Pat Riley Basketball
System: Genesis
Release Date: August 1990
Developer: Sega
Publisher: Sega
Genre: Sports
Take it to the hoop with the legendary coach in Pat Riley Basketball! Well, not really, he’s not in the game proper, only on the title screen. Pick one of eight teams and play an exhibition game, or enter a tournament pitting them against one another in single elimination competition.
I picked the Detroit Jets and decided three games wouldn’t be too difficult to get through, and I was right. Teams only have their starting lineups, so you don’t have to worry about player condition throughout the game. Players are rated on speed, shooting, passing, and defense. You can really tell the faster players on the court.
Each quarter begins with a tip off that you need to time correctly to win. On offense, Button C is pass if you’re lucky enough to get it to work when you want it to. I fought with this through my entire time. Button B jumps you into the air, which you can pass out of, or press again to shoot. If you’re near the rim, you’ll go into a dunk animation, where you have to time your button press in the red part of the meter. Three pointers can be attempted, but miss more often than not.
On defense, you’re trying to get the ball back. This can usually be accomplished by bashing Button C when you’re near the ball carrier. It can happen if you get in the way of a pass. The game consists of a million steals, which can mess you up if there is a turnover at half court, because you will get over and back violations constantly. If you’re able to get a defender in front of an opposing shooter as they go into a dunk animation, you can block with a well timed press of Button B. I started to get the hang of this by the time my final game rolled around.
Graphics: 2.5
The graphics are nice enough, but no differentiation between players on the court is baffling.
Sound: 3.0
I really enjoyed the music and the sound effects were low key enough not to bug me.
Gameplay: 2.0
There’s not a whole lot to do and if you get into a dunk animation, there shouldn’t be any stopping you.
Difficulty: 2.0
The computer has some apparent catch up AI, but they can be pretty easily cheesed.
Fun Factor: 2.0
It’s pretty monotonous to be honest, but there are plenty of less fun basketball games.
Overall Rating: 2.3
Pat Riley Basketball earns a C+. One of the best basketball games I’ve played yet, but not a great game. Worth playing if you want to experience the evolution of basketball games.