Michael Jordan: Chaos In Windy City

Developer:
  • Electronic Arts
Publisher:
  • Electronic Arts
Producer:
  • Jim Rushing
  • Designer:
  • Amy Henning
Programmers:
  • David O'Connor
  • Chuck Sommerville
  • Simon Freeman
  • Lisa Ching
Composers:
  • David Whittaker
  • Murray Allen
  • Marc Farley
  • Don Veca
  • Platform:
  • Super Nes
Release:
PAL:
  • 1995
Genre:
  • Platformer
Modes:
  • Single-player
Check Pricing here:
https://www.pricecharting.com/game/pal-super-nintendo/michael-jordan-chaos-in-the-windy-city

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Box Synopsis

THIS IS NO PICK UP GAME...

It's  a twisted adventure created by the vengeful mad scientist Dr. Max Cranium! He has kidnapped an entire basketball team and they're under lock and key in every corner of his dark and dangerous lair beneath the streets of Chicago. Control Michael Jordan's every move as he takes on the evil Dr. Max Cranium to rescue his teammates.

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Gameplay

Michael Jordan Chaos in The Windy city is a fantasy sports style action platformer starring MJ and several team members of the time. The player takes control of Michael and must battle through 4 large main areas, save his captured team mates and then put a stop to Dr.  Max Craniums diabolical plan.

The gameplay is broken down into mini levels full of enemies, collectables and other hazards  that try and prevent you from achieving your goal. Armed with a variety of basketball types you must travel from the museum to Dr. Craniums lair and slam dunk your way through all the challenges in the path.


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Controls
Default layout:

D-Pad: Move Michael Jordan 
L: N/A
R: Change Ammo Type
X: Slam dunk jump
Y: Shoot 
B: Jump
A: Melee hit
Select: Change selected item
Start: Pause (Time out)

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Game Videos
Michael Jordan Chaos in The Windy City Gameplay Sample



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Shanwow's Review

Story and Gameplay - 2

Michael Jordan Chaos in The Windy City is a fantasy platformer game based on the popular  basketball sports star Michael Jordan. This game  has a comic book appeal and the tells the story of how his team has been captured by the evil Dr. Max Cranium and you are their only hope of rescue. A comic strip begins the story with Michael receiving message from a unknown sender as he arrives to find none of  his team at practice.  The story elements  are pretty good and present through the entire game but unfortunately there is no big ending piece as a reward.

The game is a sci-fi action platformer  that is broken down over 4 large map areas that represent different zones of Chicago. When you enter an area you are supplied with a blueprint map that is basically a small version of each segment of the larger area that must be completed. The main goal  of each area is to find the correct set of keys to unlock  captives and the way to  the exit. Each area has few hidden areas as well as a boss fight that will face you against some crazy Dr. Cranium experiments. 

You can freely move between the areas that you have unlocked once completed and that allows you to choose which area to attack next on your mission to stop Dr. Cranium. I managed to finish the game within the 4-5 hour mark which was quite sufficient and fun with it's playstyle.

Controls and Features - 2 point

Taking control of Michael Jordan Chaos in The Windy City is a little tricky at first because of the amount of buttons that are required to complete simple and not so simple tasks. The game mainly relies on jumping and throwing balls which is just two buttons but to reign supreme you need to learn how to use all the buttons accurately. A good example of this is learning how to slam dunk jump and throw a ball downwards  at either enemies or hoops.

The game features a variety of ball types which come in the form of pickups and all have unique usages. Some of the balls you can find are bouncy, flaming, homing and ground slammers. Plenty of balls  to choose from if you have them in your ammo bank however one annoying thing is that every pickup changes your equipped ball and requires you to cycle through them to continue on using the ball you had first.

The game has 4 large map areas which are broken down into 4-6 smaller areas which hold your team maps captive. The smaller areas are big enough to be called a level and each contain their own pickups, puzzles and enemies to suit the area. The game focuses on pickups as you need these to progress forward and complete the game.

Passwords are handed out to the player on the completion of the larger scale areas and this allows you to return to you point of play at a later date. The password system works well and saves having to replay the entire game, however using a password keeps your current life bank, ball count and health.

Design and Difficulty - 3 points

Graphically Michael Jordan face is barely there on screen  but the environmental graphics and enemy sprites make up for this lack of detail. Each area has  it's own theme which not only changes the background and enemies but also the music and sounds.

The game looks  and sounds fairly good and it is  designed in a way that it is rather family friendly and playable for all ages. The gameplay style is simple and allows  you to skip the difficult hoop shots if you like, however it's less rewarding for  your points and overall survivability.

The boss fights are humorous and not scary at all and feature some sort of twisted basketball inspired creation thanks to Dr. Max Cranium. Getting to the boss is a lot harder than fighting the boss which is nice because it doesn't create a massive road block in your progress.

Be warned however there are some rather difficult areas that contain instant death dangers and are sometimes  rather hard to jump due to timing. With that being said you can always circle back to a  previous level and score easy lives before attempting to complete the harder area.  

Fun and Summary - 👍+1

Michael Jordan Chaos in The Windy City is quite weird  as a game concept but once you get past the that it is actually quite fun and exciting. The use of mini levels  inside larger  map is great because you can return to easier levels to farm lives if needed.

It has a pretty exciting story and some comical  dialogue which keeps the game family friendly and fun. 

A few issues are that you can only throw the ball in one direction and the gameplay style  doesn't change much through the game, which may not be appealing to some players. 
RetroRating: 8 out of 10

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