''Bill Laimbeer's Combat Basketball'' is a futuristic basketball video game released by

Hudson Soft was a Japanese video game company that released numerous games for video game consoles, home computers and mobile phones, mainly from the 1980s to the 2000s. It was headquartered in the Midtown Tower in Tokyo Midtown, Akasaka, Minato, Tokyo ...

for the

Super Nintendo Entertainment System The Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES), commonly shortened to Super NES or Super Nintendo, is a 16-bit home video game console developed by Nintendo that was released in 1990 in Japan and South Korea, 1991 in North America, 1992 in Eur ...

(SNES) in 1991. It was initially released in Europe under the name ''Future Basketball'' for the

Amiga Amiga is a family of personal computers introduced by Commodore in 1985. The original model is one of a number of mid-1980s computers with 16- or 32-bit processors, 256 KB or more of RAM, mouse-based GUIs, and significantly improved graphi ...

and

Atari ST The Atari ST is a line of personal computers from Atari Corporation and the successor to the Atari 8-bit family. The initial model, the Atari 520ST, had limited release in April–June 1985 and was widely available in July. It was the first pers ...

home computers in 1990. It was the first basketball game released for the SNES.Bill Laimbeer in a Video Game.
AP File Photo. September 27, 1991. The Prescott Courier. The game stars

Bill Laimbeer William J. Laimbeer Jr. (born May 19, 1957) is an American professional basketball coach and former player who spent the majority of his career with the Detroit Pistons. Known for his rough and violent style of play, he played a big part in the P ...

, who played for the

Detroit Pistons The Detroit Pistons are an American professional basketball team based in Detroit. The Pistons compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division and play their home games at Li ...

of the

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...

during a time when the team was notorious for aggressive and dirty, physical play.Bad Boys Still the Best
, www.nba.com, accessed August 31, 2008 The game takes place in the year 2031. Bill Laimbeer has become commissioner of a basketball league, fired the referees and created a style of play without rules. There are no fouls and use of weapons is perfectly legal.

Gameplay

The game utilizes an uncommon overhead view of the court. Unlike real basketball, players can physically check each other on the court without the threat of personal or team fouls. Destructive items such as bombs frequently appear on the court. A season lasts 14 games without any playoff games. After each season, the top two teams in each league advance to the league above, and the bottom two teams in each league get moved down to the league below. Ties are broken by beginning season standings. If two teams finish the season with the same record, the one that was ranked higher at the beginning of the season will be ranked highest. The player starts out his career in the Third Division and must work his way up to the Super League; where the best teams vie for league supremacy.

Reception

Bret Alan Weiss, writing for

Allgame RhythmOne , previously known as Blinkx, and also known as RhythmOne Group, is an American digital advertising technology company that owns and operates the web properties AllMusic, AllMovie, and SideReel. Blinkx was founded in 2004, went publ ...

, gave the game a negative review, criticizing the graphics, sounds and controls. Scoring the game one star out of five, he commented that these and other faults "mar what could have been a guilty pleasure." ''

Game Informer ''Game Informer'' (''GI'', most often stylized ''gameinformer'' from the 2010s onward) is an American monthly video game magazine featuring articles, news, strategy, and reviews of video games and associated consoles. It debuted in August 1991 w ...

''s Jeff Marchiafava had a more positive view of the game on his list of "Weirdest Celebrity-Based Video Games."

References

{{reflist 1991 video games Basketball video games Fantasy sports video games Hudson Soft games North America-exclusive video games Super Nintendo Entertainment System games Super Nintendo Entertainment System-only games Video games set in 2031 Video games developed in the United Kingdom Multiplayer and single-player video games Video games about cloning Video games based on real people Cultural depictions of basketball players Cultural depictions of American men