Lakers versus Celtics and the NBA Playoffs

n/a

Lakers versus Celtics and the NBA Playoffs

Developer: Robert Weatherby, Electronic Arts

Licensor: National Basketball Association

Genre: Sports (basketball)

Number of players: 1-2

Release	Date	RRP	Code
US	1990-11^[1]	$49.9549.95^[2]^[3]	700401
EU	1991-10^[4]

This short article is in need of work. You can help Sega Retro by adding to it.

Lakers versus Celtics and the NBA Playoffs is a 1989 basketball game for IBM PCs by Electronic Arts. EA ported it to the Sega Mega Drive in 1990. Lakers versus Celtics was the first basketball game to be licensed by the NBA (though curiously acquired the players' name rights without going through the NBA Players Association). For its time, Lakers versus Celtics was considered to be the top basketball video game on the market, and was highly received by the press.

The Mega Drive version, though very similar to the original DOS game in nature, makes some slight adjustments to reflect the teams taking part in the 1990 NBA Playoffs (as opposed to the original's 1989 roster). As a result, the Seattle SuperSonics, New York Knicks and Jazz are replaced with the Portland Trail Blazers, Philadelphia 76ers and San Antonio Spurs, respectively.

Though the North American version of the game is relatively common (as are its "sequels", Bulls vs Lakers and the NBA Playoffs and Bulls versus Blazers and the NBA Playoffs), the European version of the game is abnormally rare, to the point where for many years, its existence was widely doubted.^[5] EA originally ran into legal troubles with the NBA when it came licensing the game in Europe^[6], and likely recalled copies of the game shortly after release. According to an old Electronic Arts spreadsheet 192 copies of the game left EA but only 13 are known to have surfaced. A copy went on sale on ebay on 26 June 2017 attracting bids above £9000. Supposedly it was set to be re-released as EA Basketball in 1992, though this never happened^[7].

Gameplay

Teams

Only ten NBA teams exist in Lakers versus Celtics (and two of those are "all-stars", featuring the best players). Future games would expand the roster to include the full lineup.

Conference	Team	Players
Western	Los Angeles Lakers
	Portland Trail Blazers
	San Antonio Spurs
	Phoenix Suns
	All Stars West
Eastern	Boston Celtics
	Detroit Pistons
	Chicago Bulls
	Philadelphia 76'ers
	All Stars East

Production credits

Genesis Programming by: Jesse K.Taylor IV, Carl Mey, John Tomlinson
Graphics and Animation by: Paul Vernon, Arthur Koch, Cynthia Hamilton, Peggy Brennan
Sound and Music by: Rob Hubbard
Technical Director: Richard Hicks
Produced by: Don Traeger and Jim Rushing
Assistant Producers: Jon Horsley, Michael Meischeid, Happy Keller
Original Design by: Robert Weatherby

Source:

In-game credits^[8]

Magazine articles

Main article: Lakers versus Celtics and the NBA Playoffs/Magazine articles.

Promotional material

Print advert in (US) #15: "October 1990" (1990-xx-xx)
also published in:

(US) #2: "October/November 1990" (1990-xx-xx)^[9]
(US) #0101: "Vol. 1, No. 1: Fall 1990" (1990-10-xx)^[10]

Physical scans

Sega Retro Average

Publication

Version

Score

(RU)

40

^[11]

(DE)

68

^[12]

(UK)

83

^[13]

(UK)

PAL

83

^[14]

(UK)

88

^[15]

(US)

NTSC-U

60

^[16]

(US)

NTSC-U

100

^[17]

(UK)

91

^[18]

(FR)

93

^[19]

(UK)

NTSC-U

65

^[20]

(US)

NTSC-U

65

^[21]

(UK)

89

^[22]

(UK)

NTSC

82

^[23]

(UK)

89

^[24]

(DE)

73

^[25]

(UK)

NTSC-U

75

^[26]

(UK)

80

^[27]

(UK)

PAL

80

^[28]

(RU)

70

^[29]

(US)

NTSC-U

70

^[3]

	77
Based on 20 reviews

Mega Drive, US (Cardboard Case)
Cover
Cart Manual

Mega Drive, US (Hardcase)

Cart Manual

Mega Drive, EU
Cover
Cart Manual Manual (Back)

Technical information

Main article: Lakers versus Celtics and the NBA Playoffs/Technical information.

External links

The story behind the 26-year-old Mega Drive basketball game getting £8000 bids on eBay at www.eurogamer.net

References

Lakers versus Celtics and the NBA Playoffs
	Main page \| Hidden content \| Development \| Magazine articles \| Video coverage \| Reception \| Region coding \| Technical information \| Bootlegs Prototypes: Prototype

Electronic Arts sports games for Sega systems
American Football
John Madden Football (1990) \| John Madden Football '92 (1991) \| John Madden Football '93 (1992) \| John Madden Football: Championship Edition (1992) \| Mutant League Football (1993) \| Madden NFL '94 (1993) \| Bill Walsh College Football (1993) \| Bill Walsh College Football '95 (1994) \| Madden NFL '95 (1994) \| Madden NFL 96 (1995) \| College Football USA 96 (1995) \| Madden NFL 97 (Mega Drive) (1996) \| Madden NFL 97 (Saturn) (1996) \| College Football USA 97 (1996) \| Madden NFL 98 (Mega Drive) (1997) \| Madden NFL 98 (Saturn) (1997)
Baseball
Tony La Russa Baseball (1993) \| MLBPA Baseball (1994) \| La Russa Baseball 95 (1994) \| Triple Play 96 (1995) \| Triple Play: Gold Edition (1996)
Basketball
Lakers versus Celtics and the NBA Playoffs (1990) \| Bulls vs Lakers and the NBA Playoffs (1991) \| Jordan vs Bird (1992) \| Team USA Basketball (1992) \| Bulls versus Blazers and the NBA Playoffs (1993) \| NBA Showdown '94 (1994) \| NBA Live 95 (1994) \| NBA Live 96 (1995) \| Coach K College Basketball (1995) \| NBA Live 97 (Mega Drive) (1996) \| NBA Live 97 (Saturn) (1996) \| NBA Live 98 (Mega Drive) (1997) \| NBA Live 98 (Saturn) (1997)
Golf
Zany Golf (1990) \| PGA Tour Golf (1990) \| PGA Tour Golf II (1992) \| PGA Tour Golf III (1994) \| PGA European Tour (1994) \| PGA Tour Golf II (1995) \| PGA Tour 96 (1995) \| PGA Tour 97 (1996)
Ice Hockey
NHL Hockey (Mega Drive) (1991) \| NHLPA Hockey '93 (1992) \| NHL Hockey '94 (1993) \| Elitserien 95 (1994) \| Mutant League Hockey (1994) \| NHL 95 (1994) \| NHLPA Hockey (1994) \| Elitserien 96 (1995) \| NHL 96 (1995) \| NHL Hockey (Game Gear) (1995) \| NHL 97 (Mega Drive) (1996) \| NHL 97 (Saturn) (1996) \| NHL 98 (Mega Drive) (1997) \| NHL 98 (Saturn) (1997)
Racing
Mario Andretti Racing (1994) \| Andretti Racing (1996) \| NASCAR 98 (1997)
Rugby
Rugby World Cup 1995 (1994) \| Australian Rugby League (1995)
Soccer
FIFA International Soccer (8-bit) (1993) \| FIFA International Soccer: Championship Edition (1994) \| FIFA Soccer 95 (1994) \| FIFA Soccer 96 (Mega Drive) (32X \| Saturn \| Game Gear) (1995) \| FIFA Soccer 97 (Gold Edition) (1996) \| FIFA Road to World Cup 98 (Mega Drive) (1997) \| FIFA Road to World Cup 98 (Saturn) (1997)
Misc.
EA Sports Double Header (1992) \| IMG International Tour Tennis (1994) \| Toughman Contest (1994)

[https:.2F.2Fgroups.google.com.2Fg.2Frec.games.video.2Fc.2FebTedzqJ9P0.2Fm.2FBeGiioCwuXcJ-1] ttps://groups.google.com/g/rec.games.video/c/ebTedzqJ9P0/m/BeGiioCwuXcJ

[:File:GamePro_US_018.pdf_p47-2] GamePro, "January 1991" (US; 199x-xx-xx), page 47

[:File:VG.26CE_US_24.pdf_p61-3] 3.0 ^3.1 VideoGames & Computer Entertainment, "January 1991" (US; 199x-xx-xx), page 61

[:File:SegaPro_UK_01.pdf_p9-4] Sega Pro, "November 1991" (UK; 1991-xx-xx), page 9

[https:.2F.2Fweb.archive.org.2Fweb.2F20130414082358.2Fhttps:.2F.2Fwww.retrocollect.com.2FGuides.2Fpal-thunder-force-iii-and-the-controversial-sega-megadrive-releases.html-5] ttps://www.retrocollect.com/Guides/pal-thunder-force-iii-and-the-controversial-sega-megadrive-releases.html (Wayback Machine: 2013-04-14 08:23)

[:File:MegaTech_UK_08.pdf_p18-6] MegaTech, "August 1992" (UK; 1992-07-20), page 18

[:File:MegaTech_UK_01.pdf_p8-7] MegaTech, "Xmas 1991" (UK; 1991-12-06), page 8

[:File:Lakers_versus_Celtics_and_the_NBA_Playoffs_MD_credits.pdf_p-8] File:Lakers versus Celtics and the NBA Playoffs MD credits.pdf

[:File:SegaVisions_US_02.pdf_p40-9] Sega Visions, "October/November 1990" (US; 1990-xx-xx), page 40

[:File:GPSG_US_01.pdf_p2-10] Game Players Sega Guide!, "Vol. 1, No. 1: Fall 1990" (US; 1990-10-xx), page 2

[11] 1700 igr dlya Sega, "" (RU; 2001-xx-xx), page 111

[:File:ASM_DE_1991-06.pdf_p119-12] Aktueller Software Markt, "Juni 1991" (DE; 1991-05-31), page 119

[:File:TheCompleteGuideToSega_UK.pdf_p82-13] The Complete Guide to Sega, "" (UK; 1991-05-xx), page 82

[:File:Console_XS_UK_01.pdf_p131-14] Console XS, "June/July 1992" (UK; 1992-04-23), page 131

[:File:CVG_UK_113.pdf_p90-15] Computer & Video Games, "April 1991" (UK; 1991-03-16), page 90

[:File:EGM_US_019.pdf_p26-16] Electronic Gaming Monthly, "February 1991" (US; 1991-xx-xx), page 26

[:File:GamePro_US_018.pdf_p46-17] GamePro, "January 1991" (US; 199x-xx-xx), page 46

[:File:GamesX_UK_11.pdf_p38-18] Games-X, "4th-10th July 1991" (UK; 1991-07-04), page 38

[:File:Joystick_FR_018.pdf_p168-19] Joystick, "Juillet/Août 1991" (FR; 1991-0x-xx), page 168

[:File:MDAG_UK_05.pdf_p93-20] Sega Mega Drive Advanced Gaming, "January 1993" (UK; 199x-xx-xx), page 93

[:File:MegaPlay_US_02.pdf_p42-21] Mega Play, "February 1991" (US; 199x-xx-xx), page 42

[:File:MegaTech_UK_01.pdf_p79-22] MegaTech, "Xmas 1991" (UK; 1991-12-06), page 79

[:File:MegaTech_UK_06.pdf_p41-23] MegaTech, "June 1992" (UK; 1992-05-20), page 41

[:File:MeanMachinesSega01UK.pdf_p139-24] Mean Machines Sega, "October 1992" (UK; 1992-09-xx), page 139

[:File:PowerPlay_DE_1991-03.pdf_p141-25] Power Play, "3/91" (DE; 1991-02-15), page 141

[:File:SegaPower_UK_23.pdf_p53-26] Sega Power, "October 1991" (UK; 1991-09-05), page 53

[:File:SegaPro_UK_04.pdf_p18-27] Sega Pro, "February 1992" (UK; 1992-01-16), page 18

[:File:SegaPro_UK_18.pdf_p66-28] Sega Pro, "April 1993" (UK; 1993-03-11), page 66

[29] Tricks 16 bit, "Tricks Sega Gold 800 igr" (RU; 1998-03-20), page 101

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10]

[11]

[12]

[13]

[14]

[15]

[16]

[17]

[18]

[19]

[20]

[21]

[22]

[23]

[24]

[25]

[26]

[27]

[28]

[29]

Lakers versus Celtics and the NBA Playoffs

From Sega Retro

Contents

Gameplay

Teams

Production credits

Magazine articles

Promotional material

Physical scans

Technical information

External links

References