Basketball games from 8-bit gaming and back tend to be pretty basic. Not a lot of depth as the players basically stand still and kind of throw a brick back and forth. If you were looking for some action, it was usually one-on-one style. Even those games had poor depth to say the least. The “Larry Bird” type player couldn’t move, but could sink 3-pointers and jump shots from anywhere. While the “Michael Jordan” type player could drive the basket and make jams from the 3 point arc.

That was it for a while. Then came Double Dribble from Konami. It showed what could be done for NES basketball.

Double Dribble is available now for on Wii VC. 500 Wii Points, on par with other NES titles on VC. As far as value goes, it depends on how much you like basketball games.

Control wise, Konami did an excellent job with Double Dribble. Players move smoothly on the court, but not so smooth that it feels like their skating. They run and hustle and it’s pure five-on-five action. There’s not too much you can do with the two button arrangement, but it’s enough for changing players, shooting, blocking and stealing.

What else is there in b-ball when you break it down?

There’s basketball strategy too, but not in terms of Laker’s Zen master or anything funky like a box zone or anything. You do need to cover your guys and time your steals and shots. Steal too early and you leave the lane right open for a Double Dribble’s signature slam-dunks.

You get a close-up “TV” view of the dunk in super heart-pounding slo-mo. You sort of control the player as you’re basically timing the dunk. Slam the button at the wrong time and you’ll hear a brick clanging so loud that the cheap seats can hear it.

There’s a solid mix of dunks too, from the 360 to tomahawk slam, everything you’d expect is there. Feels great when you get one and you’re a goat when you miss it.

Presentation wise, you couldn’t expect more out of the little 8-bit wonder. Konami managed to pack in a good amount for players to enjoy.

You’ll see and hear crowd noise and there’s the omnipresent bounce of the ball and sneaker squeals to bring you closer to the game.

Not a lot of customizable settings, but enough to get the game going. I especially liked the menu system of a dude shooting foul shots. He sinks his shot to change a setting. Sometimes, it’s slow and annoying, but overall, I liked it. Nice touch.

Weird thing about the game is that each period starts with a tip. I’m not sure how hard corps NBA fans will take to that, but who cares, it’s just one thing that’s a little off in a clean game overall.

I can’t crap on this game, it brought me many a good times playing against my buddies back in the day. For a time, this title was NBA Jam before we even know what NBA Jam was. It was a race to see who could slam the best and get the coolest looking dunks, and of course, there were little bits of digitized voice work that made us wet our pants with joy.

Is it worth the 500 Wii Points? For me, I like retro games and I love basketball, so yeah, it’s totally worth it. If you’re just a casual b-ball fan, then you might be better off taking a pass on this one.

But, there’s nothing like a basic b-ball game to bring out the inner announcer in you. No fancy voice work or polygon graphics, just solid fun make Double Dribble (and it’s sister title, Blades of Steel) totally worth it for me.

Share on Facebook