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Double Dribble

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Reviewed by Brian Mulholland Double Dribble is semi-realistic basketball sim that isn't a terrible game but which can be dominated with minimal effort and offer no season, playoffs or other attractions. It looks like what it is, a preliminary attempt to do a basketball game.

Graphics 8 out of 10

The normal play graphics are basic and functional. There's some proportionality problems where the game makes it possible to leap and dunk from the three point line. It's possible for multiple players to occupy the same physical space, and sometimes it's not easy to pick action out of these crowds and react well. The cut scenes for dunks are pretty sharp and well stylized for 8 bit.

Music and Sound 5 out of 10

The music is non-existent and not even worth mentioning, but the effects are quite decent with nice sneaker noises. There's also a nice swoosh as the ball does through the net, but that dribbling noise is both unrealistic and IRRITATING. If it were a bit quieter a noise it would be tolerable but it's very much a foreground noise and repetitive and monotonous.

Game Challenge 3 out of 10

If you play anything other than the hardest level and don't come away doubling your opponent's score as a minimum you should throw your NES away and hide your head in a bag in shame because those levels are shamefully easy. The jump to the hardest level though is significant and when you first make the leap from easiest to hardest (as I did) the difference will catch you off guard and frustrate you...for about 5 minutes. By then you'll figure out that at the highest level you have to watch your passing lanes, and avoid defenders because they steal automatically if you get to close. But the computer plays a sloppy man to man and it isn't to tough to penetrate into the paint and dunk every time you touch the ball. Worse yet, you should be able to steal from the computer at least half his possessions. The only things that make the computer competitive is that sometimes it's tough to get away from the full court press of the computer. Once you do you're in ! the clear since their half-court defense is dreadful. Also the computer will very nearly never miss a shot at this level. However the computer doesn't take enough shots and you usually can get the steal before they shoot because the computer will pass it around and try to work it into the paint before they take their shots.

Game Play-Fun 7 out of 10

It's fun when you're first starting, but after a few games the only way to make it a challenge is to try to get double your foe's score...then triple...then quadruple...well, you get the point. But the game is fast paced and entertaining until you have mastered it.

Frustration

You shouldn't get frustrated except for the brief adjustment period between difficulty levels as you adapt to the computer stealing the ball more. Once you adapt it's just to easy.

Replayability 2 out of 10

Once you master it, the game is dead to you. If you pick it up months later thinking your skills have atrophied you'll find it only takes a minute or two for you to re-acclimate yourself and to start dominating again.

Game Value 5 out of 10

I bought the game used relatively recently and paid a buck. How can I say it's not worth a buck? I mean for the price of a soda from certain vending machines you can get a marginal video game. You get what you pay for in this case simply because you didn't pay much!

Overall 4 out of 10

Basically it's not a terrible attempt at representing the sport for an 8-bit game. Actually I've played quite a few basketball games both in the arcade and on other systems and given how extremely BAD most of them are, Double Dribble really was a pretty decent effort. But only by comparison to a weak field. I've played modern basketball sims that Double Dribble could hold it's own against, but I don't mean that as a compliment towards Double Dribble so much as an insult of basketball games.

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