There have been hundreds of sports video games throughout the
years. In less than forty years weve gone from Pong to MLB 2K6 for the
Xbox 360. But the evolution of games hasnt always meant better games.
Just because a game has flashier interfaces and better graphics, it
doesnt necessarily make for good gameplay. Thats the reason that many
PS2 and Xbox games are doomed to linger in discount bins at your local
game store, while classics like NHL 94 and Tecmo Super Bowl continued to
be obsessed over by sports fans. Heres my Top 10 of all time:
10. Jordan vs. Bird (NES) – Was the one-on-one gameplay that great?
No, not really. But the game was innovative with the three point
competition and slam dunk contest long before it showed up anywhere
else. For that alone it deserves a spot in the Top 10.
9. Madden 2005 (PS2, Xbox, GC) – The jump from ’04 to ’05 was HUGE.
’05 introduced the hit-stick control and defensive playmaker to bring
the defensive control on par with the offense. Franchise mode is pretty
much the same as ’04, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. My
favorite thing to do is build a team from scratch. I love taking the
worst team in the league and building them into a powerhouse. You can
move them to a new city and build a new stadium, then draft real college
players from NCAA ’05. Overall, I liked this game more than any other
Madden. 2006 just didn’t improve upon this game enough for me.
8. Punch-Out (NES) what kid born in the late 70s or early 80s DIDNT spend hours on end trying to beat Tyson with Little Mac?
7. Madden 94 (Genesis, SNES) – Based on memory this game was awesome.
I remember being able to play with all the NFL teams and a bunch of
classic teams. It was one of my favorite sports games growing up. That
said, I played it recently and it sucks. It can’t even come close to
holding it’s own against Tecmo Super Bowl. The passing is unrealistic,
and the running consists of repeatedly hitting the spin button while
tacklers bounce off your runner. Its this high just because of how much I
remember enjoying it as a kid.
6. NBA Live 95 (Genesis, SNES) – This game might not have been
realistic at all, but it was insanely fun to run up and down the court
firing up threes and throwing up alley-oops. The fact that it was the
first NBA game by EA with every team and every arena also scores it
points. Not to mention, this was the first game with the 3/4 angle
camera.
5. NFL Blitz (Arcade) – The football version of NBA Jam. Fast
scoring, late hits, and crazy rules like being able to throw multiple
forward passes behind the line of scrimmage make this game great. The
arcade version was waaaay better than the PS or N64 versions.
4. NBA Jam (Arcade) – Between the arcade version and the console
versions, I’ve played a ton of NBA Jam. It is one of the most unique
games ever. Who didn’t enjoy beating the crap out of people in mid-air
or hitting three after three when they were on fire? This game totally
rocked. The best part was getting all of the codes and playing with
mascots and Bill Clinton.
3. Little League Baseball (NES) – I don’t know why this game doesn’t
get more attention as one of the best NES sports games. The gameplay is
the best of any NES baseball game – pitching, hitting, and fielding all
are simple and feel relatively realistic. Plus there’s just something
fun and unique about playing with little leaguers. As far as I know this
is the only little league game ever, although I could be wrong. Adding
to the excitement, certain teams are significantly better than others.
Want a challenge? Try winning a tournament with Italy, the worst team in
the game. The replay value of LLB is unbelievable; I still play it to
this day.
2. NHL 94 (Genesis, SNES) – I love modern NHL games as much as the
next guy, but this game is the best ever. I still play it ALL THE TIME.
The quality of play is amazing. Take away the easy wrap-around goals and
the gameplay is amazingly real, especially considering how old this
game is. Oh, and for the record, they are playing NHL 93 in Swingers but
talking about the removal of fighting in NHL 94. Weird huh?
1. Tecmo Super Bowl (NES) – This game was far ahead of it’s time –
editable playbooks and season long stat tracking were so cool back then.
The gameplay is far from realistic but amazingly equal. For that
reason, the game is still popular and there are tons of people who still
play in online leagues. The advent of emulators has allowed for the
editing of rosters – I’ve played versions of the game with rosters from
as recent as 2004. There are also versions with college rosters and USFL
rosters. The weird little gameplay quirks like Bo Jackson being
impossible to stop, fumbles bouncing all over the place, choosing
defensive plays by guessing the offensive play, 100 yard passes, etc
make the game MORE fun. This game will never, ever get old.