If there’s an uncanny valley for cartoon characters, this Space Jam-themed NBA 2K14 hack lives there

By John Teti  |  February 20, 2014 | 8:59pm
Aux Features Games
If there’s an uncanny valley for cartoon characters, this Space Jam-themed NBA 2K14 hack lives there
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A video game hobbyist who specializes in tinkering with the NBA 2K video games has used his talents to simulate the greatest basketball match of all time: the game at the end of Space Jam with a bunch of cartoon characters and also Michael Jordan is there. By mucking around with NBA 2K14’s juicy innards, a fellow known as MGX created painstaking, somewhat disturbing likenesses of the characters that feature in Space Jam’s Looney Tunes vs. Monstars showdown. YouTube user MkEliteWorks X put the characters in motion with a full simulated game that goes to double overtime. If you’ve ever wanted to see Foghorn Leghorn throw down a windmill dunk, here you are:

The attention to detail in MGX’s mod of NBA 2K14’s PC version is remarkable; even the on-court advertising has been modified to fit the Looney Tunes theme. And there’s a Bill Murray avatar roaming the sidelines:

If you’ve never seen Space Jam, here is Wikipedia’s summary of the climax, which is chock full of making sense:

With only seconds left, Bill [Murray] pulls some clever manueuvering and gets the ball to Michael [Jordan]. Extending his arm to superhuman lengths (since the laws of physics work differently in Tune Land), Michael makes the basket and wins the game. Although Bill has always dreamed of being an NBA player, and Michael is impressed with his skills, Bill decides to retire from basketball forever. Michael then helps the Monstars realize that they’re bigger than Mister Swackhammer, who confronts them for losing. Fed up with their abusive boss, the Monstars tie him up to a rocket and send him to the moon. At Michael’s request, they reluctantly return the stolen talent to the other players by transferring them to a basketball, which is how they stored the stolen talent earlier in the film. This reverts the Monstars back to the tiny Nerdlucks. Refusing to return to Moron Mountain, the Nerdlucks decide to stay with the Looney Tunes, who only agree if the Nerdlucks can prove themselves to be “Looney,” which they arguably complete on the spot.

Arguably.

 
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