Double Dribble is a very popular basketball arcade game developed by Konami of Japan and was released in 1986. it was then ported to the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) in 1987. It was the first basketball video game showing basketball players performing the slam dunks.
This game was always sold-out in the Philippines during the late 1980s as basketball is the most popular sport. Bets were made among teens and adults playing it.
The Story
The basketball game with 5 on 5, full court action. Ready to captain your team to the basketball championship title. The game is yours to win or lose. But to win you'll need speed, shooting skills, and the skill to crash the glass board. It's crunch time. Now is the time to show your stuff!
The Graphics and Sound
Double Dribble's graphics are great for a NES game. The menus have animations. The players are quite visible and the basketball bounces nicely. And the best thing of all, this game has time-lapse slam dunk and stop-block animations. The whole thing just makes the game exciting to play.
The sound is critically the best part of the game. The tunes are nice and they never get old. The sound effects of the moving ball's physics are all good.
The Gameplay
You can play either in 1 player or 2 player modes. You can select to play 5, 10, 15, 20, or even 30 minute quarters. If you are new to the game, I would recommend difficulty 1, because 2 and 3 are kinda harder.
Once you are in the court, you can pass, or shoot the ball. One good thing about this game are the time-lapse slam dunk and stop-block animations. The camera zooms in on the player and almost does a time-lapse frame of him slamming it into the net or blocking the ball. The 2 player mode is where you get to play against your friends. Which is really fun.
All you can do is pass and shoot because there are only 2 buttons on the controllers as it is. The good thing about the controls is its tight feel. You can run up and down the court easily and precisely. Most sports games do not have that kind of feel.
You can only play one basketball match game at a time. No season modes mean only a little fair replay value.
My Verdict
Overall, this is a nice, classic basketball video game. Maybe the best on the NES. Really a gem among the mediocre sports games on the NES. If you still like to play sports games on retro game systems, Double Dribble would make a great addition to your retro-gaming collection.
Go and play it on the NES or on emulators.