One on One Basketball: Dr. J and Larry Bird?
Yeah, my sentiments exactly—that is, if I belong to the generation of basketball fans (especially of the National Basketball Association) that only knows Shaquille O’Neal, Kobe Bryant, and Yao Ming. But I belong to the previous generation of basketball fans that idolizes Julius Erving, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and Michael Jordan.
Wait a minute … Larry Bird is on that list, but where’s this Dr. J? My, my, you’re really not a basketball fan. Hehe.
This post, however, is not about basketball, per se. It’s actually about an old game I’ve dug up called Dr. J and Larry Bird Go One on One, a 1983 computer basketball game for the early generation of home computers developed by Eric Hammond and published by Electronic Arts.
Yes, I played the game (on the Apple IIc) and, if I remember correctly, I sucked at it. Between the two, however, I preferred to play Larry Bird, who is more of an on-top-of-the-key kind of guy, meaning he shoots very well from the outside. I hated having had to dribble the ball to the basket, thus my dislike for the high-flying, slam-dunking Julius “Dr. J” Erving (his computer likeness, that is). It took too much effort to get near the basket just to gain a point—and the computer-controlled Larry Bird has fast hands that almost always swipes the ball before you even begin your drive to the hoop.
My favorite feature of the game was not the players but the breakable backboard. Yes, you could shatter the virtual fiberglass backboard by having your character, either Dr. J or Larry Bird, do a hangtime on the hoop (Dr. J looks better hanging up there. Sorry, Larry). What happens when the backboard shatters? Well, a robotic janitor comes out to clean up after the big boys. Pooh.
Check out the video below if you want to learn more about Julius Erving:
Image features title page of Dr. J and Larry Bird Go One on One, copyright Eric Hammond and Electronic Arts.
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POSTED IN: Apple, Black And White, DOS Games, Discussion, Electronic Arts, PC, Re:Retro, Re:spect, The Dreaded Deadline Doom!, Videos, Your Daddy played this game
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