College Slam Basketball

Acclaim's hitting the hardcourt once again, this time with an NBA Jam-type game entitled College Slam; the release of which coincides nicely with the onslaught of March Madness.

Instead of NBA teams, Acclaim has chosen 44 of the nation's best college teams to go at it in a season, tournament or head-to-head with up to four players.

You can edit your teams and change players on your roster. This ensures that your college rosters will never grow outdated. The Name/Stat Edit Screen is also a big bonus if you have visions of creating an all-time college legends lineup. (Imagine Michael Jordan reunited with James Worthy at UNC, for example.)

Each school has its own fight song, and gamers have a roster of five players to choose from per team. Players can be subbed in and out during time outs.

Some cool features have been added to this game, like alley-oops, backboard smashes, net meltdowns and of course, a liberal dose of high-powered slams.

A Whirlwind Feature turns players into miniature tornadoes on the court.

Borrowing from the NBA Jam formula, Acclaim has also added power pickups and high-scoring "Hot Spots" that randomly pop up.

Chances are you own a system that will have Slam, including the Super NES, Genesis, Saturn and PlayStation.

You don't need good S.A.T. scores to figure out where College Slam came from. It's a nearly identical rip-off of NBA Jam.

College Slam is two-on-two basketball with the same view; the same three-button gameplay (pass, shoot, and boost); the same dunks, animations, and sound effects; and the same on-fire feature from Jam. The only noticeable new features are an ultra-turbo run, four selectable speeds of play, and player substitutions.

While it's as fast and furious as Jam, Slam's anonymous players don't bring home the star quality of the NBA. All you're really getting is the same arcade-style game with NCAA-licensed logos. If you're not a Division 1 college-ball hog, skip Slam entirely and go pro.