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Like Arch Rivals, Basketbrawl for the Lynx combines full-court, two-on-two roundball with fisticuffs and flying limbs. In a one-player or ComLynx game, you'll control a player chosen from a motley crew of gangbangers whose fighting skills need to be as well developed as their ability to shoot hoops.

As you can tell by looking at the above number ratings, Basketbrawl is pretty weak - it's one of the least enjoyable Lynx titles of all time. The characters are stiff, blocky and devoid of personality, and the animation is strictly third-rate. Heck, the ball doesn't even move or bounce in a realistic fashion. The soundtrack is deader than a doornail - with the possible exception of the title theme, a pounding tune that deserves a much better game behind it.

Not to misunderstand the game's intent, at the time of its release the Lynx desperately needed some solid sports games, and this is really more of a tag-team wrestling match than a game of skill and athletic ability. It's been proven that the two can be successfully combined, but Basketbrawl is too much "brawl" and too little "basket." Gang members patrol the sidelines and throw knives at the players; the players themselves can slug each other with baseball bats - even the referee comes out and starts to pound your character whenever he feels like it. It'd be fun stuff, but the imbalance really throws the game off course.

With all of these sore spots, Basketbrawl comes across as nothing more than a poorly executed Arch Rivals knockoff, but without the sense of humor that made the latter so enjoyable. Even when the game tries to liven things up by throwing blurbs like "You!" or "He's Hurtin'!" up on the screen, it still falls flat.

Mixing together sports and fighting in a videogame seems like a good idea at first. After all, both activities are hard-hitting and fast paced with full of contact (well, with the exception of stuff like Synchronized Swimming and Bowling, of course.) Various companies tried their hand at combining the best elements of both with such efforts as Arch Rivals, Pigskin Footbrawl, Bill Laimbeer's Combat Basketball, Mutant League Football and Ninja Golf (!). Basketbrawl is an enhanced version of the 7800 game which came out a few years prior to this one, and sadly, this portable rendition of the game fails just as miserably.

As is the case with real Basketball, the goal is to outscore one's opponent by making more baskets, but that's where the similarity ends. You're better served by slicing and dicing your opponent then nailing a 20-foot jumper, or wheelin' and dealin' your foe with a body blow than slammin' down a monster dunk. During the game, you can pick up various power-ups, weapons and other helpful items, and even call to the sidelines for help from the crowd.

Although this concept later worked well with NBA Jam, it doesn't quite pan out in Basketbrawl. One button basically lets you shoot the ball while the second button unleashes brutal attacks. The variety of shots and offensive moves is sorely lacking, and because of the frantic pace of the game, it basically turns into a repetitive fighting contest. In trying to combine basketball and one-on-one combat, Atari failed in making either of them fun. Choppy animations and poor controls also conspire to make this one into a real airball.

The graphics don't do much to enhance the game's appeal. Little was done to soup-up the visuals from the 7800 version with the exception of slightly more detailed backgrounds. Sound effects are also muffled, repetitive and boring.

While the concept shows lots of potential, Atari would've been better served by first seperately working on a decent basketball game and a fighter (and no, Pit Fighter doesn't count) -- or anything that would be more exciting than Basketbrawl.


Title Basketbrawl
Publisher Atari
System Atari Lynx
Graphics 4
Sound 4
Gameplay 4
Overall 4
Reviewer Keita Iida