10 best NBA video games of all time

4. NBA Live 1995

EA Sports retired their NBA Playoffs series in 1993 and introduced the world to NBA Showdown. The game didn’t resonate with their audience and the project was shelved. In October 1994, EA Sports returned with a brand-new sports property: NBA Live 95. EA Sports would never look back.

NBA Live 95 wasn’t a huge departure from the NBA Playoffs series but instead looked to improve upon many of its great features. Added was the brand-new isometric on-court perspective that gave users a more clear view of the entire court which helped make better use of NBA Live 95’s play-calling system.

The game also borrowed from NBA Jam and added a brand-new turbo button to give players a temporary and limited speed burst.

NBA Live 95 was the first basketball video game to truly feel like an authentic game of basketball.

The ball bounced at the right intervals, players would cut to the basket if they were open, the crowd finally interacted with the play on the court even screaming “THREE!” as you shot from long-distance. Users could call both offensive and defensive sets and each player looked, felt and played their real-life counterparts. Sure, we were still solidly in the 16-bit era but NBA Live 95 made every play look as authentic as possible even if it simply meant giving Dennis Rodman a new hair dye color each game or Chris Mullin’s patented flat top.

The game also was the first NBA simulation game to allow users to Create-A-Player and create customized fictional teams. NBA Live 95 had it all. Full rosters. Realistic player models. Full seasons. Multiple game modes. Plays. Authentic player movement.

It would be years until NBA Live or basketball video games, in general, matched the authentic experience and feature-rich perfection that was NBA Live 95.