Ever since video games began in the 1970s and 1980s, they’ve been synonymous with sports. They’ve taken a journey from the arcade to your living room TV screen and from Tecmo Bowl to the latest Madden or FIFA game. Here is my list of the top five sports video games. My guidelines were that it had to come out in my lifetime (since 1994) and I had to have extensive experience playing the game. The games themselves are ranked five through one on how “fun to play” they were and how much the title was a “game-changer” in the sport which the game covered.
Photo courtesy of EA Sports5. NFL Street
This game makes the list because of how fun it was to play. It included running along the walls, hurdling players, diving and taunting to earn “gamebreakers” with NFL stars, and legends whose physical features were out of proportion and stereotypical. Truck sticks and guys flew to make amazing catches. It harked back to the playground days playing pickup with friends. There was something refreshing about a game not aiming for hyper-realism. There were only eight stadiums in the game and only a handful of players to select from, but the hours spent button mashing and gasping at the absurd physics engine more than made up for it.
Photo courtesy of Sony4. MLB 09 the Show
This is the first time I ever remember “oohing and ahhhing” at baseball game graphics and realism. This game set the benchmark for everything a baseball game should have going forward. The main improvements besides graphics came in the franchise mode in which September call-ups, waiver transactions and a 40-man roster were now available. A pitcher’s curveball looked like a curveball coming at you, a fastball looked like a fastball. The batter and pitcher animations also made this show a sight to be seen.
3. NCAA Basketball 2010
Photo courtesy of Electronic ArtsThis game had terrible graphics. They were awful for what a 2010 game had the potential to look like. It was clear Electronic Arts (EA) put next to no money into developing the title and EA let the NCAA basketball title go after they released this game. No games have been released since. Sure they were faceless players with numbers, but since it’s the most recent NCAA basketball game on the market, I think it gets pretty fun with Gus Johnson and Bill Raftery on the call. “The freshman!” “Up and in haha” were some of my favorite Johnson and Raftery calls on the game. The CBS and ESPN telecasts also made it into the game, and I like the presentation with graphics packages.
Photo courtesy of 2k2. NBA 2k11
This is the definition of a game-changer. If you’re going to put Michael Jordan on the cover, it better live up to the hype and it certainly did here. NBA basketball video games will never be the same again. 2k sports took it to another level. The dribbling and shooting controls advanced a large amount from previous games. The “Jordan Challenge” mode lets you play as Jordan through his most historic moments such as the “shrug” and “flu” games. After finishing the Jordan Challenge you were rewarded with the “MJ: Creating a Legend” mode in which you got Jordan as rookie and took him whatever path you wanted through his career with any NBA team you chose. The ability to play with MJ and the amazing graphics and new controls are what make this game amazing and unique.
Photo courtesy of Wikipedia1. MVP Baseball 2005
This game had the best mix of fun and reality. I remember playing for hours on end with “Tessie” by the Dropkick Murphys playing on the soundtrack. Each major league team had three minor league teams you could also play with and lots of retro uniform combinations. There were even two legends teams made up of MLB players from the past, and 15 classic ballparks to play in, most of which have been knocked down. The practice games were fun, as was the scenario editor so you could hit that bottom of the 9th walk off grand slam as many times as you wanted to. It wasn’t completely realistic, and home runs were fairly easy to come by, but that’s what gave it great balance. Dynasty mode ran for over 120 seasons for years of endless fun. Anything you could want in a sports video game was available in MLB Baseball 2005.
If you have any suggestions as to what you would like to see me write about or cover this semester, have a comment about a recent post or simply want to talk sports, contact me at nkruege1@asu.edu or via Twitter @npkrueger
