Unwrapping NBA Live 95: The Christmas Morning That Changed How I Played Video Games

 

NBA Live 95 DOS version

I can still smell the burning dust from the back of my old CRT TV. It was Christmas morning in the mid-90s, and while my parents were drinking coffee in their robes, I was sitting dead center on the living room rug, staring at a rectangular box wrapped in shiny red paper.

I tore through the paper like a maniac, and there it was: NBA Live 95.

Up until that exact morning, basketball games to me were either two things: clunky side-scrollers like Bulls vs. Blazers where players moved like they were trudging through wet concrete, or wild arcade games like NBA Jam where guys caught on fire and did 720-degree dunks from the free-throw line. I loved NBA Jam, don't get me wrong, but I wanted something that felt like a real, authentic NBA game.

The second that famous 16-bit synth music booted up and the EA Sports voice screamed "It's in the game!", I knew I was in for something totally different.

The Camera Angle That Mind-Blew My 10-Year-Old Brain

I shoved the cartridge in, picked my team, and hit the court. The very first thing that made my jaw drop was the camera.

Before Live 95, basketball games forced you to look at the court flat from the sidelines. You couldn't really see open passing lanes or spot a guy cutting to the basket from the far corner. But Live 95 used this diagonal, 3/4 isometric perspective. It instantly felt like I was watching a real TV broadcast. Suddenly, I wasn't just mashing buttons—I could actually read the floor, run a fast break, and kick the ball out to an open shooter.

Press "Turbo" and Settle the Score

Then came the gameplay itself. This was the game that introduced the Turbo button to a proper 5-on-5 simulation, and it completely ruined my thumb for the rest of Christmas break.

• Fast Breaks felt like lightning: Grabbing a defensive board, hitting the turbo sprint, and pushing the ball up court felt so fluid.

• T-shirt and shorts jerseys: The players actually looked like basketball players instead of stiff pixelated blocks.

• The Announcer and Arena Vibe: Hearing the organ music, the squeaking sneakers, and the PA announcer shouting player names made my bedroom feel like a packed stadium.

We didn't have NBA 2K back then. There was no MyCareer mode or online matchmaking. If you wanted to talk trash, you had to hand a second controller to your friend or sibling, sit on the floor together, and play until someone got sore hands.

The Missing GOAT and the Magic of "Create-A-Player"

Of course, if you played back then, you know the one glaring thing missing from the roster: Michael Jordan. Because of individual licensing deals, MJ wasn't in the game (he was replaced by a generic "Player #99" on the Bulls squad).

But EA gave us something incredible to fix it—Create-a-Player.

I spent hours on Christmas afternoon sitting there with the controller, manually setting stats, tweaking height, and creating my own knockoff Michael Jordan—and then, of course, creating myself as a 7-foot point guard with maxed-out 99 ratings across the board. Being able to customize a player and put him on a real NBA roster felt mind-blowing at the time.

Why It Forever Changed Sports Games

Looking back now, NBA Live 95 wasn't just a fun game I played over holiday break. It was the absolute blueprint for every modern sports simulation game we play today. It proved that a console basketball game could be fast, tactical, and realistic all at the same time without losing the fun factor.

Every time I boot up a modern basketball game today, a small part of me still misses the simple joy of that Christmas morning: sitting three feet from a glowing glass TV screen, holding a warm controller, and hearing that pixelated crowd roar as I sprinted down the court on a fast break.

Circus Charlie NES: That One Game That Made Me Throw My Controller

 

Okay so.

I don't even know where to start with this game.

Circus Charlie.

If you grew up in the 90s and had a Nintendo – or you know, that bootleg Famicom that looked like a weird keyboard – you KNOW this game. It was on EVERY. SINGLE. MULTI-CART. I swear. 72-in-1? Yep. 99-in-1? Of course. 1000-in-1? Probably a lie but yeah, Circus Charlie was there.

And I hated it. But I also loved it. It's complicated.

So... What Even Is Circus Charlie?

Alright so basically you're this little yellow-haired clown named Charlie. And you're in a circus. And you have to do... circus stuff. Jump through fire rings on a lion. Walk on a tightrope. Bounce on balls. Walk on stilts. Swing on a trapeze.

Sounds simple right?

WRONG.

This game was BRUTAL. Like, unfairly hard. The kind of hard that made you question your existence as a 7-year-old.

ePSXe 1.9.25 with BIOS free full download (PS1 Emulator)(Updated)

ePSXe is the most popular PSX emulator for the PC. It runs almost any ps1 games, either thru the cd rom of your PC or save it on your your hard disk (should be ISO extension, or convert your ps1 cd's to ISO). Although it runs almost any ps1 games, there's still some lock-ups and bugs which you can just search the web for a fix.

I uploaded the emulator thru mediafire (1.9.25 is the latest version), just extract it using winrar or 7-zip then run ePSXe file, insert your ps1 cd, click file, then select run CD ROM. This is the most complete and updated version of ePSXe without having to download its BIOS. Everything under one file to suit your gaming needs.

To change the control pad:

Here is the link and the password for the file: (password in red color)
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BzfVa1JQ29W8SDZkNWJRcHAwUnM/view?usp=sharing
password is: piratedcd.blogspot.com

Stress Buster - Samorost 1&2 (flash game)

Try this very addictive game by Amanita Design. Since its flash based, there's no need to download the game, just interact with the character and solve the puzzles on each stage.

Gameplay:
The player interacts with the world with simple point and click interface directing a small, white-clad humanoid with a little cap and brown boots (called simply "gnome" by Dvorsky). The goal of the Samorost games is to solve a series of puzzles and brain teasers. The puzzles are sequentially linked forming an adventure story. The game contains no inventory or dialogue, and the solving of puzzles mainly consists of clicking onscreen elements in the correct order. Solving a puzzle will immediately transport the player character to the next screen.

Screenshots:

The home world of the main character in Samorost

Samorost 1

Samorost 2

Links:
Samorost 1
Samorost 2

Diablo - A one of a kind classic game (free full version download)

Most gamers today are playing RPG games right? (Well, that applies to online gamers)  With lots of titles to choose from you wont be contented with just playing one. My mindset was to always have my character level-up so high that I can boast it to my friends. But lets backtrack. One of the reasons why RPG games are so popular nowadays is because of Diablo by Blizzard. I remember that I borrowed and installed an original copy from my neighbor (wala pang pirated cd noon) and became addicted to it. The objective of the game is to find evil creatures and to kill them repeatedly. The game itself has some nice graphics considering its old, and you get the basic elements of an RPG genre. There are 3 characters to choose from. A warrior for melee type, a rouge for ranged attacks, and a magic type sorcerer. For the system requirements, as long as your computer was build around 1996 and above standard, then you wont have problems Anyways, its really nice that we look back to the past and appreciate the old times which shaped the future to what it is now. And all I can say is, "Lets kick some demons butt".

Here are the screenshots of the game:

Download it here: (just extract in a folder and run the file named "diablo")

Diablo 1