Favorite Sports Games

[CH David]

Simple enough thread, what is your favorite sports games? Either a franchise or a particular game suffice, but why do you like them? I'll answer both as I'm feeling rather talkative (typative, whatever).

Favorite sports game of all time has to be MVP Baseball 2005.

Looooooooved this game. Greatest baseball game I've ever played. 2K doesn't do it for me. Rumor is the series can come back, and if it does I'll be sooooo jacked. Sorry, getting ahead here. The game play was so smooth for me, pitching, hitting, fielding. Awesomesauce. There were also a ton of challenges and little side games that you could play. Throwing a perfect game, no hitter, hitting home runs, single season records, it was all awesome. I can't stop reminiscing about it right now. There were also little side games you could do for practice, hitting at targets, up ramps to get more distance. If I have all the right cords and what not, I'll plug this bitch back in tomorrow.

Favorite franchise is the NHL series from EA. Hey both are/were made by EA. Awesome. Most recent game, NHL '12.

Now due to economic times, and having a busted 360 last year, I didn't get '11, and am currently waiting to get '12. But the games themselves are always great, improving on little things throughout to give the player a better/more realistic enjoyment or experience. In '11, they added broken sticks, which is pretty freakin' sweet, as well as improved faceoff techniques, dekes, and other awesome facets. '12 they added hitting goalies and them hitting back, better checks, Be a Pro mode, LEGENDS!!!

For me it feels like the NHL series keeps improving upon things, even the tiniest of details, and it makes the gameplay that much more enjoyable.

What about you?

 

[JWGunslinger]

It's a tie for me, gotta give both of them credit because they represent two of my biggest loves in life.

UFC Undisputed 2010

When the first of the Undisputed games came out in 2009 I fell in love with it more than any other game at the time, I thought that the roster and the fighting itself were both incredible. I played that game day and night on an almost daily basis until 2010 came out the next year, and when this one came out I about pissed my pants. The difference between this game and the previous year was unbelievable, the graphics were twice as good, the roster almost doubled and had way more guys that I liked, all the extra game modes kept me from getting tired of it and the gameplay itself is still spectacular. Now we're at the end of 2011 and we havent had a new game since, so you know that my ass will be at Gamestop the day Undisputed 3 comes out with high expectations, but until then this game is my #1.

Smackdown vs Raw 2010

This is without a doubt my favorite wrestling game of all time, to me this one even beats the next year's game and I haven't played WWE12 yet but I wont be surprised if after I do play it I still stay loyal to 2010. This game just has everything, the graphics are the best of any WWE game and all the options of matches, story modes and superstar creator are top notch. On top of that the roster is one of the best in years, and while there are a few that I could have done without I feel that it has the best mix of older legends and newer talent, which has made for some great storylines when playing certain modes. But the number one thing here is the actual gameplay and controls, no wreslting game is easier or smoother than this one and that is the number one reason I favor it over 2011, this is the one game that I can play for days and hours without ever getting tired of it, this game is my crack.

 

[Davi323]

I would be betraying my own old school roots if I chose any other game:

This is easily the greatest sports video game of all time. First football game to not only have a license from the NFL, but also the NFLPA, allowing them to use real teams, real names. It also spawned the single greatest athlete of all time, the legendary, the one and only, The incomparable, the untouchable,

TECMO BO!

 

[poppycock]

Apart from pro wrestling I am not really a fan of sport but excluding wrestling games my two other favourite sports games are...

and

 

[Hollywood Naitch]

I was always a huge fan of the FIFA games back on the original PlayStation, I had them all from FIFA 97 up until FIFA 2002. Some of them were better than others, and I have hugely fond memories of FIFA 98 Road To World Cup, that was one of the most enjoyable games I have ever owned, and had a great soundtrack- (Blur- Song 2 anyone! )

However, the later FIFA's I owned were not as good as the earlier ones and I ended up being persuaded to jump to Pro Evolution Soccer by all my friends who preferred that franchise and I fell in love with the Pro Evo games. The gameplay was far better and more than made up for the lack of the realistic licenses that FIFA held.

But now FIFA is the more popular game again, and most people think it is better than Pro Evo now, but I just havent been able to make the switch back. I have bought both FIFA 2010 and FIFA 2011 and have traded them both back in, and gone back to that years Pro Evo instead, I just prefer those games.

If I had to pick one I would say my favourite non-wrestling sports games of all time are:

FIFA 98- Road To World Cup for PlayStation

or

Pro Evolution Soccer 6 for PS2.

 

[Cracka Jack]

MLB: The Show is easily my favorite sports series right now. The realism of the game, combined with the fact that I really like Baseball, makes it a perfect game to play whenever I don't feel like thinking too much while holding a controller. The Road to the Show mode is the best part, where you make a player and go through his entire career, from the minors to (hopefully) the Hall of Fame. I loved NBA Jam on the Genesis, and while I do have the newer version on my PS3, I've yet to even play it. I did like the old Madden games, but I've become far too burnt out on the series to even care any more. I'm still hoping that EA loses their exclusivity deal with the NFL so someone like 2K or maybe Sony San Diego can try their hand at a new NFL game. They need competition, considering how stale Madden has become.

 

[Hulk Hogan's Brother]

I really like playing the Manager Mode in FIFA games. Initially I used to start out with the famous teams like Arsenal, ManU, Barcelona and the likes but the real fun started for me when I started playing with unknown teams which were languishing in the lower leagues of their country, like Coca Cola League 2. My aim was to build up these teams and have them win the top championships in the game like the English Premier league, the Champions League and so on. This was something that I managed to do over a 15 year career in the game and that too at professional level. For those who have no idea about soccer, it is somewhat like starting out with a very lowly ranked indy promotion and making it a Global promotion at at least the hard level.

So yeah, my favorite sports gaming series is FIFA. If I had to choose one game out of the series, it would have to be FIFA 08. I really liked the new features in the game like the Be a Pro mode especially the mode which allowed you to take control of a specific part of the team like either the defensive unit, the midfielders or the strikers. The manager mode was good as always but a bit more challenging and the Be A Pro season mode was also a great alternative for those who did not like the Manager Mode too much. FIFA has released games post 2008 with better graphics but the features in all the subsequent games have stayed the same. Which is what makes 2008 the best game in the series.

 

[J.J.]

No other game growing up in the 80s featured a character named Soda Popinski. None other than Mike Tyson: Punchout. I played this game everyday, got stuck on the Sandman for ages, then beat Tyson on 4 times, go figure.

Tecmo Bowl runs a very close second. Unfortunately blowing into the cartridge no longer works in my favor.

 

[gd]

Great stuff in here. MVP Baseball 05 is such a legit game. Remind it being all kinds of fun, was that the one that had a bunch some Dropkick Murphy on the soundtrack or was it 04? Either way, helluva game.

UFC Undisputed was addicting for awhile as well. I had no less that three created guys that I went a little too hard with. Great, great fun.

As for my contribution, so many to name. EA NCAA Football 03 was a great one for me. My friend and I would play that for hours upon hours. It had the great Joey Harrington on the cover. Some NHL game on Genesis was freakin' sweet as well, can't recall it for the life of me. And more recently, I loved NBA 2K11. Great thread, I'll be back with more, I'm sure.

 

[J.J.]

Great stuff in here. MVP Baseball 05 is such a legit game. Remind it being all kinds of fun, was that the one that had a bunch some Dropkick Murphy on the soundtrack or was it 04? Either way, helluva game.

UFC Undisputed was addicting for awhile as well. I had no less that three created guys that I went a little too hard with. Great, great fun.

As for my contribution, so many to name. EA NCAA Football 03 was a great one for me. My friend and I would play that for hours upon hours. It had the great Joey Harrington on the cover. Some NHL game on Genesis was freakin' sweet as well, can't recall it for the life of me. And more recently, I loved NBA 2K11. Great thread, I'll be back with more, I'm sure.

"Tessie" which is the song by Dropkick Murphys. MVP Baseball '04, '05 were great

 

[Davi323]

Unfortunately blowing into the cartridge no longer works in my favor.

As long as you physically possess your NES cartridges still, you can legally use an NES emulator on your PC. I have kept my NES collection alive that way. Google NEStopia or NEStron. You can't legally download roms of games you don't actually own though, you have to own the game legit.

 

[red ass skull muhfukkah]

I tend to play a lot of sports games as well, mainly because they always have a pretty high replay value and you can play them basically until the next one comes out a year later and not get bored. A few games come to mind for me: Madden 98 (PS1), NBA Live 2000 (PS1), NCAA 2010 (360), most of the NFL Blitzes and the MLB and NHL variants of those games. Besides any wrestling games I'd probably go with these two as my favorites:

NFL 2K5 for the Xbox was like the perfect football game and I still haven't played a better football game. The presentation of each game was amazing and really made you feel like you were actually watching it on T.V. Each game had a half-time and post game show that would run down all the big plays and stories of the game and would even have little interviews with the big time players. Then at the end of each week Chris Boomer would run down each game and show highlights on each one, like if SportsCenter was actually covering your season.

The gameplay itself was top notch and very smooth for me. The collision detecting for tackling and running was very good and just felt real. I played this game for years (up until I sold my Xbox) and was pretty disappointed when EA got the exclusive rights to making NFL games as I can only imagine what they would have done with next few installments.

Like NFL 2K5, NBA 2K11 was pretty much the perfect basketball game for me. The A.I. is so smart in the game and really felt like a challenge and made you feel like every play you made was important. The graphics were well done, players looked real and the presentation was pretty spot on. Even the commentary was good and would change based on how a team or player was doing through out the season.

The biggest part for me though was the Superstar mode. Aside from having to dedicate half of your life to get through a season and get your player a decent rating, it was perfect for me. It just felt realistic to me and I played the shit out of that mode. I still popped it in up until about a month ago when I got Skyrim and WWE 12. I haven't played NBA 2K12 yet but I'm looking forward to it as I've only read good things about it, probably pick it up some time after Christmas.

 

[Grotesque]

What sports game is my favorite? Easily Madden 2005. Sure, it's only available on the PS2 nowadays and maybe it's at a little bit lower of a level when it comes to graphics and such. But if you add the fact that the soundtrack really wasn't as bad as you'd think and all the features that were in some way added or revamped, it's hard not to look at this game as a contender. Such modes like Create a Fan or the hit stick, things that revolutionized the Madden games to come. If you go and ask many of the big football gamers, they'll tell you the same thing. A lot of video game franchises go through a really revolutionary year, and I feel like this was the year for EA. And just overall, I've always liked these games for their simplicity. You can jump in with some friends and even if you don't follow the sport entirely, can pick up a lot of your essential controls in the blink of an eye. I won't lie, ESPN did make some good games, sure. But in my opinion, none of them truly matched up to what EA got out the same year.

 

[The Crock]

NBA Live 2006, featuring Dwayne Wade on the cover. God, I loved that game -- I played it all the time. It was the perfect blend of everything the Live franchise had ever done, it was never matched, in my eyes. I played 2007 and the rest of them, but switched to the 2K games. Nothing could ever live up to the standard that this game had set. Dynasty mode was, by far, my favorite part of the game. 25 years to do as much as you could with a team. I finished it out more times than I can count. I still remember irrelevant little tidbits from when I played those, like how most guys would progress and so on. While it wasn't pre-determined, you always had a bit of an idea of what would happen. LeBron was an animal -- not only would he grow from 6'8" to 6'10", he would gain (at least) ten more pounds of muscle, his overall would increase to 99, and he would be elite into his mid to late-thirties. Kobe was my favorite to watch progress, though, as he would balloon in the midsection, yet remain one of the best in the league. Dwight Howard was a freak too, he'd grow, much like LeBron. Dynasty provided SO much you could do. Stellar.

NBA Street 2 is a close second. That game was just loads of fun. Solid soundtrack, arcade-like gameplay, while maintaining awesome visuals -- probably provides for some of the most fun you'd ever have playing video games. This was another game I beat a ton of times.

 

[anik_lc]

I love soccer. My favorite sports game is FIFA Soccer 12.

FIFA 12 also features a new impact engine. Though it give me some trouble about player collisions. Currently playing season 3 of FIFA 12 in manager mode. It is truely awesome. I can't live without playing 3/4 matches of FIFA series daily.

And btw, my favorite team is Manchester United.