An ode to sports titles

[SamanthaSamantha's icon]

I know that sports games are usually dismissed as the "common currency" of the gaming world — small trade chips and shelf fillers that can be gotten extremely cheap and then forgotten about the second you confirm them to be in working order...

But, honestly, I don't think I have ever seen another genre bring people together quite this effectively.

My dad, sister and I would play the absolute hell outta FIFA 98: Road To The World Cup and NBA Live 99 many years after their releases because we liked the gameplay (and their quirks) way too much, both titles effectively turning into "spark plugs" for our fun at a time when we were all pulling in different directions.

My best friend and I sampled tons of great MegaDrive sports titles (from NBA Jam to Wayne Gretzky & the NHLPA All-Stars) and eventually got our own copies of International Super Star Soccer Deluxe (yes, one each, to serve as "backup", because we were THAT hooked), which we played religiously for the entirety of elementary school.

When the PS2 era came about, we spent every weekend of 2006 playing Pro Evolution Soccer on that platform (and she even created her infamous "Lore Book" to tally all our results just to be a bitch about it xD).

My copy of Nintendo's "Baseball" (1984) has spent just as much time on my Famicom as any Mario game, and is directly responsible for the absurd amount of baseball games I currently own across five different platforms.

And that's just the tip of the iceberg, really.

Respect sports titles, man — they might not be the greatest games out there, but they provide an unparalleled experience for those wanting to share this hobby with someone else.

Do you have any favorites?

 

[lordcyrus]

I read you loud and clear heh heh heh observe:

Oh ummm well that cartoon I saw once. Heh Also NHL 2K8 and Madden '10 where probably some of the most games I ever played in my life and with friends. Also NCAA'12 Football was kinda like an rpg. I'd have to spend my precious time calling up recruits and doing other legwork to make my team better and get into a bowl game. Modern sports games mostly long suck now. I'd be willing to play though Tecmo Super Bowl right after Dragon Warrior IV again.

Post automatically merged: Friday at 7:02 AM

Also I wanted to share that Mutant picture inline, but also the old retro stores where there are fifty NHL 94s in a row. I have a picture of this but it is a old one and named differently. I even played a Rugby game that made no sense. I wish I had to the time to siphon through my library of pictures b/c even though those Sega Sports Genesis games were good, no one walks into a store looking for NHL '94 or Madden '93.

 

[tonyhoro]

When I was a kid I had a car accident where I had to stay for a month on the hospital. When I came back home, my older sister said to me: "Hey, your dad is kinda crazy isn't he? He rented a videogame but you don't even have the console!" and then she showed me a cart of International Superstar Soccer for the SNES.

I was still dizzy from all the medicine and looked at that thing and said 'what? daaaaaaaaaaad!' (which was probably the reaction every 5yo kid would've had).

And then he and my mom came to the room with a brand new SNES on its cardboard box and gave it to me as a present for having survived I think.

I don't have the exact memories of that day, but just remembering that day has happened is enough for me.

 

[DjQuick2008]

Have memory card which gives me real teams and kits.
2008 is more fluid than PES 6 for sure. Only thing i miss
is its a rare one that man united arent one of the real
teams included. newcastle and tottenham are.

 

[SamanthaSamantha's icon]

"Hey, your dad is kinda crazy isn't he? He rented a videogame but you don't even have the console!" and then she showed me a cart of International Superstar Soccer for the SNES.

Awww! I can actually - somewhat - relate: a store near me was liquidating inventory and I bought a couple of SNES titles (including ISSD) without owning the console ^^U

 

[Ezri_Muldoon]

"A good sports game is a RPG in disguise. But the world is not ready for this conversation"
(Admittedly this doesn't fit nicely with Motorsports, but a good racing game is just a simulation game in disguise)

 

[MrSoFarAway]

Ironically, my love for jrpgs started because of a sports game. When i was a kid i guess i had a type of prejudice against rpgs in general, video-games, for me, meant playing Nba hangtime against my older brother, Ronaldinho Soccer 98 (ISS hack in Brazil xD) and many others in the snes. So one day i came a cross the Captain Tsubasa games, - huge fan because the TV show - withouth checking if it was a rpg, played the hell out of Captain Tsuasa IV in some terrible translation to French and started my love for Rpgs, and sports with rpg elements (well, all of them have a little). MY favorite by far is MLB power pros 2008 for the wii. I don't even own the console but i still own the physycal copy.

 

[SamanthaSamantha's icon]

MY favorite by far is MLB power pros 2008 for the wii

Yo! I love the PS2 version passionately ^^

 

[Princess Viola]

Sports games are fun as Hell. Put so many hours into Tony Hawk's Underground and Underground 2 on the PS2 as a kid and I had NASCAR 08 as well just because racing games are fun even if I wasn't into NASCAR.

Also remember a friend of mine had a Madden game for his PS2 and that was one of our go-to games when I went over to his house to hang out.

 

[lordcyrus]

I miss playing racing games. They are a sporting interest. Not Gran Turismo, likes. I don't want to get my license and fine tune my car (though it was funny when my friends in GT3 for the Ps2 unlocked a stock car racer and just was running laps around ppl. I wasn't a gear head like that and prefered other titles). So just a racing game. Even something stupid simple like Super Sprint for the NES or heck Demolition Racer for the Playstation 1. I had this moment not too long ago where I played a bunch of old PS1 games and Demolition Racer has no music while you race. It's just engine and sound effects. It's eerily quiet. I can oft prefer no music to bad music, but it felt like that game needed something more.

Road Rash 3D was fun to play again though I still suck at that game for various reasons. My reaction time went from bad to good to bad again. It really does varies. I like how you just race an open map end to end with stops at bars/rest stops and listen to songs by bands who didn't make it big yet, and some who did. Kid Rock is in that game hah. Somebody felt that apparently.

(Also slip this is in here real quick I have MLB Power Pros 2008 I think for the Ps2 but I barely played it. I wish I did b/c it seems like a lot of wacky fun, especially with how it has real MLB players and this sort of life sim mode too where you can make your own dood!)