NBA Live 98

The PlayStation release received mostly positive reviews. Critics praised the detailed player graphics, new animations, interface, music, and the full motion video sequences. GamePro commented, "What makes Live '98 so enjoyable to play is its fantastic mixture of NBA realism and wild arcade action." GameSpot assessed it as an across-the-board improvement over NBA Live 97. Critics hailed the number of new gameplay features, with the three-point competition, custom team feature, icon passing, and direct ducking all earning particular mention. A few criticisms were voiced, but they did little to impact the critic's overall recommendation. For example, Jay Boor of IGN found the dunks were not as dramatic as they should be, but still concluded NBA Live 98 to be the best basketball game presently on the market. Sushi-X wrote in Electronic Gaming Monthly that weak A.I. makes it "the easiest basketball game I've ever played." However, his three co-reviewers were more laudatory, with Kraig Kujawa summing up, "NBA Live 97 was easily the best basketball game last year, and now Live 98 has done it again." As with NBA Live 97, critics reported the Saturn port to have much lower-resolution textures and jerkier frame rate than the PlayStation version, to the point where the action can be hard to follow. Critics also found the absence of play-by-play commentary in the Saturn port a severe shortcoming. Kraig Kujawa and John Ricciardi of Electronic Gaming Monthly, who both rated the PlayStation version a 9/10, gave the Saturn version a 5.5/10 and 6/10 respectively, with Kujawa remarking, "Obviously, this was a quick and easy port that was paid very little attention.... EA could and should have done a better job." GameSpot and Sega Saturn Magazine, while noting that the Saturn port retains strong aspects of the PlayStation original, judged that it compared unfavorably with NBA Action 98, another Saturn basketball game which was released at the same time. Gary Cutlack of Sega Saturn Magazine summarized, "Live '98 isn't that bad, it's just unfortunate for EA that Sega are releasing their better NBA game at the same time." NBA Live 98 was a runner-up for Computer Gaming World's 1997 "Sports Game of the Year" award, which ultimately went to Baseball Mogul and CART Precision Racing in a tie. Editors called NBA Live 98 "the latest and best [...] in EA's awesome action-oriented" series. During the inaugural Interactive Achievement Awards, the game received a nomination for "Console Sports Game of the Year" by the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences.