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Ultimate Rivals: The Court - Three things you should know about the arcade basketball game

Ultimate Rivals: The Court - Three things you should know about the arcade basketball game

Extreme hoops on your phone

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Ultimate Rivals: The Court is a basketball game on the Apple Arcade that plays very similarly to arcade hoops games of the past. If you remember legendary games like NBA Jam or NBA Street, then you might find a bit of a resemblance with this game. 

It's three-on-three action and the characters are big, strong, and powerful. They can fire shots from long range and unleash devastating dunks. Yup, it really is starting to sound a bit like NBA Jam isn't it? The aesthetics are more futuristic with wild courts to play on. 

The game is a part of the Ultimate Rivals series of games which includes hockey and is continuing to grow. In this article, we'll tell you a few things you should know about the basketball offering. And we'll begin with the one thing that is a trademark of the UR games. 

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You Control Athletes From Other Sports

Ultimate Rivals The Court gameplay

What's interesting about the Ultimate Rivals series is that you aren't controlling fictional characters or just pros from the game's respective sport, but athletes from all over. Yup, so you can play as a football player like Saquaon Barkley of the New York Giants or Justin Turner of the Los Angeles Dodgers for example.

There are a ton of athletes from all of the major sports involved. And yes, you can still play as basketball players in Ultimate Rivals: The Court and from both the NBA and WNBA. From Damian Lilliard to Brittney Griner. there is a slew of hoopers to choose from too.

Some of the athletes are more offensive-oriented while others focus more on defense and rebounding. So this makes it fun where you can mix and match a bit across sports. It's three-on-three too, so it may make it easier for you to build your team out there.

The Courts Are Wild

There is always a labor of love with the stadiums, arenas, and golf courses (if you're talking golf specifically) in sports. Well, Ultimate Rivals: The Court made sure to make the basketball courts you play on quite memorable during gameplay.

From playing in outer space to playing in a layout that seems more fitting for Super Smash Bros, the courts in the game are great. They compliment the wild, fast-paced gameplay pretty well. So, if venues are your thing in sports games, then you might appreciate the outlandish nature of these locations.

There is an Ultimate Power

So this shouldn't come as much of a surprise, but not all arcade-style sports games have ultimate abilities to use. Ultimate Rivals: The Court has one that's nearly showstopping. After making consecutive plays on either offense or defense, you'll fill up a meter. This is your Ultimate meter.

Once it's filled, you can activate it and unleash it on your opponents. If you can secure the ball more than once as the meter goes down, you grab double the points. You can shoot threes or go for a ferocious dunk, and the folks at UR weren't messing around with how powerful the dunks are. You can destroy the entire hoop on one dunk, setting it ablaze. Also, each athlete has their own sport-oriented specials. If you're an NFL player, for example, there's an Ultimate where you kick the basketball through goalposts for extra points.

It's really one of the more satisfying special abilities in an arcade-style sports game. It's similar to the iconic gamebreakers of the NBA Street games or the "HOUSE" dunks from NBA Ballers, the underrated hoops game made by Midway, the folks behind Mortal Kombat. It's a classic feature that was done pretty well in this mobile experience.

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Colin  Mieczkowski
Colin Mieczkowski
MOST PLAYED GAME: Golden Tee Mobile Colin has been in media and content creation for close to a decade, focusing on a balance of sports (golf mostly) and gaming. He's also a big fan of the Chicago White Sox, Bulls, Bears, and the sport of golf. He can be reached via email at [email protected] and can be followed on Twitter @GhostPandaColin.