Welcome to another edition of The Friday Five! Every Friday I cover a topic related to basketball gaming, either as a list of five items, or a Top 5 countdown. The topics for these lists and countdowns include everything from fun facts and recollections to commentary and critique. This week’s Five is a list of five basketball video game boxes that I personally think are awesome.

For those of us in countries that celebrate the holiday, December 26th is Boxing Day. The day isn’t about the sport of boxing – as Maxwell Q. Klinger humorously thought in an episode of M*A*S*H – but rather was originally about donating gifts to those in need. These days, it’s more of an extension of Christmas celebrations, though here in Australia it also means Test cricket, a yacht race, and sales similar to Black Friday in the United States. With all of that being said, what kind of basketball gaming-related topic would be relevant for me to discuss today?

Why, basketball video game boxes, of course! Alright, that’s a little cheesy, but cool video game boxes from the heyday of physical media can be as nostalgic as the games that they contained. Moreover, countless video game boxes – basketball or otherwise – have been opened on Christmas Day, or during Boxing Day gift exchanges. Please note that I’m not just talking about covers here. That’s certainly a part of what makes basketball video game boxes awesome, but there’s also the other box art including the previews on the back, as well as other fun design elements. I’m not saying these are necessarily the best basketball video game boxes, but they are some of my favourites.

1. NBA Jam Tournament Edition

Although the original NBA Jam is understandably at the top of many people’s lists of best hoops video games of the 90s, I’m partial to NBA Jam Tournament Edition. It helps that I played TE first – and it was also the very first basketball video game that I bought – but I also believe that it succeeded in refining and building upon the original. To paraphrase its tagline, it pumped up the jam! I’d suggest that goes for its box as well. That’s not to say that the original NBA Jam doesn’t have an iconic cover, with a basketball featuring the game’s logo bursting through the backdrop. It’s just that in my opinion, NBA Jam TE’s metallic ball surrounded by flames is an even cooler image!

One of the most exciting parts of getting a new video game back when physical media was king was reading the back of the box, often on the car ride home from the store. The blurbs hyping up key features, and screenshots that gave us glimpses of the game, built up our anticipation even more. Sometimes that oversold a game’s quality, though not in the case of NBA Jam TE! Notably, its back-of-the-box previews revealed the inclusion of secret players and unlockable expanded rosters. Mind you, I’d forgotten about them by the time I beat all 27 teams, so it actually ended up surprising me! Still, the tantalising hints and cool cover art rightfully portray NBA Jam TE as must-play.

2. NBA Live 96 (PC)

There were two different covers for NBA Live 96, and I do like them both. However, while the one featuring the shot of the 1995 NBA Finals is a nice follow-up to NBA Live 95, I prefer the one featuring Shaquille O’Neal. More specifically, I’m a fan of the PC version’s box. Like NBA Jam TE, it helps that I played and owned that version first, earning it a special place in my heart. Beyond that bias though, not only is Shaq framed in a way that’s wonderfully, unabashedly mid-90s, but he, the basketball he’s about to dunk, the rim, the net, and the alternate NBA Live 96 logo, are all embossed; at least on the original box. That makes it more interesting to both look at and touch.

As for the back of NBA Live 96 PC’s box, it proudly touts the game as being a “Back to back champion”; a bold statement, but an accurate boast, and fitting given that the Houston Rockets were the two-time defending champions entering the 1996 season. A selection of screenshots displays the fantastic golden menus, new camera angles, and Create-a-Player. There’s an exciting list of key features, including a few PC-exclusive ones, hyping up the depth. The addition of the Vancouver Grizzlies and the Toronto Raptors is promoted. On a funnier note, the URL of the EA Sports page on Electronic Arts’ site is misprinted as http//www.ea.com/easports.html (i.e. missing the colon).

3. NBA Live 2000 (PC)

Big box PC games were special. Sure, they took up more room on the shelf, and the extra cardboard wasn’t entirely environmentally-friendly, but they looked awesome. I remember feeling disappointed when NBA Live 2004 PC made the switch to the new smaller boxes that were coming into vogue around that time. Each of the previous PC releases of NBA Live were big boxes, and I’m a fan of all of them – yes, even NBA Live 99 with Antoine Walker – but in addition to NBA Live 96, I have to single out NBA Live 2000. Tim Duncan was a sensible choice of cover player, but what appeals to me the most is the sidebar with Michael Jordan and the words “Jordan is back!”

Along with the new Franchise mode, the assortment of Legends was one of the key selling points of NBA Live 2000 PC. Unsurprisingly, they’re featured prominently in the screenshots on the back of the box. It also had a Velcro-fastened gatefold cover. Opening it up revealed a shot of Michael Jordan from the 1998 NBA Finals, as well as more screenshots and blurbs about the game, particularly the online features. This includes an “NBA Live 2000 Network” that was meant to deliver patches and roster updates, though as far as I’m aware, none ever materialised. It’s likely that plans fell through there, but in any case, it’s fascinating to go back and rediscover such details.

4. NBA Live 2002 (Japanese Version)

Now, I suppose you could argue semantics on this one. PlayStation 2 and Xbox games are generally referred to as being sold in plastic cases rather than cardboard boxes like so many PC, NES, and Super Nintendo games were. Those terms aren’t necessarily interchangeable when describing various forms of packaging. I’ll make an editorial decision here though, and declare that game cases that are placed on store shelves – as opposed to CD jewel cases that are usually packaged inside another box – can count as video game boxes. That allows me to include the Japanese version of NBA Live 2002 for the PS2 and Xbox. From the image above, I’m sure it’s no mystery as to why I did!

Whereas Steve Francis was NBA Live 2002’s cover player in all other regions, the Japanese releases featured Michael Jordan in a Washington Wizards jersey. I feel like it kind of flew under the radar back in the day, and indeed, I thought it was a bootleg when I saw a listing for it on eBay some years back. It’s legitimate, though! While it would’ve been awesome if EA had made MJ the global cover player, his return wasn’t made official until long after Steve Francis had signed on to be the face of the game. The back of the Japanese box/case also features a few different screenshots, including an extra shot of His Airness. It’s an excellent collectable that I was excited to pick up.

5. Lakers versus Celtics and the NBA Playoffs (PC)

Look, I won’t try to convince anyone that the cover of Lakers vs. Celtics – whether it’s the PC version, Sega Genesis version, or the unreleased Sega Mega Drive version – is the pinnacle of design and artistic ambition. Once again though, this isn’t meant to be a list or ranking of the all-time best basketball video game boxes; just five that I like. Nevertheless, it is well-done. The cut-outs of the Lakers and Celtics players on the front are clean. I love the appearance of the logos for the eight included teams on the front and back. The game’s logo has that classic 80s boxy aesthetic, and reminds me of the title screens of NBA home videos like Dazzling Dunks & Basketball Bloopers.

In addition to the usual screenshots on the back of the box, the signature moves of four players are spotlighted: Michael Jordan’s “Air Show” dunk, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s skyhook, Isiah Thomas’ driving layup, and Karl Malone’s one-handed jam, with Larry Bird as the defender in the wrong place at the wrong time. This is done with in-game sprites, carefully cut out and displayed at their actual on-screen size. It was a really cool way of showing off a feature that was ahead of its time. Also, the fact that I was finally able to snag a copy of Lakers vs. Celtics PC complete-in-box and at a reasonable price undoubtedly contributed to it becoming a personal favourite!

What’s your opinion of these basketball video game boxes? What are some of your personal favourites? Have your say in the comments, and as always, feel free to take the discussion to the NLSC Forum! That’s all for this week, so thanks for checking in, have a great weekend, and please join me again next Friday for another Five.

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