Let's acknowledge something you've probably already realized if you've been keeping up with the numerous trailers and previews for EA Canada's reboot of the NBA Jam franchise: Your enjoyment of the game will be exponentially enriched if you're familiar with the culture of the original. Midway's NBA Jam didn't just introduce standards that most modern basketball games still include in some manner or another -- it created a language which only the game's players could fully comprehend.

There's nothing wrong with the fact that EA Sports clearly targeted this community with the new NBA Jam by acknowledging the catchphrases, over-the-top maneuvers and arcadey gameplay of Jam the First. In fact, it's a testament to the undying strength of that original formula that EA Canada's attempts to tack new material on to it largely fall flat.