NBA JAM Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) for the Sega Genesis, Super Nintendo and Sega Game Gear versions Version 1.3 -- April 7, 1994 Edited/compiled by Dan Amrich (AOL: DanAmrich) *For best results, print in Courier font -- the spacing should line up* Welcome to NBA JAM! Here's what's currently known, unknown and suspected about the home versions of Acclaim/Arena's NBA JAM. SECRET PLAYERS: On thew 16-bit versions of the game, access these players by entering the first two initials of the player normally. On the final initial, however, perform the button combination indicated. On Genesis, hold Start and press either A, B or C, depending on the character. For SNES, hold down L, R and Start and press either X or A. Character Genesis SNES ARK Bill Clinton A X NET Al Gore B A MJT Mark Turmell A A RJR Jamie Rivett B X SAL Sal DiVita C X AIR Air Dog A X CAR Chow-Chow C X QB_ Kabuki A X ROD Scruff B X SAX Weasel C X DIS P-Funk C A UW_ Warren Moon A A After weeks of experimentation, only these 12 codes have appeared and been confirmed. People consta As in the arcade, there are "stats only" players. Entering these initials will make the game respond vocally ("It's a blowout," etc.) but you won't get a new face to play with. These initials will let you play with the famous NBA people but with different stats. Finding out what those stats, strengths and weaknesses are will take a while, but that's half the fun. These are Genesis only. Genesis GAP B,C SNK C ZOB B JAZ B CHR C JMC C Here are some SNES password combinations players have posted. These feature incredible (sometimes impossible) win/loss records. There are a LOT of these out there (mostly due to the work of Velocrptor!) but I'm including just a sampling (thanks too to Lev1258 for doing the number crunching on this): WIN LOSS STREAK PVP PPPPPPPPPPPPPP 22 11 44 WIN WWWWWWWWWWWWWW 80 35 50 STP CCCCCCCCCCCCCC 128 151 166 SUB MKMKMKMKMKMKMK 147 233 202 KID MMMMMMMMMMMMMM 164 179 162 PIP 33333333333333 183 156 192 JOE RRRRRRRRRRRRRR 216 175 189 NAP 33333333333333 225 94 96 STP 33333333333333 226 217 236 ONE 11111111111111 243 187 138 POWERUPS: These are all performed at the "Tonight's Matchup" screen, and if you're told to hold the last button or direction, do so until the tip-off. In all cases, your powerup should be confirmed by a message onscreen. On the Genesis and Game Gear, your player's name is replaced by "POWERUP WHATEVER" for about a second; on the SNES, ÒPOWERUP WHATEVERÓ appears lower onscreen (as it does in th arcade), but expect the ÒPowerup DefenseÓ message to be garbled. Powerup Defense: Hit any button four times then hold it on the fifth (all systems). This will increase your defensive ability. Imagine an "aura" of pixels around your player's hands; this powerup increases that aura, the area you can safely defend without being called for goal tending. Powerup Turbo: Press any button five times then hold (A, B and C/Genesis; Y, B and A/SNES) for the sixth entry (Game Gear unknown). This will give you unlimited turbo power throughout the game. You still have to hold the turbo button down, but your turbo status bar will not diminish. Powerup Dunks: While rotating the D-pad clockwise, press (any button/SNES & Genesis; Button 1/Game Gear) twelve times and hold it the thirteenth. Keep rotating the pad until the tip-off. This will allow you to do super dunks from the half-court tip-off circle and the near vicinity. It apparently does NOT allow poor dunkers, such as Skiles, to become good ones. Powerup Fire: Press (B/SNES and Genesis; Button 1/Game Gear) seven times then hold (Up, B and C/Genesis; Up, B and Y/SNES; Up and Button 2/Game Gear) until the tip-off. This puts you on fire the whole game! Powerup Intercept: While rotating the D-pad, hit (B/SNES & Genesis; Button 1/Game Gear) 13 times and hold it the fourteenth. Keep rotating the pad until the tip-off. This makes it easier to steal and intercept the ball from opponents. Shooting Percentage: Press any button once then hold (Down, A and B/both systems). For Game Gear, press Button 1 once then hold Button 2 and Down. This will show you, from 0% to 99%, how likely your shots are to go in from where you're standing on the court. Juice Mode: Press (any button/SNES & Genesis; Button 1/Game Gear) 13 times, then hold (B and C/Genesis; B and X/SNES; Buttons 1 and 2/Game Gear) until the tip-off. This makes all the players on the screen move about twice as fast, increasing the overall difficulty and excitement of the game. The game will turn on the Juice automatically for every game once you've beaten all 27 teams. COMBINED POWERUPS: Turbo + Dunk: Rotate the D-pad clockwise and hit (any button/SNES & Genesis) 12 times. Stop rotating and hold (A, B and C/Genesis; Y, A and B/SNES). Game Gear is unknown. This was incorrectly listed as 10 times in the last FAQ; anything less than 12 gives just Turbo. All apologies. Turbo + Intercept: Rotate the D-pad counterclockwise and hit (any button/both systems) 13 times. Stop rotating and hold (A, B and C/Genesis; Y, A and B/SNES). Game Gear is unknown. GAME GENIE CODES: These codes have been graciously provided by Galoob right here on AOL. The main feature of using Game Genie codes is that multiple powerups can be programmed without using the button combinations at the "Tonight's Matchup" screen--and you can use up to five of these at once! Super Nintendo: 1 BBCC-0F6F Visitor's baskets worth 1 2 34CC-0F6F Visitor's baskets worth 2 3 30CC-0F6F Visitor's baskets worth 3 4 39CC-0F6F Visitor's baskets worth 4 5 35CC-0F6F Visitor's baskets worth 5 6 36CC-0F6F Visitor's baskets worth 6 7 3CCC-0F6F Visitor's baskets worth 7 8 3ACC-0F6F Visitor's baskets worth 8 9 BBC6-A7AF Home's baskets worth 1 10 34C6-A7AF Home's baskets worth 2 11 30C6-A7AF Home's baskets worth 3 12 39C6-A7AF Home's baskets worth 4 13 35C6-A7AF Home's baskets worth 5 14 36C6-A7AF Home's baskets worth 6 15 3CC6-A7AF Home's baskets worth 7 16 3AC6-A7AF Home's baskets worth 8 17 D8E7-C448 All players have super dunk ability 18 D6E1-CF38 All players have infinite turbo 19 D6E9-CD18 All players always "on fire" 20 D8ED-C418 All players have super interception ability 21 D6E5-C718 "Juice" mode 22 D6E4-CDC8 Shot success percentages displayed for non-dunk shots 23 D4BD-3038 + D4BA-C948 Only need 2 baskets to be "on fire" 24 D0BD-3038 Need 4 baskets to be "on fire" 25 D9BD-3038 Need 5 baskets to be "on fire" 26 D1BD-3038 Need 6 baskets to be "on fire" 27 D5BD-3038 Need 7 baskets to be "on fire" 28 D6BD-3038 Need 8 baskets to be "on fire" 29 DBBD-3038 Need 9 baskets to be "on fire" 30 DCBD-3038 Need 10 baskets to be "on fire" 31 D4BD-3038 Need 2 baskets to stay "on fire" until an opponent goes "on fire" 32 DDE1-3C2A Turbo bar never goes up (until next quarter) 33 D3E1-3C2A Turbo bar restores very slowly 34 F9E1-3C2A Turbo bar restores much slower 35 F2E1-3C2A Turbo bar restores slower 36 0DE1-3C2A Turbo bar restores faster 37 9DE1-3C2A Turbo bar restores much faster 38 6FE1-3C2A Turbo bar restores extremely fast 39 D0E9-38FA Turbo drains very slowly 40 D6E9-38FA Turbo drains slower 41 FDE9-38FA Turbo drains slightly slower 42 44E9-38FA Turbo drains slightly faster 43 42E9-38FA Turbo drains faster 44 76E9-38FA Turbo drains very fast Genesis: EFFECTS SWITCH MUST BE ON BEFORE TIP-OFF 1 SGFB-3EVN + NWFB-36BT Visitor's baskets worth 1 point more 2 SGFB-3JVN + NWFB-36BT Visitor's baskets worth 2 points more 3 SGFB-3NVN + NWFB-36BT Visitor's baskets worth 3 points more 4 SGFB-3TVN + NWFB-36BT Visitor's baskets worth 4 points more 5 SGFB-3YVN + NWFB-36BT Visitor's baskets worth 5 points more 6 SGFB-32VN + NWFB-36BT Visitor's baskets worth 6 points more 7 SGFB-36VN + NWFB-36BT Visitor's baskets worth 7 points more 8 SGFB-3AVN + NWFB-36BT Visitor's baskets worth 8 points more 9 SGFB-3EV6 + NWFB-36CA Home's baskets worth 1 point more 10 SGFB-3JV6 + NWFB-36CA Home's baskets worth 2 points more 11 SGFB-3NV6 + NWFB-36CA Home's baskets worth 3 points more 12 SGFB-3TV6 + NWFB-36CA Home's baskets worth 4 points more 13 SGFB-3YV6 + NWFB-36CA Home's baskets worth 5 points more 14 SGFB-32V6 + NWFB-36CA Home's baskets worth 6 points more 15 SGFB-36V6 + NWFB-36CA Home's baskets worth 7 points more 16 SGFB-3AV6 + NWFB-36CA Home's baskets worth 8 points more 17 RGPV-46Y2 All players have super defensive ability 18 BWPV-4A74 All players have super interception ability 19 BWPV-4A8W All players have super dunk ability 20 BWPV-4A7C All players are always "on fire" 21 BWRB-4A2C All players have infinite turbo 22 BWRB-4A24 "Juice" mode 23 BWPV-4A9J Shot success percentages displayed for all non-dunk shots FOR ALL TIMER CODES, LEAVE SPEED ON 3 24 AA4V-J8N0 Timer counts down slower than setting 1 25 AA4V-K8E0 Timer counts down very slowly 26 AA4V-J860 Timer counts down faster than setting 5 27 AA4V-K860 Timer counts down very fast 28 AAEV-LADR Only need 1 basket to be "on fire" 29 AEEV-LADR Only need 2 baskets to be "on fire" 30 AWEV-2AFG + ANEV-LADR Need 4 baskets to be "on fire" 31 A0EV-2AFG + ATEV-LADR Need 5 baskets to be "on fire" 32 A4EV-2AFG + AYEV-LADR Need 6 baskets to be "on fire" 33 A8EV-2AFG + A2EV-LADR Need 7 baskets to be "on fire" 34 BCEV-2AFG + A6EV-LADR Need 8 baskets to be "on fire" 35 BGEV-2AFG + BAEV-LADR Need 9 baskets to be "on fire" 36 BLEV-2AFG + BEEV-LADR Need 10 baskets to be "on fire" 37 BLEV-2A9T Players 1 and 3 stay "on fire" when the other team scores 38 BLFB-2A2A Players 2 and 4 stay "on fire" when the other team scores WHO AND WHAT ELSE *MIGHT* BE IN THE GAME: The lovely cheerleaders from the arcade version, Lorraine Olivia and Kerri Hoskins (both ex-Playboy models), are believed to be in the game as secret players. I wrote a story for SLAM magazine on NBA JAM that should be out soon; here's a transcription of some of my interview with Dan Feinstein, Acclaim's NBA JAM producer (yes, this was "on the record"): DA: Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but the cheerleaders are in the Game Gear version, but not the 16-bits. Is that right? DF: Uh, I can't tell you about the cheerleaders. [laughs] DA: Then, uh, scratch that. DF: Yeah, I can't say anything about those cheerleaders. And there are a lot of new hiddens. DA: Oh, I didn't even mean as hiddens, I meant as display -- like, they're not in the attract mode of the game or anything, are they? DF: You're talking about the cheerleaders on the sidelines? DA: Cheerleaders on the sidelines, you know, just them saying "Hi, welcome to NBA JAM..." DF: Oh...yeah. Yeah. Um, we ran out of room for that. But there are a hell of a lot of surprises that make up for it. While Mr. Feinstein sounded a little uncomfortable, I kinda caught him off guard with the question, so that's certainly understandable. Plus, the nature of this business involves hidden things that are not to be blatantly revealed; he's simply not allowed to give anything away, and that's only fair as well. That, along with STESS's confirmation of a cheerleader playing in the demo of an early SNES EPROM and EGM's subsequent printing of photos from their EPROM, gave me hope that perhaps they made the final cut, but lately, I'm thinking they've been removed. Perhaps Mr. Feinstein reacted that way because he himself didn't know if they'd be included in the released version. In any case, if they do exist, they will NOT appear naked in the game! People have been asking for the cheerleader code and the Playboy code seperately, hoping to catch the ladies sans uniforms. There is no Playboy code. If you're that interested in seeing them unclothed, Lorraine's Playmate centerfold was in the November 1990 issue of Playboy. (Also, watch reruns of the game show ÒFamily FeudÓ closely--both Kerri and Lorraine appeared on a celebrity edition of Playmates Vs. Daytime Soap Opera Men!) Much speculation has come about wondering whether characters from Mortal Kombat are in the home versions. They weren't in the arcade game (although Raiden was in a preliminary version, he was cut before it hit the arcades) and they've been removed from the new NBA JAM TOURNAMENT EDITION arcade, but...I don't want to say it's impossible. Midway and Acclaim did both MK and JAM, so anything could show up, but I think that by now, someone would have announced their existance. It would be too hot a property to keep quiet. And odd as it may seem, a number of dinosaurs -- Dilophosaurus, Velociraptor, Triceratops and Tyrannosaurus Rex -- were reported as secret characters in early EPROMs of the game, but have since been removed. WHO AND WHAT IS *NOT* IN THE GAME (AND WHY): Michael Jordan is NOT in the game. He was in preliminary, unreleased versions of the arcade game, but was NOT in the final arcade version and is NOT in the home games either. Shaquille O'Neal was in the arcade version, but is NOT in the home game. In most cases, arcade-to-home player substitutions from the original arcade players were because of 1) licensing problems (sports stars like Jordan and Shaq command a certain amount of money for the use of their image, and either Midway or Acclaim simply could not pay their prices) or 2) by order of the NBA. They call the shots and certain players have risen in popularity while others have dropped since the arcade game appeared. They said, "We want the following people replaced with the following people" and Acclaim had to comply. Therefore, all Shaq and Jordan codes you may receive are BOGUS and are merely an attempt by one person to make themselves look cool. Don't believe the hype. Incidentally, both men are working on their own games, neither of them basketball-centered: Jordan will star in his own as-yet-untitled platform game, while Shaq will kick and punch his way through "Shaq Fu," a Mortal Kombat-style fighting game. Both are due this fall from Electronic Arts. Charles Barkley, however, appears in SOME versions of NBA JAM. He signed a separate deal with Accolade for the dreadful "Shut Up And Jam" game and will therefore be in the early versions of the cart. The first run of the game will feature Barkley and Kevin Johnson for the Suns; later versions will have Dan Majerle with Johnson. If Barkley plays for the Suns on your copy of the game, hold on to it! Sadly and against all popular logic, Willie "Air" Morris Jr. is NOT in the home version. Even though Air Morris is the most popular of the secret characters from the arcade, Acclaim to keep only Turmell, Rivett and DiVita from the original secret staff. Two musicians, George "P-Funk" Clinton (leader of the 70's funk outfits Parliament and Funkadelic) and Flea (bassist for the Red Hot Chili Peppers) were both in early versions of the home games. Their pictures were shown in the centerfold of the February 1994 issue of VideoGames Magazine. Feinstein said that one of the two had been removed in lieu of another secret player, but didn't say which; we now know that P-Funk *is* in the game. Reading the fine print on your box shows a copyright notice for George Clinton's "P-Funk" nickname, no less. That means Flea is *not* in the game, but for diehards won't take no for an answer, his real name is Michael Balzary... Other rumored secret characters that can be confirmed as FALSE: Barney the Dinosaur, Beavis & Butt-head, Charles Manson, Jeffrey Dahmer, Randall Cunningham, Jim Harbaugh, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Julius "Dr. J" Erving, Ermac the Red Ninja, Rush Limbaugh, Darth Vader, Superman, Al Pacino, Santa Claus, the Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man, Cool Spot, Sinbad, Humpty Hump, Oprah Winfrey, Alien, Predator, Dr. Dre, Snoop Doggy Dogg and Michael Jackson (who was reported by some gullible player to give a *halftime show,* for cryin' out loud). Anyone who promises you codes for any of the above is either trying to dupe you or has unknowingly been given inaccurate information. Far and away the aspect that most people refuse to believe is that the Big Head Powerup does not exist in the home versions. I therefore supply you with another direct quote from Dan Feinstein on the subject: DF: I had a fear early on that there were things that we definitely couldn't do on a deck like the Genesis or the SNES, and the scaling had to go on the games. You couldn't have the scaling [the illusion that the players are running toward and away from the screen]; we would have had to have, I don't know, 32 meg carts or something ridiculous. We would have had to sell them for $200 apiece. It would have been silly. And the big heads along with it, and we might get criticized for that, but what are you gonna do? It's an impossibility. The hardware just won't handle it. So that's the deal. No Big Head. Sorry. MISCELLANY: Both the SNES and Genesis versions support four-player adapters. The Hudson Soft Super Multi Tap and the Bullet-Proof Software Super Link Multi-Player Adapter both work for the SNES, while the Sega Team Player works for the Genesis. The Electronic Arts 4-Way Play adapter does NOT work on the Genesis version. PetroPratt reports a sneaky way to get away with travelling: Press Shoot then immediately press Pass Being "on fire" does NOT insure that every single shot you put up will go in. It DOES increase the your chances dramatically for sinking impossible-looking shots, but it's not foolproof, so don't plan your entire game on it! Kintaro434 reports that the backboard shatters in the fourth quarter after eight dunks. If you've al Many Genesis players have reported problems saving their win/loss records with the battery backup. Rumors are flying of a Sega CD version of NBA JAM for release in July; word has it that CD owners will able to upgrade for $19 plus their old cart. This is not yet completely confirmed, but reliable sources are starting to murmur about it, so I'll throw it in as a guarded possibility. Acclaim's home version of NBA JAM TOURNAMENT EDITION, however, is definitely being planned for release for the 4th Quarter of 1994--just in time for Christmas. It will be larger than 16 megs, but all other details are as yet unknown. And in the free plug department, pick up a copy of SLAM magazine's Issue #2 (Kemp on the cover) for THANKS: There only two kinds of information: true and false. Everything in this document is labeled as one or the other thanks to the people listed below. By publicly sharing their knowledge, instead of playing "Email me" games and attempting to buy friends with it, the following AOL NBA JAMmers are to be commended. Thank them if you see them online: STESS NebuIous Kintaro434 VGS Jeff PetroPratt KingKombat Velocrptor SVW JamieW MisterZ22 MortalKm367 Raggio RyanReed HKATZ BarryF3 RonA678 BryanB2163 SLICER 101 ShadimAli Vittles P MikeB95760 Wolffgang GALOOBGENI ToddMF Falcon3345 Daniel187 JonN878859 Lev1258 RustyE JamminJon Justin TG pendleto@cc.dixie.edu ...and offline, Carl Elston, Jr. and Katrin Auch. Extra special thanks to Mark Turmell, Paul Dussault and Roger Sharpe at Midway, as well as Dan Feinstein and Dan Harnett at Acclaim; their cooperation was invaluable. Also, thank YOU for reading this file, confirming things and reporting back. Since much of the information has been found and confirmed, I'm hoping this will be the last revision of this file. Stop by the NBA JAM message areas where all of the above Jammers hang out (hit AOL Keywords "VideoGames" and "Critics") and post your questions, corrections and new info publicly. Just remember to leave your ego at the door; working together works wonders. Enjoy! --- "NBA," "NBA JAM" and "NBA JAM SESSION" are trademarks of NBA Properties, Inc. "Midway" is a trademark of the Midway Manufacturing Company. "Super Nintendo Entertainment System" and "SNES" are trademarks of Nintendo of America, Inc. "Sega Genesis" and "Sega CD" are trademarks of Sega Enterprises, Ltd. "Acclaim" and "Arena" are trademarks of Acclaim Entertainment, Inc. "Game Genie" is a trademark of Lewis Galoob Toys, Inc., and Game Genie codes are copyright 1994 Lewis Galoob Toys Inc. This list has been created as a FREE PRODUCT, without the approval or permission of any of the above parties, and is intended for PRIVATE, NON-COMMERCIAL USE ONLY. # END #