NBA Jam: Tournament Edition

When arcade basketball mania peaked in the mid-1990s, it couldn't be missing from Sega's add-on either, which was desperately searching for trump cards of its own. NBA Jam: Tournament Edition arrived on the 32X as a port of the arcade hit, and the living room instantly turned into a small arena – no rules, no fouls, just two-on-two and as many flashy dunks as possible.

The principle stayed true to the original: players pick pairs from the NBA teams of the day, move across the court at exaggerated speed, and every fifth basket in a row "lights up" a player, making them shoot even more accurately with the ball leaving a fiery trail behind it. Tournament Edition additionally added a new tournament mode, updated player rosters based on the current season, and a few hidden characters that were unlocked by entering names on the start screen – a popular ritual at the time that friends talked about in school hallways and gaming magazines. The controls are deliberately simple – a pass button, a shot button, and a turbo button are enough for even an inexperienced player to feel like an NBA star after a while.

On the 32X, the game was among the titles that made sense to play with two people on one screen – the engine didn't match the parameters of the arcade original or the versions on more powerful home consoles, but the pace and craziness of the matches remained untouched. For owners of the add-on, this was one of the few genuinely fun sports games that could be brought out at a party without explaining the rules and played for a whole evening.

Why play: Because over-the-top dunks with no rules and no fouls are still, even after all these years, the fastest route to great fun for two.