Play Taito Basketball Online

Summary

Taito Basketball, known in the West as Ultimate Basketball, started life as an American release before being licensed to Taito for the Japanese market. The shift gave the game a quirky local flavor, even adding a brief scene where a generic cheerleader plants a kiss on the player after a championship win.

The core of the game is straightforward: pick one of seven fictional city teams—New York Powers, Los Angeles Eagles, Detroit Unions, Chicago Wolves, San Diego Dolphins, Dallas Fighters, or Houston Comets—and control five players on the court, swapping direct control among them as the action unfolds. A championship mode and a single‑game option let you chase a title or just enjoy a quick match.

All the athletes are made‑up, complete with invented stats, so you never run into real‑world stars. The fouling system is generous enough that you can lose several players and still finish a game with only three or four on the floor.

Critics were mixed but generally positive: AllGame gave it 3.5 / 5, Electronic Gaming Monthly scored it between 7 and 9 out of 10, and Famitsu’s four‑issue spread hovered around the mid‑range.