Dunk Lords

NBA Jam is one of the greatest basketball games ever, and many games have trid to emulate it. The more recent example is the NBA 2K Playgrounds series, however, Dunk Lords, a new indie title which was released on steam back in March, and is now on Xbox One at the time of this review, is the title to give 2K a run for its money.

Dunk Lords plays like NBA Jam, as it has the two-on-two action for up to four players, ridiculous dunks, and the hitting. However, instead of professional players, Dunk Lords' roster has a cast of wacky characters, from main character Slice to Frank, a mutant with a strawberry for a head, to Gwen, a female cat who could pass as a WBNA team mascot, the cast is a good mix, with each character even having his or her own stats. Gameplay wise, each court has power pads that enable a different power when a player touches while scoring (like adding extra money, which is used after each quarter to buy equipment, special move, which add a special move to the character, with each character having two special moves, and a Mega meter, which fills up with a successful score, and when full, a character who touches their side's Mega panel will grow giant, allowing them to perform monster dunks and push opponents around for a limited amount of time).

Other than the Arcade Mode, the game also offers a story mode, where Slice, the main character, goes on a quest to find a basketball legend. There's also a Gauntlet Mode that pits you against four Expert-difficulty AI teams to test your skills.

However, the main problem I have is that the game can get hard. After each quarter, the game awards money, and it tends to award more money in "pity payment" if you're beating the computer team, allowing them to buy gear to give them an advantage. Also, the Story Mode can get difficult as you progress, even when the levels add some new element. But this is a great game that outdoes NBA 2K Playgrounds in terms of being a NBA Jam clone.