NBA Hangtime
Encyclopedia
NBA Hangtime is a basketball
video game developed by Midway
and released in arcades in 1996. Home versions followed for Nintendo 64
, PlayStation, Mega Drive/Genesis, Super NES
, and Windows
. A version for Game.com
was cancelled.
Hangtime was the third basketball game by the original development team behind the NBA Jam
series. The title was changed due to the NBA Jam name being acquired by Acclaim Entertainment
—the publisher of the games for the home market. New features of the series included character creation
, alley oops
and double dunks. A software update known as NBA Maximum Hangtime was released for the arcades later in the life cycle.
The next NBA title Midway released was NBA Showtime
.
The game retains many of the same rules of NBA Jam Tournament Edition, including the two-on-two match ups, statistics tracking, legal pushing and "on fire" mode. Additions to the gameplay include spin moves, alley oops
and double slam dunk
s - a slam dunk performed after one team member in the middle of a dunk passes to the other member. Alley-oops and double dunks can trigger the new "team fire" mode in which both team members are on fire.
Each team now has five members of the roster to choose from. The player can select from any of the 29 NBA teams from the 1995-1996 NBA season and match them in four quarters of NBA basketball (three minutes each), with three minute overtimes if necessary. Just as in the NBA Jam games, the game can keep track of the teams a player has beaten using a player's created ID and PIN
. Optionally, the player can load their created player. Players using their ID face off against a series of NBA teams, starting with the Vancouver Grizzlies
and ending with the Chicago Bulls
(who were on their way to being NBA champions at the time of the game's release). After beating all 29 teams, the player faces off against a number of secret characters.
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
video game developed by Midway
Midway Games
Midway Games, Inc. is an American company that was formerly a major video game publisher. Following a bankruptcy filing in 2009, it is no longer active and is in the process of liquidating all of its assets. Midway's titles included Mortal Kombat, Ms.Pac-Man, Spy Hunter, Tron, Rampage, the...
and released in arcades in 1996. Home versions followed for Nintendo 64
Nintendo 64
The , often referred to as N64, was Nintendo′s third home video game console for the international market. Named for its 64-bit CPU, it was released in June 1996 in Japan, September 1996 in North America, March 1997 in Europe and Australia, September 1997 in France and December 1997 in Brazil...
, PlayStation, Mega Drive/Genesis, Super NES
Super Nintendo Entertainment System
The Super Nintendo Entertainment System is a 16-bit video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America, Europe, Australasia , and South America between 1990 and 1993. In Japan and Southeast Asia, the system is called the , or SFC for short...
, and Windows
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
. A version for Game.com
Game.com
The Game.com is a handheld game console released by Tiger Electronics in September 1997. It featured many new ideas for handheld consoles and was aimed at an older target audience, sporting PDA-style features and functions such as a touch screen and stylus...
was cancelled.
Hangtime was the third basketball game by the original development team behind the NBA Jam
NBA Jam
NBA Jam is a basketball arcade game developed by Midway in 1993. It is the first entry in the NBA Jam series, and was written entirely in assembly language. The main designer and programmer for this game was Mark Turmell...
series. The title was changed due to the NBA Jam name being acquired by Acclaim Entertainment
Acclaim Entertainment
Acclaim Entertainment was an American video game developer and publisher. It developed, published, marketed and distributed interactive entertainment software for a variety of hardware platforms, including Sega's Mega Drive/Genesis, Saturn, Dreamcast, and Game Gear, Nintendo's NES, SNES, Nintendo...
—the publisher of the games for the home market. New features of the series included character creation
Character creation
Character creation is the process of defining a game character or other character. Typically, a character's individual strengths and weaknesses are represented by a set of statistics. Games with a largely fictional setting may include traits such as race and class...
, alley oops
Alley oop (basketball)
An alley-oop in basketball is an offensive play in which one player throws the ball near the basket to a teammate who jumps, catches the ball in mid air and immediately scores a basket, usually with a slam dunk...
and double dunks. A software update known as NBA Maximum Hangtime was released for the arcades later in the life cycle.
The next NBA title Midway released was NBA Showtime
NBA Showtime: NBA on NBC
NBA Showtime is a basketball video game by Midway. A descendant of NBA Jam and NBA Hangtime, Showtime is modeled after the NBA presentations on NBC. The original arcade version features team rosters from the beginning of the 1998-99 NBA season, while the console versions features team rosters that...
.
Gameplay
The gameplay is largely the same as the Midway's NBA Jam games, with some additions. One of the most prominent additions is the "Create Player" feature, which allows players to create a custom basketball player, specifying height, weight, power, shooting and defensive skills using a limited number of attribute points. Created players can be made more powerful as players earn additional attribute points by winning games.The game retains many of the same rules of NBA Jam Tournament Edition, including the two-on-two match ups, statistics tracking, legal pushing and "on fire" mode. Additions to the gameplay include spin moves, alley oops
Alley oop (basketball)
An alley-oop in basketball is an offensive play in which one player throws the ball near the basket to a teammate who jumps, catches the ball in mid air and immediately scores a basket, usually with a slam dunk...
and double slam dunk
Slam dunk
A slam dunk is a type of basketball shot that is performed when a player jumps in the air and manually powers the ball downward through the basket with one or both hands over the rim. This is considered a normal field goal attempt; if successful it is worth two points. The term "slam dunk" was...
s - a slam dunk performed after one team member in the middle of a dunk passes to the other member. Alley-oops and double dunks can trigger the new "team fire" mode in which both team members are on fire.
Each team now has five members of the roster to choose from. The player can select from any of the 29 NBA teams from the 1995-1996 NBA season and match them in four quarters of NBA basketball (three minutes each), with three minute overtimes if necessary. Just as in the NBA Jam games, the game can keep track of the teams a player has beaten using a player's created ID and PIN
Personal identification number
A personal identification number is a secret numeric password shared between a user and a system that can be used to authenticate the user to the system. Typically, the user is required to provide a non-confidential user identifier or token and a confidential PIN to gain access to the system...
. Optionally, the player can load their created player. Players using their ID face off against a series of NBA teams, starting with the Vancouver Grizzlies
Vancouver Grizzlies
The Vancouver Grizzlies were a professional basketball team based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. They were part of the Midwest Division of the Western Conference of the National Basketball Association . The team was established in 1995, along with the Toronto Raptors, as part of the NBA's...
and ending with the Chicago Bulls
Chicago Bulls
The Chicago Bulls are an American professional basketball team based in Chicago, Illinois, playing in the Central Division of the Eastern Conference in the National Basketball Association . The team was founded in 1966. They play their home games at the United Center...
(who were on their way to being NBA champions at the time of the game's release). After beating all 29 teams, the player faces off against a number of secret characters.