I've been dusting off a lot of the older systems I own that I haven't had the time to play lately. And I do mean dusting, it's amazing how quickly that builds up. Anyway, I was thinking that some systems were definitely better than others for sports games. Here are my thoughts:
NES: Decent sports system, with a lot of fantastic games, such as Based Loaded, Tecmo Super Bowl, and Blades of Steel. It had two decent basketball games in Tecmo Super Basketball and Double Dribble, but not really any good soccer games.
Sega Master System: LOL.
Sega Genesis: Overwhelming fantastic sports system with numerous Madden titles, a slew of great baseball games, and the legendary NHL '94. Basketball was lacking until NBA Live '95.
SNES: Not a bad system, but I give the sports edge to the Genesis.
Atari 2600: seen less turds in a Taco Bell toilet! I can't think of one enjoyable sports game on that system. At least the Angry Video Game Nerd had a great episode about Atari 2600 sports games. Perhaps developers hadn't figured out how to make them until the mid-1980s.
Nintendo 64: A couple decent sports games, but not the best system for such.
But after all this, I'd say that the ultimate system for sports for their time would be any of the PlayStation consoles. They all had a wide library of fun games to choose from, the controller is well-suited for sports, and the rise of the internet gaming made for some epic PS2 Madden games.
Plus, MLB: The Show. Case closed. Sony owns video game sports.
Best and worst sports consoles
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Re: Best and worst sports consoles
The Genesis has to be the all time best for this genre. For me the SNES led to Nintendo being a terrible option for sports games. Every system they've put out since (including the SNES of course) has been well below average for sports games.
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Re: Best and worst sports consoles
For it’s time I think the PS2 is unbeatable. The Genesis second.
- Retro STrife
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Re: Best and worst sports consoles
Let's not forget the Dreamcast, which revolutionized 3D sports game. At the time of their release, It had the best-ever 3D games for football (NFL 2K), basketball (NBA 2K), and tennis (Virtua Tennis). Those were all instant classics when they came out, blowing away the PS1 and N64 competition, and the baseball and hockey games were decent enough too. Throw Sega Bass Fishing in the mix while you're at it, along with ports of other classic franchises like NFL Blitz and Tony Hawk. I think DC would be my pick.
For the generations after that, the games are generally multiplatform (except a few good ones like MLB The Show), so I think it's much harder to pick one from the more modern generations.
Other options.. Intellivision is before my time, but I know a lot of people would veer that way.. after all, the Intellivision marketing was largely based on its sports titles. The Neo Geo, suprisingly, has some very good arcade-style sports games too. For example, a few good baseball games, and Super Sidekicks is my favorite soccer series.
For the generations after that, the games are generally multiplatform (except a few good ones like MLB The Show), so I think it's much harder to pick one from the more modern generations.
Other options.. Intellivision is before my time, but I know a lot of people would veer that way.. after all, the Intellivision marketing was largely based on its sports titles. The Neo Geo, suprisingly, has some very good arcade-style sports games too. For example, a few good baseball games, and Super Sidekicks is my favorite soccer series.
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Re: Best and worst sports consoles
Just wanted to give a second helping for the dreamcast. Virtua Tennis is one of the best sports games of all time. OF ALL TIME! (Insert Kanye here.)
Sports really aren't my thing though, which is part of why that game is so magnificent. It is true to a sport I give absolutely no thought too at all, and makes it an incredible game.
Overall though my favorite sports games are the "arcade" style unrealistic ones. NFL blitz, Mutant League Football, (could never get into the hockey one) and other non-traditional sports games tends to be where I go with that.
Anyway, back on topic, Virtua Tennis is absolutely amazing, some of my best/favorite multiplayer gaming memories come from that game. For a non-sports guy to like it so much says a lot about that game and the Dreamcasts handling of it.
Sports really aren't my thing though, which is part of why that game is so magnificent. It is true to a sport I give absolutely no thought too at all, and makes it an incredible game.
Overall though my favorite sports games are the "arcade" style unrealistic ones. NFL blitz, Mutant League Football, (could never get into the hockey one) and other non-traditional sports games tends to be where I go with that.
Anyway, back on topic, Virtua Tennis is absolutely amazing, some of my best/favorite multiplayer gaming memories come from that game. For a non-sports guy to like it so much says a lot about that game and the Dreamcasts handling of it.
- pacman000
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Re: Best and worst sports consoles
"I can't think of one enjoyable sports game on that system (the 2600)"
Awww... I kinda like Realsports Football and Baseball. Also Mini Golf and Bowling.
Then again I'm not really a sports fan...
Awww... I kinda like Realsports Football and Baseball. Also Mini Golf and Bowling.
Then again I'm not really a sports fan...
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Re: Best and worst sports consoles
For some reason, the SNES is generally regarded as being an average or even slightly above average console for sports games. It's library is viewed as not as good as the Genesis but certainly capable. To me that's not true. Every single sports game I played on the SNES was a stinker besides NBA Jam (which the SNES version hasn't aged particularly well in my opinion) and perhaps a Madden game here or there. And even the Madden games paled in comparison to their Genesis counterparts. So even if the SNES sports library is "average" then I have no clue what great games they're talking about to balance out all the garbage. It sucked, that's how I describe its sports library.
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Re: Best and worst sports consoles
Hands down for sports...Sega Genesis....nothing else is even close!
- AtariToday
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Re: Best and worst sports consoles
pacman000 wrote:"I can't think of one enjoyable sports game on that system (the 2600)"
Awww... I kinda like Realsports Football and Baseball. Also Mini Golf and Bowling.
Then again I'm not really a sports fan...
Going to add a few more that I believe are really worth checking out on the 2600:
California Games
Winter Games
Summer Games
Super Football
Ice Hockey
BMX airmaster
Realsports Volleyball
Realsports Tennis
Pete Rose Baseball
- pacman000
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Re: Best and worst sports consoles
Activision skiing on the 2600 looks good, as does Amiga's Mogul Maniac, and HES's My Golf, but I've never played those games.