A Sports Fan's Review of EA's NBA Live 96
by:  Jon Kinnersley

Get ready to play against all the big-name NBA stars, in all the real NBA
arenas, with all the strategy of a professional basketball game, because
in Electronic Arts's PlayStation version of NBA Live 96 you get all that
and much more.  When I bought this game ($59.99) I expected it to be a
true simulation of NBA action where previous PlayStation interpretations
had fallen short.  I was not disappointed.  It has all the major stars
(using the title "player" for Jordan and Barkley) with accurate ratings in
many categories.  It has complete, up-to-date rosters for all the teams up
until around the All-Star game plus it allows you to trade any players you
want to keep the rosters accurate (i.e. Charles Smith for JR Reid).  The
action itself is very good.  The game supplies a wide variety of sets and
plays to run.  The speed of players relative to how it would be in reality
is pretty accurate as well.  One option I love about this game is the
ability to adjust the likelihood of foul calls during the game.  I have
always been irritated by the complete lack fouls and free-throw attempts
in basketball games before, this option almost completely solves that
problem.
	Overall the game is very good.  Only a few drawbacks stand in the
way of its perfection.  Below I will rate NBA Live 96 in several
categories:  graphics, music, sound, gameplay, realism, options,
longevity, and overall.

GRAPHICS:  Graphically NBA Live 96 takes a different approach to the
basketball genre than previous PlayStation titles like Konami's NBA: In
The Zone.  The players are more cartoon-like than polygon-based.  That is
not to say the players look like something out of the classic RBI
Baseball.  No, the players are along the lines of the previous NBA Live
versions but improved vastly in clarity and realism.  The intro has great
FMV action of NBA stars doing what they do best.  The player portraits are
absolutely incredibly clear and colorful.  Very impressive.  All the
arenas are wonderfully recreated and appear very accurate.  In addition
all the team logos are there and look great.  The only negative aspect is
that the players could be crisper.  The divergence from polygons is
welcome in my opinion but the players could have look a bit smoother.  I
give the graphical representation a 94%.

MUSIC:  For a sports game, NBA Live 96 has some fairly impressive tunes.
They all sound like something you would hear on "Inside Stuff".  There's
not much to say about this--very good, but not ground-breaking.  I give
the music a 96%.

SOUND:  The sound is up and down in my opinion.  The ups are that the
little things like crowd cheers and net sounds are there and good.
However, there is essentially no voice in the game except "Three."  That's
right--with a period and not an exclamation point.  There is really no
enthusiasm behind it.  I would have liked to hear the players names
announced after buckets or substitutions.  I also would have liked some
attempt at a TV announcer at least before and after the game.  As it is,
the sound is functional, nothing more.  I say... 86%.

GAMEPLAY:  The gameplay in NBA Live 96 is one of it's strongest points.
The players do slide a bit too much like they are straight out of NHL '96.
This problem is VERY minimal though and the ability to control you player
all the time is an improvement over some of the moves in NBA: In The Zone
where you would press shoot and the player would take off to make a random
type of shot.  In Live you pretty much can determine what type of shot you
take and when.  The ability to run plays helps you control the offense
even better.  One problem in the gameplay department is the lack of good
views of the action.  I like the "End" view from behind the backboard, but
all of the other views are excessively far from the action and thus
difficult to use.  I haven't found myself really bothered by the problem
however because there are a couple of decent camera positions.  Overall
the gameplay is very good for a basketball game--a 97%.

REALISM:  The realism in NBA Live 96 is also very good.  The stadiums are
AWESOME!  The best I have ever seen.  They really look like they do in
real life.  The stat tracking is anouther excellent feature in Live 96.
It tracks all the players stats in many categories all season.
Unfortunately, it doesn't track points/game for everyone just for the
league leaders (top 10).  I don't like having to play my games with a
calculator on hand to divide total points by games played.  It isn't that
big of a deal as all other stats are there.  One problem with realism is
in the player uniforms.  They aren't the absolute best I've seen.  In the
uniform aspect NBA: In The Zone is far superior.  As I mentioned before,
the fouls are actually called in this game and you finally get to shoot a
somewhat realistic number of free throws.  Overall, the realism is as good
as any basketball game available.  I will rate it 96%.

OPTIONS:  The options available are good.  You can change things like foul
likelihood, whether or not to keep the games close, and roster
arrangement.  The one option I miss is create or alter a player.  I wish I
could fill in Jordan or Barkley's names, but no.  That's unfortunate.
Other than what I have mentioned the options are good, but not great--an 89%.

LONGEVITY:  NBA Live 96 is the type of sports game that will keep you
coming for a long time.  Stat tracking is fun and makes the seasons more
enjoyable even through the "dog days."  Another feature that helps in this
area is the challenge level.  There are three:  Rookie, Starter,
All-Star--and on the highest the game really is tough.  Additionally, the
option to keep the games close is helpful for making even the most
lopsided matchups interesting.  The only draw back in this category is the
limited number of animated lay-ups and dunks.  This flaw is made up for in
the incredible array of plays and team sets.  Longevity is a strong
category for NBA Live 96--97%.

OVERALL:  Overall NBA Live 96 is excellent.  The game plays well,
incorporates more than adequate visual effects including the most
realistic stadiums ever, and keeps you interested for a long time.  Two
player games are great in Live; there's nothing like a two-handed tomahawk
jam over your best friend.  The downfalls include a lack of substantial
sound and voice effects, lack of points-per-game tracking for every
player, and some poor views of the action.  Despite these I feel EA Sports
has unleashed the most complete and entertaining basketball game available
on PlayStation.  My recommendation:  Buy it, no need to rent.  A 94%.

I definitely hope my review of EA's NBA Live 96 can help you make an
informed decision as a consumer.  If you have any questions about the game
itself or about this review, please e-mail me at glay@u.washington.edu.
Thank you.

Jon Kinnersley