Double Dribble: The Playoff Edition

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Double Dribble: The Playoff Edition
Double Dribble: The Playoff Edition
Developer(s)	Konami
Publisher(s)	Konami
Composer(s)	Miki Higashino
Platforms	Sega Genesis
Release date(s)
Mode(s)	Single-player; Multiplayer (up to eight players using the Sega TAP)

Double Dribble: The Playoff Edition, originally released in Japan as Hyper Dunk: The Playoff Edition (ハイパーダンクザプレイオフエディション, Haipā Danku^?), and later released in Europe as HyperDunk, is a basketball video game developed and published by Konami for the Sega Genesis. It is the follow-up to the Double Dribble, originally released for the arcade in 1986 and various home computer systems and consoles.

Gameplay

With the help of Sega's Team Player Adaptor peripheral, up to eight different players can play the game. The three modes of play are Exhibition, Multi-Play, and Playoff. In Playoff Mode, one team is selected and placed in a tournament bracket. The first round is a best-of-5 series while the remaining rounds are best-of-seven. Passwords are given during the semi-final round.^[1]

Each player has a separate gauge that determines their energy level in addition to how effective that they are with their shots. Unlike the NBA or NCAA college basketball, the shot clock is shown in milliseconds in addition to seconds. Each player is shown with an identical height and weight to all the other players in-game.^[2]

Instead of four teams like the original, players can choose to be one of the 16 teams which vaguely resemble teams from the National Basketball Association. The team name for each city corresponds to the culture of each venue.

Animation viewer

An animation viewer can be unlocked by virtue of a Game Genie code. Basically, it allows players to sample different player appearances in addition to their faces, the direction that they are facing along with color palettes.^[3]

Reception

GamePro panned the game, commenting that the controls make it impossible to play good defense, it is too difficult to keep track of who's who in multiplayer, the animations are poor, and "the announcer is a little too excited, as if he should try a decaffeinated coffee."^[4]