Classic Sports Games

[krooper13]

Sprts games are much maligned. Ok with the constant updates the best in the series is often the latest by a process of evoloution, but what about the old classics? Which old sports games are so good you still enjoy playing them?

For me: Putt & Putter for the Master System and Sensible Soccer on the SNES.

[Xander]

Ice Hockey for the NES.

As well as most sports games by Technos.

[Ro-J]

I still enjoy Pro Wrestling for the NES

[Nebagram]

Virtua Tennis for the Dreamcast was as realistic as it got at the times (well, aside from world tour mode obviously) but it was utterly compulsive playing and probably my favourite sports game of all time- and I hate tennis!

I presume we're not counting motorsport in here then? ;)

[ryborg]

Virtua Tennis for the Dreamcast was as realistic as it got at the times (well, aside from world tour mode obviously) but it was utterly compulsive playing and probably my favourite sports game of all time- and I hate tennis!

VT is my #2 favorite sports game of all time. Number one is easy: Capcom's Soccer Shootout for the SNES. If you've never played it and you like sports games, I don't know what the holdup is. I've literally played thousands of games over the years with my friends.

Super Punch Out, Double Dribble and Blades of Steel get a lot of play in my house as well.

[SegaAges]

nhl 94 ftw!

[XYXZYZ]

I'll do a little Track and Field every now and then. And suck at it every time. Blades of Steel and Double Dribble were fun with a friend to talk smack to, but don't interest me alone.

Do Punch Out! and Excitebike count? They're sports, but don't feel like sports games...

[bangtango]

ATARI 2600:
-Boxing (Activision)
-Basketball (Atari): hey I enjoyed it.......


NES:
-Blades of Steel (waaaaay better than Ice Hockey)
-Tecmo Bowl (I am in the minority but I prefer the original version to "Super")


GENESIS:
-World Series Baseball (the greatest baseball game ever made)
-Evander Holyfield Boxing or Greatest Heavyweights (both are pretty much the same game but Greatest Heavyweights was a newer edition of Holyfield with very minor improvements, either one is a great title)


SUPER NES:
-NBA Jam (prefer the original to TE)
-WWF Royal Rumble (took console wrestling games to new heights)


SEGA SATURN:
-Daytona USA


PLAYSTATION:
-Triple Play 2000
-Sammy Sosa Softball (a lot more fun with a second player)


NINTENDO 64:
-NFL QB Club 1999
-WCW/NWO Revenge (In the minority again here but I prefer this to the "updated" WWF No Mercy because I liked the WCW roster better)


DREAMCAST:
-NFL 2K2
-NBA 2K2

[MASTERWEEDO]

Mutant League Hockey and greatest Heavyweights for the Genesis.

[Mobius]

Tiger Woods '09 on the Wii is pretty much the ultimate golf game right now, due to its great motion controls. But if I'm ever in the mood for old school video game golf, Neo Turf Masters for the Neo is still a ton of fun.

[wfnjstallion]

NES Major League Baseball and Punch Out
SNES NBA Jam
N64 Mario Kart and if that is not acceptable All Star Baseball 2000
GCube All Star Baseball 2004
Wii Wii Sports hands down

[fahlim003]

NHL 94, NHL 95, and Tommy LaSorda's Baseball all on Genesis.

[DrKwack]

I got to go with NES - Ice Hockey

[krooper13]

Soem cool and supprising answers, I still think Wii Sports is quite overated and will easily be surpassed.

[DigitalSpace]

My favorites:

NBA Jam (SNES, Genesis, and even the Game Gear version)
NBA Live '96 (SNES/Genesis)
Kings of the Beach (NES)
Hot Shots Golf (PlayStation)

[lazyhoboguy]

ATARI 2600:
-Boxing (Activision)
-Basketball (Atari): hey I enjoyed it.......


NES:
-Blades of Steel (waaaaay better than Ice Hockey)
-Tecmo Bowl (I am in the minority but I prefer the original version to "Super")


GENESIS:
-World Series Baseball (the greatest baseball game ever made)
-Evander Holyfield Boxing or Greatest Heavyweights (both are pretty much the same game but Greatest Heavyweights was a newer edition of Holyfield with very minor improvements, either one is a great title)


SUPER NES:
-NBA Jam (prefer the original to TE)
-WWF Royal Rumble (took console wrestling games to new heights)


SEGA SATURN:
-Daytona USA


PLAYSTATION:
-Triple Play 2000
-Sammy Sosa Softball (a lot more fun with a second player)


NINTENDO 64:
-NFL QB Club 1999
-WCW/NWO Revenge (In the minority again here but I prefer this to the "updated" WWF No Mercy because I liked the WCW roster better)


DREAMCAST:
-NFL 2K2


-NBA 2K2

hehe I just got the activision anthology on gba and have been playing boxing nonstop....only stop when the dpad starts to destroy my thumbs.

[Drixxel]

Some unmentioned classics:

Base Wars, NES - Not an especially balanced game, but I've always liked this one. It's certainly an exciting, dynamic game of baseball.
Super Baseball Simulator 1.000, SNES - In my opinion, this one's the best baseball game ever made as far as sheer gameplay fun is concerned.
Super Volleyball, Genesis/TG16 - The game is set up a bit oddly (uniquely endearing, I'd argue), but matches can become awfully intense with the twitch response one needs to dive for spikes.
World Court Tennis, TG16 - A quality arcade-y tennis game with a weird quest mode. Plays like a classic should - tight control, simple gameplay.

[LimpBizkit]

i tell you whats awesome is bases loaded. a game like that onyl comes along once in a lifetime and we'll never see anything like that again thats for sure.

[willowmoon93]

Definitely Mutant League Hockey, Mutant League Football, & Jerry Glanville's Pigskin Footbrawl -- all for the Genesis. And naturally, Tecmo Bowl & Tecmo Super Bowl for the Nintendo NES.

[8bitgamer]

Blades of Steel -- NES
Double Dribble -- NES
NBA Jam TE -- SNES

[StakeRaiser]

Maybe it's just me, but I still find the PGA golf games on Genesis fun to play, really relaxing too.

[tom]

Mostly I hate post 8-bit sports games, I gotta stick to the classics here, we used to play for hours, 2 or more people:
Decathlon, Grand Prix, R S Tennis (VCS)
Summer Games 1, 2, Winter Games, World Games (C64)

[DragonMaster Sam]

Tecmo Super Bowl series (SNES)
Ken Griffey Jr. Presents MLB (SNES)
Mutant League Hockey & Football
NBA Live '96

[tom]

Oh, we used to play Checkered Flag two-player on Lynx-up, awesome game.

[jdc]

I agree with Virtua Tennis for the DC...or ANY DC sports games for that matter. If you wanted older games, EA's NHL 94 for the Genny.....or any retro system golf games.

[krooper13]

I'm also really looking foward to Blood Bowl, which might just be a new Mutant League Football!

[Ruudos]

International Super Star Soccer Deluxe (SNES)

[smork]

Older golf games, especially Neo Turf Masters.

I always drop a few quarters in NFL Blitz when I see it.

Can't disagree with NBA Jam, or Arch Rivals.

Oh, and maybe not really a "Sports" game as it's not a real sport -- Windjammers for the Neo Geo. Super Dodge Ball, for that matter (though it obviously is a real sport)

[tom]

This is a good one:
http://www.videogamecollectors.com/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=232124&g2_serialNumber=1

[bangtango]

I'd be curious to hear some good titles for GB, GBC or GBA if anyone has suggestions. I do own Madden 2003 and High Heat Baseball 2003, which were GBA releases, but anything compatible with the GBA that is good I'd like to hear about.

[wfnjstallion]

Soem cool and supprising answers, I still think Wii Sports is quite overated and will easily be surpassed.

Yeah when they release a new version of wii sports that can go online.

[alexkidd2000]

I LOVE playing Hat Trick on MAME. Great fun 1 on 1 hockey game!

[Iron Draggon]

Game Gear:

NBA Action
NFL '95
NHL Hockey
Wimbledon Championship Tennis
World Cup Soccer
World Series Baseball '95

Virtual Boy

Mario's Tennis
Nester's Funky Bowling

Game Boy Advance:

Hardcore Pool
Killer 3D Pool

Genesis

California Games
Champions World Class Soccer
Championship Pool
College Slam
Double Dribble
Mutant League Football
Mutant League Hockey
NBA Hang Time
NBA Jam TE
NBA Showdown '94
NHL Hockey
Pebble Beach Golf Links
Prime Time NFL
Team USA Basketball
Triple Play Gold
Troy Aikman NFL Football
Wimbledon Championship Tennis
World Cup USA '94
World Series Baseball

SNES

Bill Laimbeer's Combat Basketball
Brunswick World Tournament of Champions
California Games 2
Football Fury
NBA Give 'n' Go
NFL Football
NHL Stanley Cup Hockey
Super Baseball 2020
Winter Extreme

Sega CD

Links

32X

36 Great Holes Golf

Saturn

Steep Slope Sliders
World Cup Golf

Jaguar

Val D'Isere Skiing & Snowboarding

PC

Shaun White Snowboarding

Yes, I know that last one just came out recently, so it isn't old enough to be a classic yet, but it's definitely the best snowboarding game ever made so far!

[ronclon]

NHL 94 and NFL 94 starring Joe Montana are the best two sports games ever. Tecmo Bowl is up there also

[Nirvana]

Oh god. I always talk about this on these message boards, but I'll post it anyway.

ESPN NFL 2k5. I update my rosters every day because this game's presentation is unmatched. The gameplay is stunning. I love the animations because hell, even now I see animations I have never seen before. The scary part? There are even small glitches in this game that make it less than perfect to some people. Sometimes I imagine what would have happened if this game got more attention by Visual Concepts and 2k games when they made it. Like, if they knew how amazing it was...

NBA Jam. Always a classic to play with a friend, or even better, 3 other friends! Great game.

NHL Hitz 2002. Oh so fun. My friend and I would have a sheet with the cheats on them and we made sure we both put them in as quick as possible.

WWE Smackdown: Here Comes the Pain. Not sure if it counts, but this is the greatest wrestling game I have ever played.

All the games I mentioned I can pick up any day of the week and play it for hours.

[bangtango]

Oh god. I always talk about this on these message boards, but I'll post it anyway.

ESPN NFL 2k5The scary part? There are even small glitches in this game that make it less than perfect to some people.

One glitch in this game is extremely annoying. Maybe you can help me.

I like to get ALL of my players into each of the preseason games, including 3rd and 4th string reserves. I do this partially to evaluate them and also to prevent my starters (i.e. "money" players) from getting injured in games that don't count. During the regular season, I also like to empty the bench during blowout games for largely the same reasons, evaluating the reserves and keeping starters from getting hurt.

So I am constantly dicking around with the depth charts during each game. I don't know why it happens but doing this always ends up in my "Substitutions" menu being screwed up at the beginning of the next game. For example, most of the formations will have my default starters listed like they normally do but three or four formations will have most of my second stringers (including the backup QB and RB) assigned to be on the field for all of those plays.

No matter what I do, I can't get around this. I reset my depth charts before the end of any game in which I do mass subbing. I also check them again before starting another game but upon starting another game I still find the 2nd stringers assigned for 2-3 formations. Pisses me off when I open the game with a pass play only to find my backup quarterback (Jeff Blake) under center.

[Streetball 21]

I have a few:

Baseball Stars (NES)
Dusty Diamonds All Star Softball (NES)
Super Baseball Simulator 1000 (SNES)
Wicked 18 Gold (SNES)

[Rob2600]

My favorite classic sports video games:

Atari 2600:

Bowling


NES:

Bases Loaded
Blades of Steel
Double Dribble
Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!!
Pro Wrestling
Tecmo World Wrestling
Track & Field
Track & Field II


SNES:

NCAA Basketball


N64:

1080 Snowboarding

[krooper13]

I also love Brina Lara Cricket 96, its ridiculously addictive and I don't know why!

[kainemaxwell]

Only football game I enjoyed and still enjoy to this day is Tecmo Super Bowl.