NBA Jam

ReleasedApril 1993

Arcade
Super Nintendo Entertainment System
Sega Mega Drive/Genesis
Sega CD

About

NBA Jam is a basketball arcade game published and developed by Midway in 1993. It is the first entry in the NBA Jam series. The main designer and programmer for this game was Mark Turmell. Midway had previously released such sports games as Arch Rivals in 1989, High Impact in 1990, and Super High Impact in 1991. The gameplay of NBA Jam is based on Arch Rivals, another 2-on-2 basketball video game. However, it was the release of NBA Jam that brought mainstream success to the genre. The game became exceptionally popular, and generated a significant amount of money for arcades after its release, creating revenue of $1 billion in quarters. In early 1994, the Amusement & Music Operators Association reported that NBA Jam had become the highest-earning arcade game of all time. The release of NBA Jam gave rise to a new genre of sports games which were based around fast, action-packed gameplay and exaggerated realism, a formula which Midway would also later apply to the sports of football (NFL Blitz), and hockey (2 on 2 Open Ice Challenge).

Developer: Midway
Publisher: Midway, Playtronic, Tec Toy
Genres: Sport
Themes: Action
Modes: Single player, Multiplayer, Co-operative
Perspective: Side view
Age ratings: PEGI 3, ESRB E
Time to beat: 1 h rushed · 1 h normally · 3 h completionist
IGDB rating: 75 / 100 (90 ratings)
Also known as: NBA Jam (1993)

Release dates

Release dates by platform
Platform	Release
Arcade	April 1993
Sega CD	Nov 30, 1994
Sega Mega Drive/Genesis	Mar 4, 1994 · North AmericaApr 29, 1994 · Japan1994 · Brazil
Super Nintendo Entertainment System	Mar 4, 1994 · North AmericaApril 1994 · BrazilApr 29, 1994 · North AmericaMar 10, 1996 · Europe

Screenshots

NBA Jam
1994Port
Handheld
NBA Jam
Nov 24, 1994Port
Game Boy
NBA Jam
Mar 4, 1994Port
Game Gear
NBA Hangtime
Apr 16, 1996
Arcade · SNES · Genesis/MegaDrive · N64
NBA Jam 99
Dec 4, 1998
N64
NBA Jam 2000
Oct 31, 1999
N64
NBA Jam
Nov 17, 2010
PS3 · Mac · X360
NBA Jam 2002
Feb 17, 2002
GBA
NBA Jam
Sep 23, 2003
XBOX · NGC · PS2
NBA Jam Tournament Edition
Jan 17, 1994Expanded Game
Arcade · SNES · Sega32 · Genesis/MegaDrive
NBA Jam: On Fire Edition
Oct 4, 2011Expanded Game
PS3 · X360
NBA Maximum Hangtime
2006Update
Arcade