Games in general are a little too afraid to get a bit goofy nowadays. Some of the best memories I have of my childhood multiplayer sessions came at the hands of games like NFL Street, NBA Ballers, and even The Bigs. With the leaps and bounds we’ve seen in technology, you’d think that someone would like to use the power of the newest consoles to make an arcade sports game that would blow our socks off. The problem is? They’re nowhere to be found.
Let’s Take This One to the Streets, Shall We? The NFL Streets, if you will.
Some of the best memories I have from my teenage years revolved around the different arcade sports titles put onto the market by companies like EA Big and Midway Games. Even though I’m not into watching sports very often, I always love diving into a sports game. NFL Street was easily my favorite of the whole group during the Arcade boom, but NBA Street and NBA Ballers also hold a very special place in my heart.
These games were big. And I mean BIG. They were hugely popular and it felt like everywhere you turned, you would encounter someone talking about them. I mean, even Nintendo of all people joined in on the fun and added Mario, Luigi, and Peach into NBA Street V3 on the Gamecube. That was unheard of back in the day and just shows the star power that these franchises once had. These games were all easy to pick up and play. You didn’t have to know every play in the NFL playbook to understand them. It was just pure fun, and it feels like we’ve been missing that in our sports games for far too long.
Think of something like NBA Jam. That’s another iconic series that has been rotting in the dark for far too long. Do you have more fond memories of NBA Jam or the latest version of NBA 2K? One of them is trying to sap every penny it can from you, while the other is just arcade perfection.
At This Point, I’ll Happily Accept ‘NFL Street’ and ‘NBA Ballers Remasters Rather Than a Remake
During the Xbox 360 and PS3 era, there were a few additional entries into these particular franchises. The problem? They missed what made the original games special. NBA Ballers: Chosen One decided to make things more “real” and got rid of the most defining features of the previous NBA Ballers games. Now? It was just a half-hearted basketball simulator, rather than something in a class of its own.
There’s a reason why people talk about NFL Street 2 and NBA Jam V3 instead of FIFA Street 3 and NBA Street Homecourt. These deserve another chance to shine in the spotlight and honestly? A $20 remaster on the online store of your choosing would be the perfect way to reintroduce that nostalgia back into your life.
Seeing how good games like Professional Baseball Spirits look, can you imagine a new The Bigs on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series consoles? It would be mindblowing, and something that fans deserve after being left out in the rain for all these years. Bring the fun back to our favorite sports.
The post Why Are Developers Afraid to Make Arcade Sports Games Like ‘NFL Street’ or ‘NBA Ballers’ Now? appeared first on VICE.
The post Why Are Developers Afraid to Make Arcade Sports Games Like ‘NFL Street’ or ‘NBA Ballers’ Now? appeared first on VICE.
