Basketbrawl

Atari exclusive

Basketbrawl is a sports video game released for the Atari 7800 in 1990, then for the Atari Lynx in 1992. It is a basketball simulation which allows hitting and fighting with other players. The name is a portmanteau of basketball and brawl. It is similar to the 1989 Midway arcade game Arch Rivals which had the tagline "A basket brawl!"

Released: 1990
Platforms: Atari 7800 Atari Lynx
Genres: Basketball Beat 'em up Fighting Sports
Developers: Atari
Publishers: Atari
Modes: Multiplayer Single-player
Perspective: Side view
Themes: Comedy
Country: United States

About

Basketbrawl is a 1990 sports video game developed and published by Atari Corporation for the Atari 7800. It was ported to the Atari Lynx in 1992. It is a basketball simulation which allows hitting and fighting with other players. The name is a portmanteau of basketball and brawl.

Atari released another sports/fighting combo for the Atari 7800 in 1990 as Ninja Golf. Both were in the final 11 games published by Atari for that system in 1990-91 before dropping support.

›Story

Vinne and Slash are bleeding from knife wounds and the ref is out cold! No wonder the gang members nicknamed this game "Basketbrawl." To them, it's not a game -- it's a street fight. This premise kicks off Atari's action sports game for up to two players.

The objective in Basketbrawl is to become the baddest gang in the town by winning the Basketbrawl tournament. To win, you must play three games against each of the five gangs in your city. Each time you move up to the next gang, you will play a team with more players and more dangerous weapons. Each game lasts six minutes -- out score you opponent by shooting more baskets.

Each basket is worth two points. If the game is tied after six minutes, the first team to score wins

Keywords

basketball
hand-to-hand combat

Media

The articlegameplay, story, development, reception

Gameplay

The main objective in Basketbrawl is to become the baddest gang in town by winning the tournament known as "Basketbrawl". The tournament is composed of three separate games or levels against the opposing city gangs. The difficulty increases by adding stronger weapons and additional players to the other gang. The games are six minutes long and you win by outscoring your opponent, similar to real-life basketball.

One major scoring change is that every basket is two points regardless of the shot's length. If time expires with the score tied, overtime will be the first team to score wins.

Reception

In a 1992 review, Robert Jung gave the Lynx version a 4 out of 10, concluding that "Basketbrawl takes an idea loaded with potential, then removes most of the excitement by combining weak sports action and weak combat action."

In a non-contemporaneous review, Atari 7800 Forever gave Basketbrawl a 4 out of 5: "Although not a pure blooded sports game, Basketbrawl without question is the best sports title for the 7800."

Releases by platformdates and regions as published

Platform	Released	Regions
Atari 7800	31 December 1990	North America

Editions and related releases

Included in: Atari Collection 2Atari Retro Handheld Console: Pac-Man EditionAtari 50: The Anniversary Celebration
Ported as: Basketbrawl
Built on it: Basketbrawl