The Top 10 Sports Video Games Of All Time
Adam McFarland
There have been hundreds of sports video games throughout the
years. In less than forty years we’ve gone from Pong to MLB 2K6
for the Xbox 360. But the evolution of games hasn’t always meant
better games. Just because a game has flashier interfaces and
better graphics, it doesn’t necessarily make for good game play.
That’s 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. Here’s my Top 10 of all time:
10. Jordan vs. Bird (NES) - Was the one-on-one game play 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 70’s or early
80’s DIDN’T 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. It’s 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.
About The Author: Disagree? Rate and review sports video game
at http://Games.SportsLizard.com. Adam McFarland owns the
http://SportsLizard.com Network - a network of sports sites
including collectibles, movies, books, video games, and more.
http://SportsLizard.com recently
won honorable mention in the
Microsoft Start Something Amazing Awards
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