NBA games screw you over..

[the3eyedblindman]

I am really good at nba maximum hangtime, this is usually the game ill leave running on my cabinet when no one is playing...but it screws you over so much! I will go into the third quarter up by 15-20 points, then the computer will start goal tending all of your shots, steal the ball everytime you have it, until the other team gets about 10 makes in a row. Once the other team has like a 3 point lead, it will start playing normal again, and the game always down to the last second, rarely letting you get your lead back, and Ive been losing! Im getting pissed! Any of you play the NBA games in mame? know what Im talking about?

[MaximRecoil]

I'll just insert my rant about Super Punch-Out here, since it is another sports game that "cheats" (plus I have no comment about the NBA games; never having played them and all):

Each bout is one round; if the 3 minutes (Nintendo minutes, not real minutes) runs out; you lose, no matter what. You could have knocked down your opponent twice and needed only one more hit to KO him on the 3rd knockdown; and he could have not landed a single punch during the whole round; and you still lose. This doesn't make sense from a real boxing perspective and flies in the face of standard fighting game rules from Karate Champ to Mortal Kombat and most anything else you care to name.

After you beat the champion "Super Macho Man"; you become the world champion and they all come back as challengers. That's great, so why after that point can you only get up from a knockdown zero or one time (depending on how well you are doing) and they can always get up two times (requiring a third knockdown to keep them down)? You are the Champion of the World at that point; they are all challengers at that point; you should at least be in as good of condition as they are.

Is the referee sleeping on the job? Dragon Chan just kicked me in the head; in a boxing match! That means he's disqualified and I win by default right? Uh; guess not.

It is my favorite game anyway; and it would be pretty boring if it didn't "cheat".

[paigeoliver]

I think most sports games are adaptive in their difficulty. Most players won't notice it all that much.

If they WEREN'T then children couldn't play them at all, and GOOD players would beat the computer with scores like 184 to 14 in basketball. Sports games against a computer that can't score on you are no fun at all.

This is also apparent in quite a lot of racing games, where you simply cannot get away from the 2nd and 3rd cars, while the last couple cars will hang behind you no matter how bad you do. This keeps children from coming in last, and makes it "close" every time for grownups.

Of course that makes a lot of racing games really maddening, because you could have a literally perfect run on a course, set to beat the best ever time by over a minute, then have a bad corner at the end and watch computer car number 2 blow right by you every time.

I am not even sure if I would call the assorted Punch Out!!s sports games, they seem a lot like laserdisc games to me. They have the semblance of free actions, but in reality there is only one proper move to be making at any given time. Especially against the later opponents. The way the game cheats the knock out/knock down and decision rules for your opponents is rediculous as well.

[MaximRecoil]

I am not even sure if I would call the assorted Punch Out!!s sports games, they seem a lot like laserdisc games to me. They have the semblance of free actions, but in reality there is only one proper move to be making at any given time. Especially against the later opponents.

There is always a variety of moves, regardless of the stage of the game. Some people have fine-tuned their timing to the point that they can simply jab to stun at the point where most people would dodge left or right; and either way will work. Other varieties that have different effects are using a left or a right jab or a left or a right body blow or a KO punch. The right is slower but it does more damage. Sometimes one of the 5 available punches will stun and set the opponent up for more hits where others wouldn't have, or some will stun for less amount of successive hits. Bald Bull will often come out of his stun if you give a left and a right; but will stay stunned for 5 hits if you keep giving lefts. There are countless examples throughout the game. Many different approaches to beating all of the opponents in both Punch-Out and Super Punch-Out; the goal is to find the most efficient one that will give a maximum amount of points for the round; which is a juggling act between the bonus constantly decreasing as the time runs out; and the speed of punches vs. their damage potential; etc. Things like; should you throw two KO punches that are slow but give you 200 points each; or two quick rights for 40 points each but less loss in time bonus?

Of course, with certain moves there is only one option; such as Dragon Chan's kick to the head or Super Macho Man's side-step spinning punch or Bear Hugger's ear boxing move; you have to duck or you go down' period. In the original Punch-Out the only move that is similar to this (i.e. a one hit knockdown) is Bald Bull's "Bull Charge"; but you have multiple options in dealing with that.

The way the game cheats the knock out/knock down and decision rules for your opponents is rediculous as well.

I agree.

[paigeoliver]

Well, I never played the arcade versions, I played the Nes versions, which were VERY linear.

[cdbrown]

A factory default of these NBA games was CPU Assistance - enabled

Go into the service menu (F2) and navigate to Game settings (or something like that) - you can then disable this setting.  You can also turn on big head mode, free play, attract sounds, and increase the volume.

[the3eyedblindman]

I know they do this to keep the games close...but they make it way to obvious they are cheating. I was playing and was up a good 20 points...now comeon, ten baskets, in the third quarter. All of the sudden everytime I have the ball they steal it, while at the begining of the game, its almost impossible to steal it, they then goaltend all of your shots, and it doesnt get called, and when you goaltend theres, of course it gets called. After about 2 minutes of this ---That which is odiferous and causeth plants to grow---, and they have a good 5 point lead, after coming on with 25 points in a row, they game will go back to normal with like 30 seconds left, and you usually end up losing, its just not right, especially with huge leads liek that.

[cdbrown]

Change the settings to Tournament Mode - this disables all cheats for players and the computer.  If you are a better player than the machine you will win.  But then turn up the difficulty as well to make it a real challenge.

Most of the time I don't like the catch-up computer assistance as it always seems that when the machine is down they hit difficult shots, when I'm getting beaten by the machine I only manage to catch a little.  Best just to disable it to take away the randomness.

[AceTKK]

Yea, I play NBA Hangtime all the time and it's very frustrating.  It's not that the computer plays 'smarter' when it's behind, it's that the CPU drones become faster, able to steal the ball every time, and rediculously accurate in their 3-pt shooting.  When Dikembe Mutombo knocks down 5 threes in a row you know there's some bullshits going on.  I disabled Computer Assistance, but it had no affect whatsoever.  I need to try this 'Tournament Mode' and see what happens. 

It's also interesting that the game doesn't really try to beat you; the goal is always to even the score at the last minute so you'll have to pay out for the overtime period. 

-Ace-

[the3eyedblindman]

Thats another thing that pisses me off, when you put in 4 credits, it tells you you have purchased "a full game", yet if you go to overtime, you have to pay more, even though its still part of that game.

[AceTKK]

Yea, I imagine I'd be pretty  if I were using real money :-)

[the3eyedblindman]