Michael Jordan: Chaos in the Windy City

Flashback to 1993. The Chicago Bulls had just won their third straight NBA title and the NBA licenced the outstanding coin-op video game "NBA Jam." If you (like most people in the Free World who were between the ages of 8-21 in 1994) played that watershed game, you probably asked yourself the following question:

"What the... ?!? Horace Grant? Where the hell is MJ?"

Well, Michael Jordan retired from basketball at the end of the 1993 season, ostensibly to pursue a professional baseball career, but more likely to dodge allegations that he gambled illegally. MJ also withdrew from the NBA Players Assocation, partly to cash in on video game tie-ins.

In January 1994, Electronic Arts released Michael Jordan: Chaos in the Windy City for the SNES. This sidescrolling action title gave Jordan the task of rescuing his teammates (Again with the Horace Grant!) from the clutches of the evil Dr. Cranius Maximus -- who bore a slight resemblance to the "Round Mound of Rebound," Charles Barkley. Jordan had to fight his way through Maximus' army of mutant spiders and zombie minions, armed only with... you guessed it... basketballs. In total, there are 12 levels of Chicago's seedy underworld: poorly-lit dockyards, abandoned factories and secret prisons. And if Mike's energy levels were dipping, then all the player had to do was find a box of Wheaties or a bottle of Gatorade, revealed by slam dunking a basketball into a conveniently-placed basketball hoop. And no, I didn't make that last part up.

Cheats
Option:                                                Code:
Select starting level, 25 lives                        MCHLJRDN-23 
Select starting level, 73 lives                        12345678999 
93 lives                                               99999999999 
Finished Cells                                         3K5BGX0DR9X 
Finished Cells, Laboratory                             JGL8PKGHWTS  
Finished Cells, Factory                                TJQ33CDQZZD  
Finished Cells, Laboratory, Factory                    2SQZ21ZYRHB  
Finished Cells, Laboratory, Factory, all rescued       TSMMHGBW43D 

Recently, defunctgames.com listed "Chaos in the Windy City" eighth in their list of the "Top Ten Most Shameless Video Games." Cartridges can be found for as little as 75 cents (plus shipping/handling) on EBay.

Sources:
GameWinners.com - http://www.gamewinners.com/snes/MichaelJordan.htm
defunct games Top Ten Most Shameless Video Games - http://www.defunctgames.com/toptenshameless.htm
Gamebits: Michael Jordan: Chaos in the Windy City - http://www.gamebits.net/snes/jordan.shtml