Rather than 5-on-5 action like professional play, or 2-on-2 like its predecessors, this game features 3-on-3 play. Using players from the NBA, each player chooses a guard, forward, and center from the team's NBA roster for the first half and can make substitutions for the second half.
NBA Hoopz is an arcade-style game and not meant to be realistic: players can jump twenty or thirty feet in the air, dunk the ball from 20 feet (6.1 m) away, and do otherwise physically impossible things. Fouls are only called on flagrant pushes, foul shots are rare (and only after a number of fouls are accumulated), and there is no out of bounds. In addition, after a player makes three consecutive shots he becomes "on fire" which allows him to make almost any shot as well as goaltend without penalty. The PlayStation 2 and Dreamcast versions accommodate up to four players.
The Dreamcast and PlayStation 2 versions received "mixed" reviews, according to the review aggregation website Metacritic.[6][7]GameZone gave the former console version universal acclaim, a few weeks before its release date.[21] Rob Smolka of NextGen said of the latter console version, "Sloppy dunk animations and a blatant lack of originality draws [sic] a technical foul on NBA Hoopz."[28]
Dan Elektro of GamePro's April 2001 issue said of the Dreamcast version, "Goodies like player creation and season mode, along with mini-games like 2ball, can't make up for the main game's fatal identity crisis. NBA Hoopz comes off as a simulation wannabe, simultaneously betraying Showtime fans and only weakly attracting serious hoop addicts. Stick with NBA 2K1."[33][b] He also said of the PlayStation version, "Give Midway credit for trying, but not much more. If Showtime left you wanting more stats and details, Hoopz might fit the bill, but Live is a better sim."[34][c] However, he said of the Game Boy Color version, "Maybe someone at Midway will get the hint that the Game Boy should have its own basketball game to match its capabilities, instead of constantly forcing the GB to do things it can't and shouldn't do. In a word, NBA Hoopz sucks."[35][d] An issue later, Jake The Snake said of the PlayStation 2 version, "Even with a locker room full of features—including four mini-games, such as 21ball and 21—Hoopz isn't great but is decent enough that some gamers, especially those with short attention spans, will prefer it over EA's NBA Live."[36][e]
^Kujawa, Kraig; Hager, Dean; Leahy, Dan (April 2001). "NBA Hoopz (DC)". Electronic Gaming Monthly. No. 141. Ziff Davis. p. 103.
^Kujawa, Kraig (April 2001). "NBA Hoopz (GBC)"(PDF). Electronic Gaming Monthly. No. 141. Ziff Davis. p. 110. Archived from the original on April 21, 2001. Retrieved July 16, 2022.
^Kujawa, Kraig (May 2001). "NBA Hoopz (PS2)"(PDF). Electronic Gaming Monthly. No. 142. Ziff Davis. p. 109. Archived(PDF) from the original on April 12, 2023. Retrieved December 27, 2023.
^pilou (April 10, 2001). "Test: NBA Hoopz (PS1)". Jeuxvideo.com (in French). Webedia. Archived from the original on May 3, 2021. Retrieved December 27, 2023.
^Romendil (April 20, 2002). "Test: NBA Hoopz (PS2)". Jeuxvideo.com (in French). Webedia. Archived from the original on October 30, 2020. Retrieved December 27, 2023.
^Dan Elektro (April 2001). "NBA Hoopz (DC)"(PDF). GamePro. No. 151. IDG. p. 97. Archived from the original on December 13, 2004. Retrieved December 27, 2023.
^Dan Elektro (April 2001). "NBA Hoopz (PS)"(PDF). GamePro. No. 151. IDG. p. 97. Archived(PDF) from the original on December 7, 2023. Retrieved December 27, 2023.
^Jake The Snake (May 2001). "NBA Hoopz (PS2)"(PDF). GamePro. No. 152. IDG. p. 83. Archived(PDF) from the original on July 25, 2023. Retrieved December 27, 2023.
