10 best NBA video games of all time

2. NBA Jam: Tournament Edition

There’s no denying that the original NBA Jam was one of the most, if not the most revolutionary sports game in history. NBA Jam took a genre that had very little success and made it one of the biggest and most popular games ever. Coinciding with the explosion of NBA popularity, NBA Jam is undoubtedly one of the most important games in history. But I have to call it like I see it. NBA Jam is and was great but NBA Jam: Tournament Edition was better. In almost every way.

NBA Jam crawled so NBA Jam: Tournament Edition could walk. Faster gameplay, updated rosters, brand-new features, the ability to choose from three players on each team as opposed to two, new hot spots, new cheat codes, better graphics, updated sounds, in-game substitutions, hidden characters, actual player attributes, special slam dunks… do I need to keep going?

NBA Jam: Tournament Edition plain and simple is the greatest arcade basketball game of all-time. It took the revolutionary force that was NBA Jam and improved it on literally every level. Every single complaint about the original NBA Jam was resolved in NBA Jam: Tournament Edition creating what is probably the most perfect NBA and really sports video game of all-time.

Whereas the original NBA Jam seems a bit more “of its time” and doesn’t hold up as well if played today, NBA Jam: Tournament Edition is timeless. Next time you’re actually allowed to leave the house, make your way to a Barcade and fire up NBA Jam: Tournament Edition, if you don’t spend at least an hour leading the Seattle SuperSonics past the Minnesota Timberwolves and Milwaukee Bucks, then you may not have a soul.