Manufacturer

Midway

Origin Date

Released: 1993

Description

NBA Jam is a basketball video game developed and published by Midway for arcades in 1993. It is the first entry in the NBA Jam series. The project leader for this game was Mark Turmell.

NBA Jam was the third basketball video game released by Midway, after TV Basketball (1974) and Arch Rivals (1989). The gameplay of NBA Jam is based on Arch Rivals, which was also a 2-on-2 basketball game. However, it was the release of NBA Jam that brought mainstream success to the genre.

The release of NBA Jam popularized a subgenre of basketball based around fast action and exaggerated realism, a formula Midway later applied to the sports of hockey (NHL Open Ice and NHL Hitz), American football (NFL Blitz), and baseball (MLB Slugfest).