in the history of this game.

I consistently scored in the 100's and I could do it on the ground or in the air. I knew every play and I ran them to perfection. My friend Swervey and I have more national championships than you could imagine and I did it all on the legs of Kordell Stewart. I almost lost once but I threw a hail mary (with Kordell obviously) ala 1994 to win as time expired. The best part was after you won a championship the school's mascot would run across the field. I loved that buffalo.

Next up is Blades of Steel/NHL 94. I only will give only two shorts paragraphs to hockey because its hockey but Blades of Steel brings me back to when my brother would consistently crush me in the game and the in-game fights. Usually a post-game fight would ensue between us and he would win that as well but nonetheless, I loved the game.

NHL 94 was none stop fun as I dominated with Ed Belfour between the pipes. He saved everything and with Jeremy Roenick, Chris Chelios and my gifted fingers tapping A, B and C I was a lock to win the Stanley Cup every year. Not to mention I was incredible at checking in this game and when you hit the post it made a very realistic sound letting you know you did.

Last, but certainly not least, is the most forgotten game of all-time. Baseball Stars was the first game to let you create your own player, your own team and give attribute points to your players. (All of these became crucial in sports games following this one) There was also an all women's team so girls weren't left out (They turned into the Kansas City Royals later on). The only downfall of Baseball Stars was that when you removed the game from the system you were required to hold down reset or else all information would be lost. Regardless, by winning games you could boost your players skills. There was free agents you could sign and build up and if you wanted to you could create yourself and make yourself the best player in the game.

This was a short list and I know I forgot some games (Jordan vs. Bird, Barkely's Shut Up and Jam, Base Wars, Super Punchout) but that is for another time. I apologize to those of you who never played these awesome retro games but you missed out.

-The Kicker