NBA Jam

NBA Jam hit arcades in April 1993, designed by Mark Turmell at Midway. It ditched realism for spectacle: two-on-two matchups, gravity-defying dunks that shattered the backboard, and hard shoves that were entirely legal. Its signature hook was the "on fire" mechanic — sink three baskets in a row and your player got unlimited turbo, pinpoint accuracy, and a literal flaming ball, announced by Tim Kitzrow's now-immortal calls of "He's heating up!" and "He's on fire!"

The game was a commercial monster. Cabinets earned as much as $2,400 a week, and by Midway's own accounting the game took in more than a billion dollars in quarters in its first twelve months across over 20,000 machines. Home ports arrived in 1994 on the SNES, Genesis, Game Boy and more, selling millions of copies and hiding secret characters you could never unlock at the arcade — the home versions of 1995's Tournament Edition even let you play as Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton, and Al Gore.

One piece of lore turned out to be true: in 2008, Turmell — a Detroit Pistons fan — admitted the game was coded so the Chicago Bulls would clank last-second shots in close games against the Pistons. The franchise later passed to EA Sports, but the Midway original, catchphrases and all, is the one still shouted over a rim-rattling dunk.