NBA Live 98 on the Sega Genesis was one of those late-era sports games that somehow squeezed every last drop out of the aging hardware. Tim Hardaway’s on the cover, which feels random now but made sense back then—dude had handles. The gameplay’s fast, a little janky by today’s standards, but the animations for dunks and crossovers still hold up in that charming, pixelated way.

You pick a team, jump into a game, and immediately notice how much louder the crowd sounds compared to earlier NBA Live titles. The commentary’s barebones, just a few canned lines, but hearing “He’s on fire!” after sinking three in a row never gets old. Defense is tougher than you’d expect—steals feel satisfying when you time them right, but good luck stopping Shaq in the post.

It’s not the deepest basketball sim, but for a Genesis game? Solid way to kill an afternoon with some ’90s nostalgia.