
Actual Game
Michael Jordan
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The Game
The one-player game lands you in three-on-three action, directing Jordan and mates on their hometown team from Wilmington, North Carolina. You compete in exhibition or tournament games against seven fictional teams playing pickup basketball. Although informal in spirit, the game features multiple camera angles, instant replays, highlight films, and sportscaster Ron Barr's end-of-game stats.
In Flight uses full-size animated players, digitized from live-action video. No rotoscoped, computer-enhanced characters here; you see and control surprisingly realistic, for an early 90s title, images of actual players.
True to its roots in street basketball, gameplay is mostly improvised, featuring only four present offensive plays. You can control either Jordan exclusively or the player closest to the ball. Jordan's trademark moves are all here, but unless you're next to the bucket, control is limited to passing, jumping, and attempted steals. One of the game's best attributes is its crisp sampled sound effects, including Jordan's own colorful digitized asides during the heat of play; "Thanks for the Nike poster!" he exclaims when he makes a particularly pretty jump shot.
Given the limited hardware of its time In Flight is part technology demo and part basketball sim. It represents the height of early 90s graphics capabilities.