Welcome to another edition of The Friday Five! Every Friday I cover a topic related to basketball gaming, either as a list of five items, or a Top 5 countdown. The topics for these lists and countdowns include everything from fun facts and recollections to commentary and critique. This week’s Five is a list of five basketball video games that are somewhat overshadowed by their immediate successors, or even predecessors.

As I’ve acknowledged in previous articles, “underrated” and “overshadowed” are relative and subjective terms, as are “overrated” and “overexposed” for that matter. They assume some level of consensus, and to that point, once we start talking about how something is underrated or overshadowed, it often ceases to be either. With that being said, when it comes to basketball video games, there are some that always seem to fly under the radar. Even if they were well-received at the time, they still don’t get their due in hindsight, because another title from the same era is more acclaimed.

This can easily happen in the annual sim titles when they’re at their peak. While there may be several strong releases during a series’ golden age, we tend to focus on the ones that always land on lists of all-time great basketball video games. It can happen to arcade titles as well, even when the games were released a couple of years or more apart. I hesitate to declare all of them to be hidden gems as they were popular, and it might be swinging the narrative too far in the other direction. Nevertheless, in my opinion, these overshadowed games deserve some more love. I would definitely recommend them to anyone looking for some retro basketball gaming inspiration!

1. NBA Live 99

During the 2000s, and even into the early 2010s when it was still on our minds, a lot of basketball gamers considered NBA Live 2000 to be the peak of the series. I would actually agree that it held the distinction of being the best NBA Live title for at least a few years, but I also believe that it was surpassed during the NBA Live 2004-06 era, with NBA Live 06 PC being my pick as the new peak. In any case, when a game in a long-running series becomes a widely popular choice as the pinnacle of its lineage, it inevitably overshadows other great releases, no matter how outstanding they are. To that point, NBA Live 99 has long been overshadowed by the game that followed it.

Of course, NBA Live 99 was already the black sheep of the series’ first golden era. It was released while the lockout of 1998-1999 was in effect, thus had to launch with final 1998 season rosters and none of the new rookies. It also had a few bugs that, to be fair, overshadowed its improvements. It even had one of the least popular cover players in Antoine Walker, adding to the stigma. However, once the PC version was patched and properly updated, it turned out to be quite a strong release, with gameplay and graphics that hold their own against its beloved successor. NBA Live 2000 is still the superior game, but it’s a shame that NBA Live 99 doesn’t get more recognition.

2. NBA Live 09

I’ll be the first to admit the seventh generation wasn’t a high point for the NBA Live series. Some of the better ideas to come along in those games don’t always get enough credit, but there’s no denying that it was a turning point for the series, with blunders that it never truly recovered from. If there’s one seventh gen NBA Live that’s held in high regard, it would be NBA Live 10, and for good reason. It was another step in the right direction, and it stands as a wistful “What If” in the wake of NBA Elite 11’s failure. There are some gamers who even rank it as the best game in the series, which again naturally casts a shadow over titles that came immediately before and after it.

That’s more than fair if we’re talking about NBA Elite 11, but it’s a raw deal for NBA Live 09. Sure, I would agree that NBA Live 10 is better, though it took a retro kick for me to truly appreciate the game after initially souring on it. It’s only appropriate that revisiting NBA Live 09 would be a similarly illuminating experience. It has some janky animations and rebounding mechanics, but it’s a lot closer to NBA Live 10 in quality than I remembered, and I don’t mean that as a knock on 10. With enjoyable gameplay, an expanded FIBA roster, and the introduction of Dynamic DNA and the NBA Live Academy, NBA Live 09 is a good game overshadowed by a great one.

3. NBA 2K10

In some ways, NBA 2K10 is the NBA Live 99 of the NBA 2K series. It turned out to be the game that came before one of the most successful and influential games in its lineage, making it all too easy to overlook. And, while NBA 2K11 deserved all of its acclaim just as NBA Live 2000 did around a decade earlier, like NBA Live 99, NBA 2K10 is a great game that contains many of the same strong points as its sequel. I’ll admit that I didn’t appreciate NBA 2K10 enough when it was new. NBA Live was my brand, and Isomotion was still a turn-off as I tried to get into NBA 2K’s gameplay. However, in revisiting NBA 2K games from that era, I’ve since warmed up to them.

It’s why I had a blast going back and completing the original Jordan Challenge in NBA 2K11, and why NBA 2K6 and NBA 2K7 eventually entered my rotation. For a long time though, I continued to overlook NBA 2K10. It was just the game that came before NBA 2K11; still a fine release, I assumed, but why play it when the superior sequel is right there? That was underestimating NBA 2K10, and with the way that it’s overshadowed by NBA 2K11, I’d suggest others have made the same mistake. If that’s been your impression of NBA 2K10, then I highly recommend giving it another look! Its gameplay and modes still hold up superbly, and there are some great mods on PC.

4. NBA Jam Tournament Edition

So far, I’ve been focusing on sequels that overshadow the game that came before them, but sometimes, the opposite is true. Normally that happens when the next game in a series isn’t as impressive, but NBA Jam Tournament Edition is an example of an enhanced edition that – while highly-regarded and featuring notable improvements – is still generally overshadowed by the original version. After all, when people reminisce about NBA Jam, they’re generally thinking of the arcade original (or its home ports). As such, the noteworthy changes and enhancements that were made in NBA Jam TE are seldom discussed, even though they arguably made it the definitive version.

For example, when a modern duo is depicted in the style of NBA Jam’s team selection screen, they have power bars rather than Tournament Edition’s numerical ratings. It’ll also only be a two-man squad, rather than the expanded rosters of NBA Jam TE. Even subsequent games have ignored some of the innovations that it made, such as adding injury levels that actually give us a reason to substitute players. There’s no denying that the original NBA Jam is iconic, and with its success and importance to basketball gaming, it’s not surprising that it manages to overshadow its enhanced sequel. Still, NBA Jam Tournament Edition deserves to be appreciated for being a great follow-up.

5. The Original NBA Street

NBA Street Vol. 2 has at times been labelled the best basketball video game ever. It’s understandable, and I only disagree with the assertion because I believe there are other worthy candidates, and because there are subgenres of basketball games that appeal to different preferences. Still, NBA Street Vol. 2 is an amazing game, even over two decades later. However, the same could be said about the original NBA Street! Yes, NBA Street Vol. 2 is the superior game, building upon the foundation laid by its predecessor. Nevertheless, the first NBA Street did set the stage for what was to come. It likewise remains fun and accessible to this day, with decent depth.

Perhaps I’m misinterpreting the (much-deserved) enthusiasm for NBA Street Vol. 2, but sometimes, it feels as though the prevailing opinion is that it’s the only game in the series that’s worth playing. If so, I’ll certainly push back on that take. The original NBA Street nailed the gameplay right out of the gate, from all the dribbling move combos to control over the dunks. The campaign mode is straightforward but fun to play through, and Michael Jordan is there to lend a hand…at least until you face him in a final showdown at Rucker Park, anyway. I get why the sequel overshadows the original, but it’s a shame as the first NBA Street is an awesome game in its own right.

What’s your take on these overshadowed games? What are some other basketball video games that you feel are overshadowed, overlooked, or underrated? Have your say in the comments, and as always, feel free to take the discussion to the NLSC Forum! That’s all for this week, so thanks for checking in, have a great weekend, and please join me again next Friday for another Five.

The post The Friday Five: 5 Overshadowed Games appeared first on NLSC.