When we asked readers to share their memories of their favorite sports video games, the responses included 8-bit classics from the 1990s and cooperative brawls played with gesture-controlled joysticks some two decades later. Many of these were played with close friends or family, huddled around the TV.
For many readers, these games were an outlet for sports dreams that were otherwise inaccessible. Frustrated by the Kansas City Royals’ shortcomings? Throwing a perfect game with Zack Greinke in MVP Baseball 2005 was the ultimate catharsis for one reader. Skate 3 comprises an entire city full of skate spots that carry no risks of getting bullied or reprimanded.
They also found plenty to love beyond the on-field action, from customizing their apparel and environments (Tony Hawk’s Underground) to managing coaching staff contracts (Football Manager). Many deem their favorite game’s soundtrack “iconic.”
Here are some of the sports video games our readers love, listed with the platforms they primarily played them on:
Arcade Style
There was an especially prevalent love for “arcade-style” games that prioritized ease of play, approachability for non-sports fans and stylistic flash.
NFL Street 2 (2004, Xbox)
A game that rewards constant showboating, excessive trash talk and ruthless aggression opened the door for one’s imagination to be fully realized toward the most fun aspects of pickup football. The over-the-top aesthetic includes hilarious gamebreaker cut scenes, outrageous animations for jukes and spin moves, stylish outfits and absurdly proportioned physiques.
— Connor Sen Warnick, 28, New York
NBA Street Vol. 2 (2003, Xbox)
Images of bygone eras of basketball culture, elevated into the realm of myth by the game’s cartoonish presentation, filter through my mind’s eye. Dr. J squares off against Michael Jordan on the bubblegum-speckled blacktop and Wilt tangles with Shaq in graffiti-laden rec centers as streetballers and N.B.A. legends alike soar through the air and clash above the rim. It’s like a delirious SlamBall version of “Field of Dreams,” an exaggerated playground legend passed around by word of mouth.
— Colten Fortenbaugh, 30, Millerstown, Pa.
Mario Tennis (2000, Nintendo 64)
Mario Tennis on the Nintendo 64 struck just the right balance of accessibility — like in Virtua Tennis, it’s very rare to aim a shot outside the court — and authenticity. People often talk of “realism” when discussing sports video games, but they are usually focusing on the way the game looks or the way the onscreen characters are animated to imitate their real-life counterparts. What Mario Tennis had instead was tennis authenticity.
— Pedro Manaças, 45, Lisbon
Mario Super Sluggers (2008, Wii)
Mario Super Sluggers captures the whimsy and fantastical fun of a video game while still honoring the traditional and competitive nature of baseball. It’s a timeless classic that I love to play with friends.
— Ben Remis, 24, Los Angeles
NFL Blitz 2000 (1999, Nintendo 64)
I’m not a huge sports fan, but the Blitz games were a lot more arcade styled than they were simulator styled, so it was just fun to see all the goofy stuff you could do. You didn’t need to know football strategy, and the players didn’t have very realistic physics like they do in the modern games, so you could pull off some goofy plays.
— Henry Schrader, 28, Lafayette, Ind.
NBA Jam (1994, Super Nintendo)
The two-versus-two setup allowed for fast-paced, frenetic play. The exaggerated slam dunks were over the top in the best possible way. And who could forget the memorable shouts of “He’s on fire!” and “Boomshakalaka!” from the in-game announcer?
— Robert Wyllie, 41, Portland, Ore.
Nontraditional Games
A sports game doesn’t have to reflect a mainstream sport like football, basketball or baseball to be beloved. In fact, sometimes the game doesn’t even have to focus directly on the on-field action. Titles like International Track & Field and Football Manager find the fun in the lifestyle around sports.
theHunter: Call of the Wild (2016, Xbox)
I moved to a hunting game because it wasn’t all action, all the time. The game calms me down. Slowly moving through a wooded forest or other well-designed landscapes is a way to get outside in an indoor setting. When you actually have to shoot a creature, it adds to my game experience even though I am not a hunter in real life.
— Scott Wolf, 53, Dublin
Football Manager 2017 (2016, PC)
It’s unmatched in terms of the in-depth experience offered to the players. From managing Under-21 coaching staff contracts, selecting preseason tours around the world to grow your marketing, choosing individual training plans for your reserves, spending hours poring through databases looking for the perfect rotation fullback, telling the groundskeeper the field dimensions — it’s more immersive than you’d think.
— Peter, 28, Philadelphia
Rockstar Table Tennis (2006, Wii/Xbox 360)
It’s a lovingly simulated version of table tennis that faithfully represents the interactions of spin, speed and paddle rubber rather than simply batting the ball with flat trajectories back and forth. You can chop, loop and smash, all with very smooth animations that Rockstar is known for.
— Dan L., 29, New York
Rocket League (2016, PC)
It has a practically infinitely high skill ceiling, a lot of room for creativity and feels satisfying to play. There are short matches, almost no luck and a good balance between mechanical and game sense requirements.
— Luca, 21, Germany
International Track & Field (1999, Game Boy Color)
At first glance it is a by-the-numbers minigame collection featuring abstractions of track-and-field events, but it also contains a novel life-sim/R.P.G. campaign that you really didn’t see too often. The game required you to plan your week’s routine, juggling exercises to increase your aptitude in different events while managing the character’s stress, stamina, job(s) and qualifying event schedules.
— Jameson Wilkins, 37, Tampa, Fla.
Early-Era Games
The popularity of sports games dates back to the release of the Atari 2600 in 1977. Soon, with the Nintendo Entertainment System, many 8-bit titles (Mike Tyson’s Punch-Out!!, Tecmo Super Bowl) would prove enduringly popular.
NHL ’94 (1993, Super Nintendo/Sega Genesis)
The leap in gameplay here was astronomical over previous hockey games. Along with real N.H.L. players, who were included for the first time, the custom organ music made this the most iconic and replayable game of all time. There is still an active NHL ’94 community out there.
— Raphael Frydman, 45, Cranford, N.J.
I help organize the NHL ’94 world championship tournament each year, called the King of 94. Bringing middle-aged men together from all across North America to play our favorite game for a weekend is an absolute blast!
— Darrell Sampson, 47, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
RealSports Baseball (1982, Atari 2600)
The one thing that was really fun was that you could throw physics-defying pitches whose path was as crazy as your ability to wield a joystick. To make contact you had to practice an almost zen-like focus.
— David Filipi, Columbus, Ohio
Sensible Soccer (1992, Amiga)
It comes from a time where you could just pick up and play — it wasn’t designed to eat up your whole life or dominate your time. It also reminds me of when multiplayer games were played by multiple people in the same room looking at the same screen.
— Jonathan Riggall, 47, Barcelona, Spain
Tecmo Super Bowl (1991, NES)
I learned so many players’ names and became a fan of the Dolphins (Mark Clayton and Mark Duper) and Redskins (Gary Clark, Art Monk, Ricky Sanders, Mark Rypien) simply from playing the game constantly. Seeing where you stood in season stats was always fun (need to run more!). Such simple gameplay.
— J.J. Warren, 39, New York
Playing as Yourself
One common joy of video games is that they often allow you to build yourself, your alter ego or even imaginary worlds to live out sports fantasies.
FIFA 2002 (2001, GameCube)
My friend and I used to rent FIFA 2002 from Blockbuster all the time in high school and play for hours on his GameCube. We were both on the high school soccer team so one time we recreated our entire team in the game using the character creation feature.
— Daniel Connors, 36, Syracuse, N.Y.
Tony Hawk’s Underground (2003, PlayStation 2)
You could dress your character exactly the way you wanted to, choose what skate brand you wanted to skate for after they all courted you, and customize all your gear — options that were huge for me at a young age. It wasn’t just about the actual sport of skateboarding with the Tony Hawk games. It was the music, the gear and the story lines that made it so special.
— Charlie Franco, 30, New York
Skate 3 (2010, PlayStation 3)
We grew up biking and skating around a postindustrial Southern town, and when we weren’t out and about, we would play Skate for hours. The idea of a huge city filled with spots to skate where you wouldn’t get kicked out was pure teenage fantasy.
— Barron D. Webster, 30, New York
Realism
And still, many consider the ideal sports game one that is an interactive extension of the TV broadcast. These games are the most grounded rendering of the sport’s experience through graphics and game mechanics as well as an opportunity to dive into the nerdy minutiae of team management.
MVP Baseball 2005 (2005, PlayStation 2)
The features are still the high-water mark for baseball games. Pitching is perfectly simple. You select a pitch, place it in the zone, and then do a little bit of timing on the buttons to make it accurate (which becomes harder as your pitcher’s arm tires). The Batter’s Eye feature, where a pitch will turn a different color for a split second depending on if it’s a slider, curve or two-seam is perfect, and one of the most rewarding experiences when it comes to hitting. The franchise mode is excellent: You can play every game for your organization down to Single A. Sign, trade, develop — it has it all. As a long-suffering Royals fan, throwing a perfect game with prime Zack Greinke was the ultimate catharsis for a team that couldn’t make it happen in real life. The game is simple yet complex, and is by far the most rewarding, well-polished sports video game I have ever played.
— Ben Hanson, 24, Overland Park, Kan.
FIFA 2004 (2005, GameCube)
FIFA 04 had great soccer simulations and visual animations, updating the game with the off-the-ball control feature. Players felt the excitement of stadiums authentically as seen on the TV, recognizing the big players of the time and having the opportunity to see their favorites turn into champions.
— Leticia Villalba, 27, Asunción, Paraguay
Madden 2004 (2003, Xbox)
I think I played 30 full seasons of franchise mode. At the time this was revolutionary, allowing you to control everything from long-term contract extensions down to the price of a hot dog. I have fond, extremely detailed memories of training camps spent boosting the stats of young running backs and linebackers. The soundtrack was also incredible. Just typing this out puts me back on that couch holding my wired controller, probably drinking orange soda. Oh yeah, and Michael Vick had 95 speed and the Falcons were outlawed in head-to-head games.
— Calvin Cestari, 35, Boston
NCAA Football 14 (2013, Xbox 360)
The game’s featured modes, Dynasty and Road to Glory, were deep and engrossing, challenging players to succeed on and off the field. The hectic world of college football does not stop on Saturdays, and Dynasty mode’s coaching carousel and recruiting cycles could be as exciting as any fourth-quarter comeback. The on-field gameplay matched up, straddling the fine line between realistic and fun. Different play styles were viable, and personnel mattered. The satisfying gameplay loop meant many players have continued playing the game over a decade after its release.
— Matthias Winsor, 26, Atlanta
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