Takin’ it to the Hoop
System: TG-16
Release Date: March 15, 1990
Developer: Aicom
Publisher: NEC
Genre: Sports
Takin’ it to the Hoop is the TurboGrafx-16 take on basketball. This is a regular 5 on 5 game that you can play as a championship tournament, league, or exhibition. Choose one of eight fictional teams from Miami to Honolulu and beat all of your opponents!
Both the tournament and league modes pit you against all of the other teams available. The tournament, therefore, is three games opposed to the league’s seven games. The quarters are 12 minutes and games take the whole 48 minutes to go through. Play on the court is simple to control, but can be confusing, as passing the ball on offense (Button I) and changing the player on defense (Button II) are mapped to different buttons. Stealing the ball on defense is accomplished with Button I and jumping and shooting is mapped to Button II. Pressing the Run Button with the ball causes you to pick up your dribble and allows you to pivot, which I didn’t find useful.
If you jump near the hoop, you zoom into a dunk that has to be timed correctly. You can get blocked if a computer opponent is too close. Fouls send you to the charity stripe. Free throws are on a timing mechanism. If you press Button II in the green zone, you miss. Using the 3 Pointer not a valid strategy, as making them is incredibly rare. Running the clock down is also an exercise in futility, as the computer will pilfer you or get in front of your passes. There are three defensive schemes to choose from, but I eschewed man to man and zone for the combination zone + man.
You can sub in and out by pressing the Run button when in possession of the ball and choosing Change. Changing players out is important, as their stamina depletes during the game and they become slower and less accurate. Players are rated on five statistics from 1 to A. Power comes first and indicates player stamina. Speed is self explanatory with fast teammates able to make great fastbreaks. Shoot is accuracy when putting the ball up from the field. Pass is the ability to accurately pass and steal the ball in mid air. Defense is the ability to steal the ball when in the hands of another player.
I played as Chicago, because the manual said they were a B-Class team and there’s no Detroit. Characters on the court are not differentiated by numbers or names on jerseys, but by different heads. I relied on Edwards and Pin for most of my offense. Looking at Pin, he is the prediction of Dennis Rodman making his way to the Bulls a few years in the future. The dude’s got crazy hair and earrings and is a real bad boy of basketball.
Graphics: 3.0
Graphics and animations are nice overall with special detail paid to the player heads and portraits.
Sound: 1.5
There’s a fast paced theme in the background and a chunky crunch noise when the ball is dribbled.
Gameplay: 2.5
There are issues with the layout of controls, but once you get used to them, you’ll only make unforced errors on occasion.
Difficulty: 1.5
I blew out the computer in both games I played. I hope it gets harder later in the tournament or the season. It didn’t seem like there was a way to save and resume, so you have to have a lot of time set aside to play.
Fun Factor: 3.0
As a basketball game, this gets a lot more right than it gets wrong.
Overall Grade: 2.3
Takin’ it to the Hoop earns a C+. This is definitely the best basketball game released so far. There’s plenty of room for improvement, so I’m excited for what we’re going to get!