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I've never been a die hard basketball fan, but when it comes to basketball video games
on the Sega Genesis, there's little I haven't touched. It's probably due to the free range
I have since I have no real allegiances to any team, allowing me to choose the Chicago
Bulls as much as the LA Lakers. I especially enjoyed the NBA Live series that started with
Lakers versus Celtics and the NBA Playoffs in 1989 and lasted for 20 years, continuing
this year with NBA Live 12. Before Dwight Howard and Pau Gasol made their cover debuts,
however, the series portrayed pro hoops through an isometric point of view and 16-bit shoe
squeaks. NBA Live 98 was one of the last games for the Sega Genesis, having to share the
stage with Saturn, SNES, and the new kid on the block, the Playstation. To be sure, the
Playstation version garnered much more attention with 3D graphics and Tim Hardaway as the cover
boy, and on the Genesis side of things, gamers were making the case that the Live series
was on its way out along with the obsolete system, since very little on the visual side
of things has changed from NBA Live 95. I guess if your console is on its way out, you
might as well not change anything that had worked so well in the past. This is your run-of-the-mill
b-ball simulator, complete with exhibition, season, and practice modes, and a word of
warning, if this is your first time playing any game in the NBA Live series, it will take
some getting used to. Player movement can feel very slippery, which can make defending
in the paint difficult to say the least. Nevertheless, the fun factor remains as high as it ever
has with EA Sports Genesis games, as your offense can call plays automatically or at
your discretion, allowing you to sink buckets right back in your opponent's face. What I
don't believe should be controlled automatically is stealing. Too often you'll be called on
a reach-in foul when you're just marking your man. The best way to steal the ball, as in
real life, is to have a man marking the dribbler and sneak up on him. Just like in any other
NBA Live, you'll be able to make in game substitutions automatically or at your command, and blah
blah blah. To be honest, NBA Live 98 is really nothing special. It doesn't really stand out
from its predecessors, much less when compared to the 3D graphics and overall flair of the
Playstation version. Not until the Dreamcast came out with NBA 2K would I grab a controller
and expect to play another basketball game on a Sega console, and the fact that you STILL
can't take control of Michael Jordan proper still gives me a nervous itch to this day.