NBA Live 2000 Demo

The NBA is where the best basketball teams in the world face off against each other year after year, in order to win the most prestigious trophy there is. Naturally, this is also where the best players in the sport make their careers, some of which remain famous even after they decide to retire, such is the case of Michael Jordan. The competition is fierce and every club is just as likely to snatch the trophy at the end of the season.

NBA Live 2000 is a basketball simulator that aims to portray the sport as accurately as possible, or at least as much as technology allowed at the time. Hence, while the physics and the animations may not be too convincing nowadays, you can still have a blast with the game, especially since it contains some of the players that are no longer part of the sport nowadays, as well as many other that were already retired at the time.

Gameplay wise, the technological limitations also allowed for a maximum of five players for each team, although you can also simulate a one-v-one confrontation. There aren't too many tricks available, other than passing the ball around and some very basic dribbling moves. You can make a few different throws as well, although they only differ depending on your distance from the net and the variety is not that impressive anyway.

To improve the experience and make the matches look more like they do on TV or in real life, the game now supports a much larger array of camera views and angles, such as broadcast, which is about as close to the one used on television as it can get. This way, you can always be aware of your team's arrangement and easily see the players that are not very well guarded.

As previously mentioned, the graphics engine is not exactly amazing, but it certainly tried to be cutting edge at the time of the release. The players take advantage of revolutionary animation techniques when it comes to their facial expressions and the moves they have to display out on the court. Speaking of which, the stadiums are pretty detailed, although they seem to be rather small and unimpressive, from an architectural point of view.

In the end, the nostalgic can still have a bit of fun with NBA Live 2000, even if there are far better games out there. It can also be a good choice for those who want to enjoy a bit of basketball on less powerful computers.