Bulls versus Blazers and the NBA Playoffs, later released in Japan as NBA Pro Basketball: Bulls vs Blazers and the NBA Playoffs, is a 1993 basketball video game produced by Don Traeger and developed by Electronic Arts and released for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. A later Mega Drive version was released under the title Bulls versus Blazers and the NBA Playoffs,[1] later released in Japan as NBA Playoffs: Bulls vs Blazers.
The game is the sequel to Bulls vs Lakers and the NBA Playoffs. Like its predecessor, the game’s title refers to the previous season’s NBA championship series, the 1992 NBA Finals match-up between the Chicago Bulls and Portland Trail Blazers.
Gameplay
The game can be played in various ways: players can play against each other, or against the computer. Games against the computer were divided into two modes, “Exhibition” or “Playoffs”. Players can pick from one of the 16 teams that had competed in the 1992 NBA Playoffs. Games can be configured for 2, 5, 8 or 12 minute quarters.
The game was the first NBA game to feature the entire rosters of each NBA Franchise at the time, including the recent expansion teams of Minnesota, Orlando, Miami, and Charlotte, as well as the full rosters of both All Star teams from the 1992 NBA All-Star Game.[2]
The game is also notable for being the last in EA’s Playoffs series to feature Charles Barkley, as he began holding out on signing a licensing agreement due to the lack of pay to retired players from the National Basketball Players Association the following year.[3][4]