The Sega Sports 2K series is probably a lesser discussed set of games here on the Junkyard blog due to our predominantly UK-centric staff. The series formed a key part of the install base and marketing of the US Dreamcast campaign, and at least when I was active on the Dreamcast Junkyard Facebook group, it felt like every other week one of the 2K games would be cited as a favourite or a key memory of new members from the US side of the Sega sphere.
Whilst some of the 2K titles did get a European release, it's the Japan-exclusive 2K1 “Bible” releases that I am looking at here, and to be honest this is more of an accompanying article for the below YouTube video that looks at them in greater focus.
In short, these Bible releases are a re-packaging of both NBA 2K1 and NFL 2K1 that include not only a copy of the game, but a lovely printed booklet explaining not just the actual game, but the sports and their respective teams. The booklets themselves are rather large (especially that of NFL 2K1), which explains the "Bible" naming. At least from what I can discern from the loose amount of camera phone-based translations, these accompanying tomes are much more in-depth than you'd probably expect.
The booklets themselves both follow roughly the same layout: starting with instructions on how to actually play the games, before leading straight into set plays, formations and information breakdowns about the respective sports. As I mention in the video, my knowledge of basketball pretty much starts and ends with things I've learnt from either NBA Jam or the original Space Jam movie. However, as I’m much more au fait with NFL, I can appreciate how useful this guide - or at least an English variant - might have been at the time of release as it was around then that I was getting back into the NFL as a student in my early 20s.
Anyway, check out my video below:
If you don’t feel like listening to my droll “raised by Scottish people in the East Midlands before living in Sheffield for 20 years” tone (and who would blame you) then feast your eyes on these hastily taken snaps below instead.
The NBA 2K1 game and Bible packaged together.
The NFL 2K1 game and Bible packaged together.
Both Bible Editions side by side (kind of).
The "NBA Data Bank" section of the NBA 2K1 Bible.
Information on Miami Heat and their starting line up.
Information on San Antonio Spurs and their starting line up.
A glossary of basketball terms.
Different types of NFL plays.
Baltimore Ravens players.
Cleveland Browns players.
Seattle Seahawks players.
Were you aware of the Bible versions of NBA 2K1 and NFL 2K1? Would you have liked to have seen an English version of these booklets for the Western releases of these games? Let us know in the YouTube video comments or the comments section below!
With the Euros just around the corner (for our American readers, that refers to a soccer competition, not piles of European cash...although both definitions have some validity), and with our finger on the pulse of the public as always at the Junkyard, what better time to look at one of the worlds most beloved sporting activities than now?
Actually though, the Dreamcast's 'round ball' football output is particularly laughable. I mean, there are only so many articles you can read which basically state they're all crap, with the familiar "oh why couldn't we be blessed with a PES or FIFA?" thread running through them. Instead, allow me to take you on a tour of the very best examples of a sport played in one country, whose very name makes no sense to those raised passing a ball around a muddy field at school lunchtime. Allow me to present, on the eve of the European Soccer Championships 2016...The Dreamcast Junkyard's ultimate guide to American hand egg, American carry-the-rugby-ball American football!
The England defence was no match for the Italian striker...
Unlike many of my compatriots, I do follow the noble sport of American football (henceforth to be referred to as 'football'), and when I'm not following my beloved New York Yankee Men or the fearsome Denver Buffalo Bill Packer Patriots, there's nothing I like more than to indulge in a bit of rugby-for-cowards in digital form (last joke, honestly). And my word - doesn't the Dreamcast have a solid line up of games representing the sport? A total of 8 titles replicate NFL on Sega's little-machine-that-could and whilst the quality varies, US gamers could at least take solace that none of them was quite as poor as 90 Minutes and it's butchering of our beloved Association Football code...right?
