The 10 Greatest Sports Video Game Franchises of All Time
Many a sports video game franchise has come and gone over the decades, but only the best have managed to stick around both in our minds and on the retail shelves. While the sports video game category has been around for as long as home gaming consoles have, it has taken off in popularity in more recent years thanks to improved graphics and extremely realistic game play. In this list, we count down the sports video game franchises that have had the greatest impact on the gaming community — titles that have been refreshed annually to quench the thirst of prospective gamers looking to get a taste of what it feels like to be a pro athlete without having to leave the couch.
NFL Blitz
Following the success of its arcade-style basketball game in NBA Jam, developer Midway launched a similar title for the gridiron. Much like its basketball counterpart, the game play in NFL Blitz was overly exaggerated, but if you think about it, that’s precisely the reason why it was so popular. What started off as an arcade-exclusive game in 1997 quickly blossomed into a video game franchise that rapidly made its way to home gaming consoles. Much like 2K Sports’ NFL 2K series, NFL Blitz was done in by the loss of the NFL License in 2004. While the game wasn’t quite the same thereafter, by then, NFL Blitz had cemented its place in the history books as one of the best sports video game franchises of all time.
Fight Night
With the arrival of Fight Night in 2004, not since Mike Tyson’s Punch-Out!! in 1987 did gamers get to fully experience what it was like to step inside the ring with the biggest names in boxing. While the game’s less-than-stellar soundtrack left much to be desired, there’s no denying that the game play and how realistically the title managed to portray the sport of boxing was incredible. Everything from a boxer’s training down to the footwork affected the outcome of the virtually fight, just like in real life.
Tiger Woods PGA Tour
Thanks to the profound success he experienced early on in his professional golfing career, Tiger Woods became the face of many different brands and products. Take his self-titled video game franchise with EA Sports for example. When it comes to top-notch video game graphics, Tiger Woods PGA Tour is about as good as it gets. The realism of the game made it feel like you were in the tee box right there with Tiger, even though you were slouched down comfortably in your couch. To put it plain and simple, the franchise put all other golf video games to shame. In 2013, EA announced that Tiger Woods would no longer be the name of the franchise. Hopefully that won’t have an impact on the quality of the game.
NBA Jam
Back in the early ‘90s, NBA Jam was by far the most popular sports video game at your local arcade. The launch of the game gave way to an entirely new genre of sports video games that featured action-packed and over-the-top game play with realism taking a backseat. The game, which featured high voltage 2-on-2 matchups, was one of the sports video games to feature NBA-licensed players and teams. The exaggerated, superhuman moves the players performed kept gamers entertained infinitely, and who could forget the catchy commentary that included phrases like, “He’s on fire!” and “Boomshakalaka!”
MLB: The Show
Many baseball games have come and gone over the years, but Sony’s MLB: The Show franchise is by far the best virtual representation of America’s “favorite pastime.” From the graphics to the game play, MLB: The Show hit it out of the ballpark, giving gamers a taste of the big leagues in their own homes. The only downside of the game is that it’s only available for PlayStation. Sorry, Xbox loyalists.
NCAA Football
For 20 years, EA’s NCAA Football series gave video gamers the unique opportunity to delve into the world of collegiate athletes, and boy, was it marvelous. Sadly, however, the NCAA announced in 2013 that it would not renew its licensing contract with EA due to player dispute, thus putting an abrupt end to one of the best-selling sports video game franchises of the 21st century. Still, anyone who played the game in the past few years, or even back when it was entitled Bill Walsh College Football knows just how great of a title the sports video game category has lost. The game had a similar setup and virtually identical game play to the Madden NFL series, but it felt even more refined than its pro football counterpart. The fact that the game featured every major D-1 program, all 128 teams, was pretty impressive in and of itself. Gamers got to control every aspect of their favorite college team, including everything from the recruiting to the scheduling.
NHL
The beauty of EA Sports’ NHL title is that you don’t have to be a hockey fan to enjoy the entertainment value the game provides. Of all the team sports video games, NHL arguably has the most realistic game play, not to mention the crisp graphics, which are equally as impressive. The franchise developed a cult following that would later turn into mainstream popularity with the arrival of fifth and sixth generation gaming consoles in the mid-‘90s and early 2000s, respectively. Today, the title continues its hot streak on next-gen consoles like PlayStation4 and Xbox One.
NBA 2K
When EA bought exclusive rights to the NFL license in 2004, Sega’s popular NFL 2K video game series had no choice but to fold. Fortunately for 2K Sports, which took over after Sega soon thereafter, they still had a breadwinner in its NBA 2K franchise. With NBA 2K, the game makers set out to capture the most in-depth user experience on the virtual hardwood, and it’s safe to say they have succeeded in their mission thus far. While it initially took some time for the game to gain momentum on the then-popular EA Sports NBA Live series in the early 2000s, over the past decade, NBA 2K has continued to climb both the sales and popularity charts. In fact, just last year, NBA 2K14 became the top-selling sports video game in the U.S. on the next-gen consoles PlayStation 4 and Xbox One — the first time a basketball game reigned supreme over other sports games during a console release.
Madden NFL
For over 26 years, the folks over at EA Sports have supplied video gamers with the ultimate NFL experience. For those of us who weren’t talented enough to play in the actual league, Madden NFL provided us with a chance to live out our American football dreams in the virtual world. Who are we kidding? Even the pros like to fine-tune their skills on the sticks from time to time. Endorsed by the legendary John Madden, the namesake franchise took the sports video game category to new heights by being the most popular and highest earning game year on end. In more recent years, critics have argued that the game has lacked in innovation, although the way the game flies off the shelves upon its annual release speaks for itself.
FIFA
Where Madden dominates the U.S. market, when it comes to sports video games, FIFA has a strangle hold on the rest of the world. FIFA’s reign at the top of the greatest sports video games list can be accredited to a number of things. Perhaps it’s the fact that it’s the best selling sports video game franchise of all time, or maybe it’s because the title gets refreshed on an annual basis, feeding the appetites of serious gamers and global soccer fans alike. Although, if you ask us, the biggest reason for its success is the exhilarating feeling you get when you dribble past the last defender to put a ball in the back of the net. In other words, the game play is phenomenal, addictive even. FIFA puts gamers directly into the shoes of some of the greatest soccer players in the world. While EA has taken some slack for making only minor improvements between titles, you have to give them credit for the attention to detail and complete control the game gives you on a consistent basis. This isn’t just the best soccer game out there.
Many a sports video game franchise has come and gone over the decades, but only the best have managed to stick around both in our minds and on the retail shelves. While the sports video game category has been around for as long as home gaming consoles have, it has taken off in popularity in more recent years thanks to improved graphics and extremely realistic game play. In this list, we count down the sports video game franchises that have had the greatest impact on the gaming community — titles that have been refreshed annually to quench the thirst of prospective gamers looking to get a taste of what it feels like to be a pro athlete without having to leave the couch.