Magic Johnson’s Fast Break is a fun 2-on-2 basketball game. There’s only one song in the game, but it’s a slappin’ high-quality Tim Follin composition. The graphics aren’t anything special, but it’s still good for a ten minute pick up and play. Here’s some tips to make your life a little easier while trying to dunk on the opposition.
Know your buttons. The A and B buttons do different things depending on whether or not you’re holding the ball. Their functions are as follows:
If you HAVE the ball, A passes to your teammate, and B shoots the ball toward the net (regardless of where you are on the court).
If you DON’T have the ball, mashing A can steal the ball when you’re close to the enemy who has it, and B switches between which of your two teammates are playable.
General tips:
- Steal, steal, steal! Stealing the ball frequently is the #1 key to victory.
- If you can, avoid stealing from behind the opposition. This often nets you a violation, but they’re relatively easy to recover from, so don’t worry too much if it does happen.
- When you have the ball, travel at a diagonal angle to make it more difficult for the other team to steal it from you.
- Go for 3-pointers whenever possible! Your chances of sinking a three are surprisingly high, and those extra points add up fast. In case you don’t know, this is the safe range to try and shoot three-pointers from:
- If you’re up close to the other team’s basket, you can sink multiple 2-pointers in very quick succession if you can manage to keep a hold of the ball. The closer you are to the basket, the better your chances of sinking those shots, so fire away.
- Choosing your difficulty doesn’t actually change the computer team’s AI at all. What it does affect is how frequently shots actually succeed. The higher the difficulty, the worse your chances are, and the better the computer team’s become. I’d recommend playing on difficulty 3 or 4 if you want a decently balanced game.
This is pretty much everything you need to know to clear this game with few problems. It’s fast-paced but simplistic for a sports game, so go forth and do your best to impress Magic Johnson himself! Or a questionable 8-bit portrait of him, at least!
NESJunk 