Sports games are annual events. Each year a new sports title is rolled out, and diehard fans scoop it up without question. For a long time, I was not like this, but nowadays, I indeed plunk down the cash for the newest baseball or basketball game. NBA In The Zone '98 was the first five on five basketball game on the Nintendo 64 way back in the day. For years, it was the only console basketball game I had owned. My preference on simulated basketball was the NBA Live games for the PC, beginning with the awesome NBA Live '98. With so many sports games out there to choose from, some do indeed stick inside ones mind and memory forever, and In The Zone '98 is a prime example of such.

     I remember quite clearly that my brother and I saved up our allowance just to buy the newest basketball game. Mind you, games back then cost an exorbitant 70 dollars. Yes, $70. In today's day and age, most games are $60, and we complain about the price. $70 is just insane, but we all went for it. We couldn't resist! The games looked so intriguing!

     It is now 2011, 13 years after the In The Zone '98 was released, and I still for some reason play it today. With some of the best basketball games of our generation at my fingertips like NBA Live '10, and the amazing NBA 2K11, I still take the time to revisit In The Zone '98. It must be the sentimental value. It must be the incredibly blurry graphics. Maybe it is my pure love of the game of basketball. Maybe it's the legends that are featured in the game - Patrick Ewing, Clyde Drexler, Hakeem Olajuwon, Allan Houston, Charles Barkley, and Roster Player. Who? My mistake, I mean Michael Jordan...just not to confuse you, Roster Player is a white guy with #99, but is also the starting shooting guard for the Chicago Bulls. Either way, it's all awesome!

     The gameplay is pretty basic, and the features are practically unplayable without sapping an entire controller pak to save it all. It doesn't matter though. It's all about the exhibition in this game. It's pure fun. No glitz, not a whole lot of razzle dazzle, just a simple game with big time players. It has its own unique charm.

     Nowadays, you can find In The Zone '98 in retro game store bargain bins for a dollar or two - a long way from 70. And though it is a game that is largely forgotten by most by now, it will always have a special place in my heart.

-Kurt L.

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