For whatever reason, Atari only released one RealSports title for the 7800 (Baseball) but it did release other sports titles with interesting formulas. Basketbrawl is such an example as it mixes basketball with street fighting in a surprisingly successful manner. The story of Basketbrawl has the action set in the inner-city area where gangs are about to go to war.
To keep things a bit more in control, the city leaders decide to organize the gangs into basketball teams as a “safer” way to settle disputes. Unfortunately, things didn’t quite work that way as a thug called Scott “the blade” Savage (the leader of a neutral gang), scares off the city’s referee and takes on the role. Except, “the blade” doesn’t use a whistle and instead throw knives at the players if they do the wrong thing. Of course, the wrong thing is what Scott wants it to be as there are no real rules in the game of basketbrawl, as the gangs call it. So, will the gangs be able to settle their differences? Hard to tell! Basketbrawl starts off with a nice title screen and then you are taken to an options screen where you select the type of game, time, difficulty, and number of players. You can then choose from one of six characters before the action starts. Of course, the goal is to get the highest score but to do that you’ll need to throw the ball and defend yourself. The action does get pretty crazy but it is fun. There are three different courts to play on (street, junkyard, and rooftop) as well. Graphics are excellent but sound leaves a bit to be desired. Regardless, this is a great title to have in your 7800 library.
