Update
Since writing this review we’ve read additional customer reviews of the Shaq Cyber Hoop Shot and have had more time to use this arcade basketball system. If we were writing this review today we would rate this hoop lower due to faulty welding on the rims. We used the unit for some time and noticed the left rim weld completely failed after a couple of months. For this reason we now rated the Lifetime Double-Shot Arcade Basketball System as the number one choice for best arcade basketball game.
We stand behind the rest of the content in this review.
Original Review
Technology is having a huge impact on our daily lives. With smartphones, tablets, and virtual reality, it makes sense that it was only a matter of time before these types of technologies integrated into sports. We wrote about one these technology-infused basketball products two years ago when we wrote our review of the 94Fifty Smart Sensor Basketball.
Now we have an all-new basketball product that uses Bluetooth and an accompanying app to take the arcade basketball experience to a whole new level. The Shaq Cyber Hoop Shot Arcade Basketball System is an exciting new arcade basketball game that is great for the family rec room and offers fun in so many different ways.
I was lucky enough to get one of these from Sportcraft, Trigreat, Net Playz to test out and review. The first thing I noticed when this arcade basketball game arrived at my door was that it was much larger than I had anticipated. It actually weighs close to 50 pounds, so you can imagine that it can be a challenge for one person to lift with the large box size.
If you want to see more about the Shaq Cyber Hoop Shot check out the video review below:
Assembling the Shaq Cyber Hoop Shot
Once I got the box into my basement, it was time to get to work on assembly. I wasn’t exactly sure how difficult assembly would be, but it didn’t turn out to be that bad. However, it was time-consuming taking me about 3 hours of working on and off-putting together this basketball arcade. Recognize that I’m not amazingly handy, so if you are or you have multiple people to help, then this could easily be cut to under 2 hours.
Assembly of products like the Shaq Cyber Hoop Shot usually end up with me drinking and cursing due to the crappy directions. However, this was not the case this time, which I attribute to the directions being primarily in picture form rather than large amounts of text from a non-native English speaker. I only felt confused a couple times during the assembly process.
As far as rating the assembly difficulty of the different parts, I will say that the rim and sensors are the easiest.
Where I found the most trouble was with connecting the ball catcher frame with the hoop frame, which for those with directions is figure 15. It can get a bit tricky to thread three pieces with one screw. However, I was able to accomplish this task on my own after some trial and error. As far as a tip with this section, make sure that the screw is screwed in tightly on the one side before attempting the other, because if the first side isn’t screwed in tight enough you will not have enough room on the other side to fit the pieces.
Overall, I’d rate the assembly process of this arcade basketball system as being easy but slightly time-consuming.
Here is What You Are Getting When You Buy The Shaq Cyber Shot Hoop
As I mentioned in the video review I was pretty impressed with the size of this basketball arcade game. The arcade’s actual dimensions come in at 80″X 46″X 81.5″. I live in a 50’s ranch-style home, so the ceiling in my basement is about 7 feet high. The Shaq Cyber-Shot Hoop does fit, but it is pretty close to the ceiling.
The frame of this arcade basketball system is made from powder-coated metal and is stable and will hold up easily during normal use.
There are two metal rim basketball hoops that are a part of this basketball arcade, which are sturdy and heavy-duty so that they last over many shots. However, the backboard is a bit weaker than I would like and does cause the rims to shake a bit more than I prefer.
This system also comes with four rubber mini basketballs and an air pump, which I felt was a nice little addition. The basketballs are your standard mini basketballs that you see with most arcade basketball games.
The scoreboard is well lit so that you can see your scores and the time
left easily. During regular arcade mode, the scoreboard makes a sound effect each time a basketball is made. There is also a five-second countdown to begin each arcade game, as well as a horn sound effect to indicate the beginning and end of an arcade basketball game.
Each basket has a spring-loaded sensor that sits below the rim. This sensor indicates to the scoreboard when a basket has been made. Overall, these sensors are accurate and do a nice job of keeping track of your score. However, I think that in the future an infrared sensor would be a nice upgrade for this arcade basketball system.
Overall, this at first glance is your standard two-hoop arcade basketball system that offers the usual arcade mode.
Hoop Shot Online App
Based on what I’ve written so far about the Shaq Cyber Hoop Shot Basketball Arcade it would reasonable to think that this is your typical basketball arcade, but you would be missing out on what makes this basketball arcade special.
While the scoreboard on this basketball arcade does have the standard arcade basketball mode, it is also Bluetooth enabled so that it can connect to your smartphone or tablet. From there you need to download the Hoop Shot Online App, which connects to the scoreboard to allow you to play against other people from across the globe.
Once the scoreboard has connected to your device you will log in/create an account and be taken to the main page of the app. From there you can select a single-player game, multi-player game, offline challenge, check the rankings, your achievements, and the shop.
I want to take a moment to discuss how much I’ve enjoyed this hoop. In fact, when I found out I was going to receive one of these to review I didn’t think I would use it all that much outside of learning about the arcade for this review. However, the truth is that I play this thing basically on a daily basis, and the main reason is having the ability to use the Hoop Shot Online App to try to better my performance and achieve new high scores. If this were a typical arcade basketball system with just the standard arcade basketball mode I wouldn’t use this arcade basketball game nearly as often.
Below I’m going to briefly explain each game mode and I will even post my personal best scores in each mode so that when you get a Shaq Cyber Hoop Shot you can compare your scores to mine! Also, comment under the article and let me know your best scores.
Single Player Games
The Hoop Shot Online App features three different single-player modes: arcade, single ball, and training. Each of these modes is a lot of fun and I have played each many times since receiving the hoop.
Arcade Mode
Let me start by talking in-depth about the arcade mode. In this single-player mode you can play up to four quarters as long as you meet the score requirement for each quarter. The score requirements are 50 points for the first quarter, 125 points for the second quarter, and 225 points for the third quarter. The fourth quarter does not have a score requirement as it is the last quarter, and you will simply try to score as many points as possible.
Here is a video me playing in arcade mode:
Single Ball
Single ball may be the closest thing to an actual basketball practice session. In this mode you are trying to make as many baskets in a row as you possibly can, with three seconds to make each shot. I do enjoy this mode a lot and it is fun to play because as you make more shots in a row the pressure builds to make the next shot. However, it is frustrating to miss your first shot and then have to immediately start the game over!
One the first day I tried single ball mode I caught fire and made 50 in a row. However, I’ve not come close to matching that since.
Personal Best Score: 50
Check out this video of me trying to make as many shots in a row as I can in single ball:
Training Mode
Training mode works sort of like a practice for the arcade mode, but I find myself enjoying training mode just as much, or even more than the arcade mode. There are 10 levels in training mode. In the training mode, you compete against the computer for one minute and attempt to beat the computer’s score. You have to beat the computer’s score to unlock the next level up.
I found the first several levels to be pretty easy to beat. It wasn’t really until I got to level 7 or 8 that the computer became a challenge. At level 9 it took me several times to beat it, but no more than 5 or 10 attempts.
But level 10… level 10 is incredibly challenging. Generally, at level 10 the computer will score anywhere from 85-120 points in a 60 second round. Shooting with both my left and right hands quickly I on average manage about 78 points per game.
In the video, I mention that I had not beaten level 10, but I have exciting news. I did beat level 10 later that day! I scored 92 points to the computer’s 88. I was excited and let out a celebratory yell, wooo!
Personal Best Score: 96 (Did not win)
Here is a video of the training mode gameplay:
Multi-Player Games
Given that I received this arcade basketball game before it was offered for sale to the public there are not many players on the Hoop Shot Online App at this point. I am excited for the holiday season to come around and for more players to get the arcade game and app so that we can play each other in the multiplayer modes that I talk about below.
Multi-Player Mode
In this mode, you are able to join or create a room. Once you’ve done this up to five players can play each other simultaneously. You can even see your opponents’ scores on the app as the game is being played! The scoreboard will show the highest score other than yours on the right side.
The game format is the same as the single-player arcade mode with four quarters.
Offline Challenge
Next, we have the offline challenge mode. I feel like this will be a very popular model on the app once more people have it as you can play against others without having to be online at the same time. What you do is challenge another player, play your game, and then your challenge and score will be sent to your opponent the next time they log on.
You are able to play random players as well as those on your friend’s list. The offline challenge mode uses the arcade game format.
Ranking
Hoop Shot Online also offers world, country, and friend rankings for both arcade mode and single ball mode. You can see how you stack up against others from around the world with the rankings, which is pretty cool. The top 200 performers are listed.
Achievements
Not only can you see how you stack up against other players from around the globe, but you can see how you’ve improved over time using the achievements feature.
Within the achievements feature there are certain goals and milestones you can hit involving a number of games played and different scoring levels that you’ve obtained. Awards and digital trophies are earned and showcase your accomplishments.
Coliseum and Shop
The coliseum and shop are the other two areas of the Hoop Shot Online App. We are not entirely sure what the coliseum is going to be given that it is not live at the time of this review, but we are excited to see what it turns out to be. The shop takes you to a webpage that allows you to buy Hoop Shot Online compatible hoops such as the Shaq Cyber Hoop Shot.
Game Play Tips
Once you have this arcade basketball system in your home you’ll want to work to get better so that you can move up the rankings and score better. To do this I have some basic tips that you’ll want to follow to improve your performance.
The first tip is that you will want to learn to shot with both hands at the same time. What I mean is that you’ll shoot with your right hand while picking up the next basketball with your left, and then shooting that basketball with your left, and repeating this process as quickly as possible while staying in control. While you would never shoot this way in a real game of basketball, using both hands individually to shot just allows you to get way more shots up in a shorter timeframe, which is important in the arcade and training modes.
Single Ball is way different, and you will want to shot the ball traditionally with a shooting hand and a guiding hand. If you want to learn more about how to shoot a basketball properly, check out my article on the five simple steps to shooting a basketball.
Lastly, do not look at the scoreboard while the game is going on. It will only distract you and make you think about something other than shooting your shot. Just focus on the shooting process and you’ll have a lot of success.
Summary
I have to say that this arcade basketball hoop has been way more fun than it should be for a run of the mill 31-year dude. I especially have enjoyed the challenge of the training mode, as it pushed me to get better to beat a very tough computer simulator. I know for a fact that if this arcade basketball game did not have access to the Hoop Shot Online App that I would not use this arcade game nearly as often.
It is good to see progress be made in the basketball and basketball entertainment sector to where we are seeing technology being integrated into products so that it creates an interactive environment where you can play other people without having to be physically in the same space.
Overall, I think this arcade basketball system is well worth the purchase price of around $250. If you have a family of basketball lovers then I have no doubt that you will get more use out of this system than you can imagine.
For those who are interested in my screen name is PsychYaOut, it would be a lot of fun to be challenged by my readers. Make sure to say high in the message box on the Hoop Shot Online App. Also, put in your top score performances on this arcade basketball system in the comments below. It will be fun to compare each others’ scores.
