Fast Break Basketball REVIEW

Fast Break Basketball Review (PC)

Submitted on: Jul 05, 2002 by John Griffin

Our summer search for games that fell through the cracks continues with Fast Break Basketball. (“FBB”) FBB is a game by Brian Nichols which attempts to simulate the grand game of professional basketball. So, does this one compare to the other heavyweights of the text-based genre? We shall see!

GAMEPLAY
So, let’s dip into this game and take it for a spin. I decided that I will pick my New York Knicks and dive into a season. Well, they evidently have changed their names to the Gladiators sometime ago. Actually, the game doesn’t have the real nicknames due to the license issue. The game does have the real players, so I decided to start the game with a fantasy draft. You can also start a game with fantasy players if you would like. Well my first five guys ended up being Nitkowski, Houston, Curry, Bibby, and Weatherspoon. Not the best team, but we can deal. Well, I finished the draft and we head into the season mode.

In the season mode you can set your depth charts and player tendancies for that computer coach that you are entrusting to your squad. Teams can, of course, sign free agents and make trades too. Trades can involve draft picks three years into the future, very nice touch. The salary cap looks to be around 53 million dollars a year and your team must stay below that figure. You are able to sim games by day, week, season, or until the all-star break. The game keeps stats of all the major categories and has league leader pages and also keeps all-time records for when you get a few seasons down the road.

FBB also tries to take a stab at simulating the all-star game festivities. The rookie challenge, 3 point shootout, and slam dunk contest are simmed. You can watch the results real-time. While it is a real rough, I like the developers stab at trying to sim this feature of the NBA season. Well, I finish the season as the number 2 team in the East not bad. So, I head into the playoffs with a new look on life. Well I get to the finals where I am swept. Not a bad start to the franchise. So, let’s look at the offseason of this game.

The first thing you need to do is make sure that you have re-signed the guys you want to before continuing. Joesph Forte gets to make it another league with my team. FBB has a lottery for the teams that don’t make the playoffs. I have never seen this in a game! With a prior trade during the season, I moved up to the 21st pick in the draft. The game has this year’s draft class in the game for the most part. You will see all the players that were sure to be in the draft as of the end of the college season. Dajuan Wagner goes number 1 followed by Mr. Prince. Yao Ming falls to 4, in case you wondered. I get Amare Stoudamire and I start the next season. I didn’t see too many flaws in the game. I think the AI can be a little too stubborn on trades, but hey that can be real life.

AUDIO
Again, never knew the point of this during the game.

GRAPHICS
The game is a little too spreadsheet like. No pictures, but can understand the license side. The interface is clean, but could be prettier.

BOTTOM LINE
The game has a nice start to it. Very clean, very well thought out game. Some eye candy should be used in the game just to get the player in the mood. The game has a loyal online league following, so a player will never be without a challenge. I can’t wait to see where this series goes in the future.

Fast Break Basketball Score