Aimed at the younger audience, ‘NBA Bounce’ makes the popular sport of basketball accessible, whimsical, and fun for all. Developed by Unfinished Pixel SL and published by Outright Games Limited, this game is a less serious take on actual sports, where I don’t feel like throwing my controller through the screen at the end of play. Kudos to you.

The game opens up with you choosing your favourite NBA team, not realising until way later in the game that this team’s mascot will greet you on the home screen. Impressive that they have the licensing for all the NBA teams, too.

From here, you will dive straight into a tutorial that teaches you the basics of shooting, dunking, passing to your three fellow teammates, stealing, and blocking. All the essentials needed for this title. The controls are easy enough for me to pick up, and I suck at sports, so kids should easily master these with their nimbleness.

The game is packed with content to keep a young audience entertained for a long time. With modes like Party Mode, Tournament, and Season, there is so much to do.

Party Mode was easily my favourite and where I spent most of my time playing a series of party games for each quarter with different rules attached. These could be changing the size and shape of the 3-point line, to the likes of opening and closing the hoop hole sporadically.

‘Tournament’ is just a play-off mode where you can play off in elimination matches against 9, 16, or 32 teams to be the overall winner. ‘Season’ enables you to begin a sports season from start to finish, playing games each round and climbing a ladderboard against the other teams.

There is also a quick mode called Pick Up Game, and plenty of challenges to unlock, along with cute and free, customisable gear and mascots. I know basketball can be dry and repetitive at the best of times, but the sheer volume of content is commendable. Lacking online play restricts further challenge, though; however, the local co-op is a win.

Graphically, it is what you would expect from a game aimed at kids, but I was impressed by the high calibre of it all. They are bold and bright, round, cute, and chibi in appearance.

With exaggerated features and big heads, it is all very endearing and keeps the mood light. You can even edit players in a character customisation area, adding to the charm.

The audio is typical of most sports games. Hoots of horns at the end of each quarter, the swoosh of the ball as you dunk it, whistles of referees, and squeaks of Jordans on the court as you run down another player. It would have been nice to have some licensed music, but I understand its absence. Presently, it is all just a little bit generic.

Overall, this is a hard game to score as it is aimed at a younger audience. While I personally became disengaged after a few hours, the plethora of modes and content for children, along with the overall quality of the experience, make it a great sports game for any wee ones to enjoy. The ball is definitely in the court, and a slam dunk to keep the children occupied.

Written by: Stacey