Existing in that brief two year period where Acclaim tried to turn NBA Jam into a more traditional "simulation" Basketball Game compared to a purely arcade-y title, NBA Jam 99 is one of the Acclaim greats alongside Re-Volt...at least, in so much as any Acclaim game hit greatness, although I do have some fondness for them in that "6-7/10 game churning studio" kinda way. The point is that despite the wide perception of this era as a bit of a low point for NBA Jam, I would actually say Jam 99 succeeds fairly well and manages to stand out among some contemporaries of the time by still being worth a look today.
The simulation aspects go for a very different style than most sim basketball games by being an almost "arcade simulation" style, focusing less on the minutae and instead going for a "Point" system that is used for free agent signings, a create-a-player system or even in trading with other players. While the system is overall basic it still fits well enough on an old console like the Nintendo 64, many games at the time simply lacked even this level of depth and so it is quite welcome. The fact it is stripped down also allows one to get into it very quickly, giving it high replay value compared to a more in-depth NBA game where you might spend many hours tinkering with roster moves and planning out franchises. This is not without its downsides: Player progression is far too simple to be truly effective, making longer term franchises much less interesting, and keeping together a great team is too easy. But considering games it was competing against didn't have free agents, that's quite a feat!
The gameplay is quite solid even if it is somewhat outdated, the shooing mechanics are incredibly simple for better or worse, the AI is surprisingly good and I found it honestly far better than far later games like NBA Live 09 (though not NBA Live's heyday). It isn't a game where exploits are everywhere even if some are too easy, alley-oops are particularly powerful, it generally plays looser than a hardcore simulation title which lets you pull off some crazy stuff.
Where this game truly shines is in the presentation and feel. Hot take: This game looks better graphically than NBA Live 99, it doesn't get to go for the more "realistic" faces but if anything that's a good thing because even when I was a kid I thought some of them looked pretty off. The more polygonal look of NBA Jam 99 ends up making it more stylized and memorable, which is aided by a variety of over the top and epic dunk animations that make you feel every slam. Said animations are smooth for the era and flow well. Pre-game introductions aren't super animated, but each player gets an announcer fully voiced intro with each team getting a little intro as well. There's just something great about the combination of those late 90s photos for players with the models, intro, feel, it's great. You'll even get people calling out "cotton caaaaandy!" for sale to go with crowd noise among other things, for the time period quite immersive and even today pretty solid.
But it is Kevin Harlan and Bill Walton that REALLY make this game shine, excitable and blood-pumping with flat-out classic and iconic lines. "With NO REGARD for human life!", "He rocked the rim and I'm ROCKIN' IN MY CHAIR!", "Pandemonium inside the building!", "This is NOT the kinda place you wanna take your date after the prom!", honestly I think this is the aspect that really pushes the game over because over the years I have found very few sports games with this level of energy in the announcing duo. It's up there with Pokemon Stadium 2 of classics.
The menu music is also a banger, but the soundtrack overall is pretty limited, and sports games have soooooo many games with good soundtracks that it's hard to put this too highly given the low amount.
Overall, NBA Jam 99 is a game that was somewhat ahead of its time when it came out and still has reasons to go back to even as later 2k and Live entries blew past it in terms of franchise depth and gameplay quality. The free and arcade feel holds up as a niche on its own, all the bells and whistles give it a unique identity that's still top notch to this day, and given 2K games hadn't come out nor had NBA Live hit its pure stride I am honestly surprised this game didn't make it bigger. I joked about Acclaim greatness, but this does feel like a game that could have been a genuine hit for them in another timeline. Go dust off the N64 and give it a look sometime: You won't be disappointed!
The simulation aspects go for a very different style than most sim basketball games by being an almost "arcade simulation" style, focusing less on the minutae and instead going for a "Point" system that is used for free agent signings, a create-a-player system or even in trading with other players. While the system is overall basic it still fits well enough on an old console like the Nintendo 64, many games at the time simply lacked even this level of depth and so it is quite welcome. The fact it is stripped down also allows one to get into it very quickly, giving it high replay value compared to a more in-depth NBA game where you might spend many hours tinkering with roster moves and planning out franchises. This is not without its downsides: Player progression is far too simple to be truly effective, making longer term franchises much less interesting, and keeping together a great team is too easy. But considering games it was competing against didn't have free agents, that's quite a feat!
The gameplay is quite solid even if it is somewhat outdated, the shooing mechanics are incredibly simple for better or worse, the AI is surprisingly good and I found it honestly far better than far later games like NBA Live 09 (though not NBA Live's heyday). It isn't a game where exploits are everywhere even if some are too easy, alley-oops are particularly powerful, it generally plays looser than a hardcore simulation title which lets you pull off some crazy stuff.
Where this game truly shines is in the presentation and feel. Hot take: This game looks better graphically than NBA Live 99, it doesn't get to go for the more "realistic" faces but if anything that's a good thing because even when I was a kid I thought some of them looked pretty off. The more polygonal look of NBA Jam 99 ends up making it more stylized and memorable, which is aided by a variety of over the top and epic dunk animations that make you feel every slam. Said animations are smooth for the era and flow well. Pre-game introductions aren't super animated, but each player gets an announcer fully voiced intro with each team getting a little intro as well. There's just something great about the combination of those late 90s photos for players with the models, intro, feel, it's great. You'll even get people calling out "cotton caaaaandy!" for sale to go with crowd noise among other things, for the time period quite immersive and even today pretty solid.
But it is Kevin Harlan and Bill Walton that REALLY make this game shine, excitable and blood-pumping with flat-out classic and iconic lines. "With NO REGARD for human life!", "He rocked the rim and I'm ROCKIN' IN MY CHAIR!", "Pandemonium inside the building!", "This is NOT the kinda place you wanna take your date after the prom!", honestly I think this is the aspect that really pushes the game over because over the years I have found very few sports games with this level of energy in the announcing duo. It's up there with Pokemon Stadium 2 of classics.
The menu music is also a banger, but the soundtrack overall is pretty limited, and sports games have soooooo many games with good soundtracks that it's hard to put this too highly given the low amount.
Overall, NBA Jam 99 is a game that was somewhat ahead of its time when it came out and still has reasons to go back to even as later 2k and Live entries blew past it in terms of franchise depth and gameplay quality. The free and arcade feel holds up as a niche on its own, all the bells and whistles give it a unique identity that's still top notch to this day, and given 2K games hadn't come out nor had NBA Live hit its pure stride I am honestly surprised this game didn't make it bigger. I joked about Acclaim greatness, but this does feel like a game that could have been a genuine hit for them in another timeline. Go dust off the N64 and give it a look sometime: You won't be disappointed!