Space Jam: A New Legacy -- The Game

While this homage to classic arcade beat-'em-ups feels like it's taken from a time capsule, its fun but limited gameplay will leave you flat, like a slowly leaking basketball. Space Jam: A New Legacy -- The Game borrows a lot of influences from classic arcade games, like its side-scrolling brawling play, selection of characters, and special abilities. Fortunately, the moves are simple to grasp and easy to pull off, letting you button-mash your way through the game. While you can punch and dash through enemies, you can also toss your basketball at opponents, and even charge up your shots for extra damage. Not to worry, though, because Tweety will bring the ball back to you if you don't choose to summon it yourself. That's important, because you'll frequently want to toss the ball to interrupt incoming attacks or stun enemies as you're fighting others.

Unfortunately, this is where some of the shallow gameplay starts to show through. While you can pick from three separate characters, they all have the same attack moves. Unlike in other arcade games, where one character might be stronger or faster than the others, nothing stands out about these characters apart from their artwork. You can't even throw enemies, which is a typical feature of these kinds of titles. Similarly, players will be fighting against a limited number of opponents with their own limited attacks, so once you've figured out how to defeat one, you pretty much know how to clear every area in the game, apart from a boss battle. At least the boss fights are mildly clever, especially with the obvious Kobe Bryant- and Anthony Davis-inspired opponents, but even this shines a spotlight on the biggest issue, which is that the game is simply too short. With a friend, it's possible to finish off the game in under two hours, and apart from a stronger difficulty level and fighting the bosses back to back, there's no real reason to replay this title, aside from a quick session here and there.