TV SPORTS: BASKETBALL

 Ever since my disappointment with Accolade's FAST BREAK, I've been waiting for
a really good basketball simulation. It looks like it's finally arrived as the
latest in Cinemaware's "TV SPORTS" series. TV SPORTS: BASKETBALL builds upon the
design successes of the earlier TV SPORTS: FOOTBALL, and combines excellent
arcade basketball play with a stats simulation good enough to turn this product
into a computer sports role-playing game. (This review is based on the Amiga
version.)

 One of TV SPORTS: FOOTBALL's nice extras was a series of animated "cinematic"
sequences (such as the half-time show). Because TV SPORTS: BASKETBALL has been
limited to 512K of RAM, this game features only an announcer intro and wrap-up,
backed by a small bit of animation. Players with at least 1MB of RAM do receive
enhanced sound effects, though.

 Apart from that minor drawback, the rest of the game is wonderful. You begin at
a selection screen that allows you to play either Exhibition or League games. In
the Exhibition game mode, you specify which two teams will play together.
Exhibition games don't affect team stats, and therefore provide good practice
for eventual League play; they're also more configurable than League games, in
terms of quarter lengths and the number of players per team.

 League games are played within a simultaneous sequence, in order to advance the
conferences and divisions together through a season. There are 28 teams in TV
SPORTS: BASKETBALL, divided into two conferences and four divisions. Any number
of human players (up to the maximum number available in the game) can take
control of teams and carry them through a season; alternatively, a player can
take control of one team and instruct the computer to execute play among the
remaining 27 teams for each week of the season.

 In Exhibition play, you can arrange games in one of three ways: player vs.
computer; two players against each other; or two players as teammates against
the computer's team. I wasn't able to test this add-on, but with a $14.95
adapter plugged into the parallel port (the order form is included with the
game), four human players can compete simultaneously; they can play individual
positions on a single team, or be assigned to two different teams.

 In Exhibition mode, teams may consist of two to five players, and quarters can
last from 3 to 12 minutes. Therefore, you can have some 2-on-2 play with
3-minute quarters, if you want things to really speed along; or you can practice
full 5-on-5 play with standard-length quarters, in preparation for League play.

 Each of the teams can be edited: You may change ownership (human or computer);
team name and abbreviation; and individual players' names, rankings and ratings.
This allows you to simulate a real season by designing teams based on current
information.

 Players are ranked for shooting, passing, defense, rebounding, jumping and
quickness; depending on each player's rank, there are specified numbers of
"talent points" that can be distributed among these categories. Clearly, it's
impossible to create a character with super abilities in all areas.

 Once you begin League play, you can access the clipboard, which shows you who's
up against whom for the week, and on whose turf. (Whether a team plays at home
or away has global effects on its chances for success). Each of the 14 games per
week can be set to Auto or Hold mode. (Games in which human players are involved
are always set to Hold.) This means that either the rest of the week's games
will be played off-screen while the player is competing against the computer, or
that certain games will be "held" for viewing. (Yes, you can watch the computer
play itself, in "TV" mode.) You may, if you wish, watch all the computer-played
games each week, and then play your particular game of the week at the end. This
feature also permits you to run an entire season without having to play the
arcade game, if you're only interested in the stats simulation.

 The arcade game is well worth playing, however. Although it's definitely
challenging, it's not nearly as difficult as previous arcade basketball games
have been, and it's much more than a simple test of your joystick reflexes.

 During all League games, you begin with the tipoff, and can attempt to jump
successfully for the ball. Once the tipoff has been decided, it's straight to
the substitution screen, where you get a timed glance at your team's
assignments, and at who's on the bench. You can make changes here after the
tipoff, at the end of each quarter, or during timeouts called by either team.

 Players become tired, injured, or disqualified during games; they can be sent
to the bench in the hope that they'll recover, and be replaced with fresh team
members. At least half of your success during each game depends on carefully
assembling your teams. Spend some time really _learning_ the strengths and
weaknesses of each team member: It really pays off during play! It also helps if
you can sum up a player's abilities at a glance during the game, because there's
only a brief time in which you must decide how you're going to put things
together before the timeout ends.

 It's possible to trade players' positions and change defensive assignments, as
well as make substitutions. There are additional options: A "Role-Playing Mode"
is available at the press of a function key; it allows you to run one particular
player through a game (or a season). Otherwise, normal mode allows you to switch
among players at the press of a button. You can also toggle the "Cursor" feature
with another function key: Using a colored circle to highlight a player, the
Cursor indicates whether a member of your team is open, and how risky a pass to
that member might be. (The Cursor changes from green to red to white, according
to the degree of risk.)

 Another option is computer-assisted passing, in which the computer
automatically cycles the Cursor through the open players on your team. Passing
in normal mode involves identifying an open player, turning towards him, and
passing; with assisted passing, the computer sets you up for the best pass, and
all you have to do is press the fire button when the Cursor is green (or red, if
you want to live dangerously). I found computer-assisted passing a _big_ help
when first learning how to handle the game; it also lets you develop a better
feel for the way your team plays on the court.

 Gameplay occurs mainly in each team's half of the court. When the ball is
carried across mid-court, there's a brief period during which the play-calling
screen is accessed. When this screen is visible, the scoreboard appears, listing
each team's total score, timeouts so far, and the number of points and personal
fouls made by each player (on both teams). The middle region also gives you a
quick overhead indication of how you've set up your five players, and most
importantly, allows you to set up plays. There are no pre-configured plays (as
there are in FAST BREAK), but your team certainly maneuvers well enough for you
to set up alley-oops, fast breaks, and assists of various kinds.

 As the game progresses, certain players may experience hot or cold streaks. If
one player makes a number of baskets in a row, his chances for continuing to
shoot well increase dramatically, and vice versa: Mess up in the middle of a
streak, and things go back to normal. There are 3-second and 24-second
violations, as well as personal fouls, which result in the appropriate actions
(free throws, player disqualifications, etc.). A clock appears in the lower-left
portion of the screen ten seconds before the end of a game.

 Finally, there's a complete instant-replay facility. Hitting F10 stops the game
for a moment and lets you use the joystick to run through a play, with all the
same options you'd have on your VCR!

 Both during and after a Season, you can access the Clipboard to view all sorts
of stats for players, as well as teams; these include standings, league leaders
and losers, based on averages, totals...in fact, there are 69 different stats
categories that provide a comprehensive overview of the global and
individual-player levels. You can easily print the stats, as they're stored in a
standard ASCII text format.

 TV SPORTS: BASKETBALL comes on two copyable disks, and may be installed on your
hard drive (instructions are included). The manual is complete and well
organized, offering a useful introduction to the game of basketball for
newcomers. The program runs in 512K of RAM, and is controlled entirely by the
joystick; it's compatible with all current Amiga models.

 This game's graphics are stunning (as good as anything Cinemaware's ever done),
the sound effects are wonderful (even the crowds sound realistic!), and the
players are large and smoothly animated. It's easy to distinguish one team's
members from another's, and it's possible to figure out what you're doing
on-court while playing the arcade game. The editing and stats aspects are simple
to handle and understand.

 I was about to concede that basketball simply couldn't be well-simulated on a
computer, but TV SPORTS: BASKETBALL thoroughly disabused me of that notion. Even
if you're not a fan of the sport, the comprehensive design, excitement, and
sheer ergonomics of this game will prove attractive enough to hold your
attention for a long time to come. By virtue of its team, season, and division
configurations, you can play the game over the course of a year with friends,
simulating all the aspects of a real basketball season. The computer's AI is
challenging enough to work you hard in the arcade play, yet rich enough to allow
you time to think, plan your strategy, and develop a real sense of the game. If
you become tired of the computer opponent, you can set the whole thing up for
multi-player play; the stats abilities seem sufficiently encompassing to handle
a real season.

 TV SPORTS: BASKETBALL has an early lead in my list of Top Amiga Games of the
Year. Don't miss it!

 TV SPORTS: BASKETBALL is published and distributed by Cinemaware.

*****DOWNLOADED FROM P-80 SYSTEMS (304) 744-2253