Another take on arcade-style basketball such as NBA Jam, Hangtime has players go at it in 2-on-2 basketball on basketball courts ranging from arenas, to streetball courts and even on a glacier in Antarctica. There are all 27 NBA team available with three top players in each, but it also has a World Tour where there are 12 teams such as Canada and Tahiti with fictional players.

There are exhibition, season and playoff modes and the game features special moves like in NBA Jam such as super spins, passes and dunks. It also features full-motion video of Dan Patrick covering the Hangtime games while Stuart Scott covers games in the World Tour games.