Play NBA Jam : Tournament Edition on GB Online

NBA Jam: Tournament Edition hit the Game Boy in 1995, developed by Iguana Entertainment. It was one of those portable attempts to capture the arcade chaos, a time when getting a recognizable sports game on a handheld felt like a minor miracle. The screen was small, the players were chunky sprites, but it was basketball you could take anywhere.

You control a team of two NBA players, switching between them to shoot, block, and steal. The main goal is to outscore the opposing team before the clock runs out, working through a tournament bracket. Signature mechanics include the exaggerated, high-flying dunks that made the series famous, and the random power-ups that appear on court, like the game-altering fireball or the dreaded bomb ball. The pacing is frantic, the difficulty can spike against later teams, and it feels like a condensed, slightly janky version of the arcade experience that’s still weirdly satisfying to play.