ESNY presents the 23 greatest sports video games of all-time ranking from the old days of NES to PS4 and Xbox.
The date was May 15, 1994. My 11-year-old emotional state couldn’t be consoled at around 11 or 11:30 p.m. ET for the New York Rangers had dropped Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals to the New Jersey Devils in double-overtime.
After coasting through the hated-enemy yet hapless New York Islanders and Washington Capitals in five games, the big-boy round had finally begun. The best two teams in the NHL that season had met up for the right to check out the Prince of Whales trophy.
Game 1 showcased a back-and-forth content, a trend that made this one of the greatest sports series of all-time (and still the greatest I’ve ever witnessed). It also started the trend of the Rangers losing Game 1s and relenting gut-wrenching last-moment goals that put Madison Square Garden in a state of shock while awaiting overtime with 54-years hanging over their heads.
That damn Valeri Zelepukin …
Anyway, in Game 1 it was Claude Lemieux who tied things at three with just 43 seconds to go in regulation. When Stephane Richer scored in double-OT, that was it. My 11-year-old body couldn’t take it.
I must correct things. I had to. Martin Brodeur, Scott Stevens and those Devils (who, in my mind, actually represented the team name for which they played for), could not get away with knocking off the good guys.
After losing my mind for a few minutes to an hour, I hopped in the other room and fired up NHL 94 on Sega Genesis. Forget starting a playoff season. Forget messing around the all-star teams. We were going to play one game for all the marbles, the New Jersey Devils against the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden with the express purpose to right a wrong.
Though NHL 94 featured the ending rosters to the 1992-93 NHL season, it didn’t matter. The updated lines were mimicked as closely as possible and off we went to Devil domination.
That’s what sports video gaming was and still is for so many kids. Not only does it allow the inspirational and imaginative to carve their own path with their favorite players and teams, it even allows budding general managers, play-by-play artists and even (through create-a-player) young superstars to live out their dream as a professional athlete.
That was my childhood, loving sports and acting as the best damn general manager the sports video-game industry had ever seen.
Obviously, today’s state of the sports video game is incredible. The early Atari versions of sports couldn’t dare dream of what it’s become today.
Still, eras aside, some rank far ahead of others. Here are the 23 greatest sports video games of all-time.
***Listen, if you’re looking for “Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater,” the old “Pong” or “Mario Kart,” this list is not for you. This is a list for the diehard sports person who happens to also love sports video games—the diehard coach or GM who loves to tinker with rosters. Furthermore, forget Atari or Intellivision (although the latter system was in the house). It begins with NES.
NEXT: Video Game Notables
Notables
- EA Sports’ “Madden NFL 10” on PS3, Xbox 360 (2009)
- SNK’s “Baseball Stars” on NES (1989)
- Tengen’s “RBI Baseball” on NES (1987)
- EA Sports’ “Bulls vs. Lakers and the NBA Playoffs” on Genesis, SNES (1991)
- Nintendo’s “Ice Hockey” on NES (1988)
- Bethesda Softworks’ “Wayne Gretzky Hockey” on NES (1988)
- EA Sports’ “Tony LaRussa Baseball” on Genesis (1993)
- Data East’s “Tag Team Wrestling” on NES (1983)
- EA Sports’ “March Madness 2005” on PS2, Xbox, GameCube (2004)
- Sega’s “World Series Baseball” on Genesis (1993)
- Sega’s “Joe Montana Football ’94” on Genesis (1994)
- Midway’s “NBA Jam, Tournament Edition” on Genesis, SNES (1994)
- EA Sports’ “UFC Undisputed 3” on PS3 and Xbox 360 (2012)
- EA Sports’ “John Madden Football” on NES (1988)
- Midway’s “Arch Rivals” on NES (1989)
The notables section could include more, but, hey, this is a list consisting of 23 of the greatest sports video games of all-time.
EA Sports’ was simply called Electronic Arts back in the day when Sega Genesis brought an entirely unique world to gamers everywhere during the early 1990s. “Bulls vs. Lakers and the NBA Playoffs” was as good as it gets (despite the fact only the 16 playoff teams from the 1990-91 NBA season were included in the game).
The same can be said for “Tony LaRussa Baseball” circa 1993. The Toronto Blue Jays were kings at the time and the game featured every player, every team and even sent pulled relievers to the showers.
In terms of the non-EA Sports games, Sega had started to make a serious push with “World Series Baseball” and “Joe Montana Football ’94,” two games I owned and rolled with prior to switching to MVP Baseball and Madden. World Series Baseball was known for deploying the best and only Home Run Derby feature of the era.
Now let’s move on to the big show …
23. EA Sports’ “NFL Street” on PS2, Xbox (2004)
“NFL Street” is absolutely a niche game, not for the true diehard simulation folks yet absolutely gets the job done.
As a grown-up version of “NFL Blitz,” while mirroring its NBA Street brothers, Ricky Williams graced the cover of this rock ’em, sock ’em arcade-style football play.
22. EA Sports’ “Fight Night Round 4” on PS3, Xbox 360 (2009)
Admittedly, I never owned a copy of any of the EA Sports’ “Fight Night” titles. Therefore, I’ll have to roll with the experts and call the 2009 version as the best of an acclaimed series.
This should especially be the case with such an emphasis on the great Muhammad Ali.
21. Jaleco’s “Bases Loaded” on NES (1988)
I did own “Bases Loaded” and played all of the first three versions for NES. Fake teams, fake players—great game.
Bases loaded did a good job of keeping the home team colors correctly-aligned with the cities, New York and Boston specifically. It was a fun version of NES baseball that featured three different camera views (catcher, dugout, outfield) for each of the first three editions.
Making sure to start an on-field brawl was all the rage during the first copy.
20. THQ’s “WWF No Mercy” on N64 (2000)
Much like the Fight Night series, I did not own any but one WWE/WWF video game. “WWF No Mercy” wasn’t the one owned.
However, by all accounts, this is the greatest wrestling game of all time and must make the top 23.
19. EA Sports’ “Tiger Woods PGA Tour 12: The Masters” on PS3, Xbox 360, Wii (2011)
Of all of the EA Sports’ “Tiger Woods PGA Tour” games, the 2011 version featuring the long-awaited The Masters owns the all-time mantle.
It’s on me for not having owned any of the Tiger Woods games. If I had, perhaps one could have (or should have) snuck inside the top 10.
18. Konami’s “Blades of Steel” on NES (1988)
“Blades … of Steel.” It was the sound that’d get your heart pumping and stomach anxious each time that Nintendo was booted up (after blowing into the cartridge a few times).
Much like Bases Loaded, there were no real players or teams. Simply 8 teams all consisting of cities was the entirety of the hockey game yet it worked perfectly. Those who don’t know that passing the puck to score is the way to snag goals in this game is simply out of touch.
And, oh yeah, forget matching five-minute majors. The man who lost the fight is shipped off to the penalty box while the victor remains in the game. How ’bout that as an NHL rule change?
17. Midway’s “NFL Blitz” on Arcade, PlayStation, N64 (1997)
“NFL Blitz” is the granddaddy of all football arcades. The game’s become such a legend that cult followings remain today.
Similarly to NBA Jam in what it did for basketball, Blitz took the sport of football and turned it into a fun-loving arcade-style game.
16. EA Sports’ “NCAA Football 2004” on PlayStation (2003)
In a terrible twist of fate, no longer can collegiate games be created (thanks Ed O’Bannon). Though EA Sports only used numbers and positions to identify players, they were still shut out and eventually dropped both the “NCAA Football” and “March Madness” series.
The football version circa 2004 remains the holy grail of collegiate sports simulations. Carson Palmer graced the cover and this version introduced online play for the very first time in addition to adding over 150 more schools.
15. EA Sports’ “NBA Live 95” on Genesis (1994)
“NBA Live … 95.” Not only was the name and sound uttering the name upon booting up cool, the unique corner camera angle was also refreshing.
Live 95 took over for the Bulls vs. Lakers, Blazers, Suns era (after a brief hiccup in ’94) and dominated video-game basketball for the next decade (until 2K focused on one sport).
14. EA Sports’ “FIFA Soccer 10” on PS3, Xbox (2009)
Just like Fight Night and Tiger Woods, FIFA is the other series on this list I didn’t own. And it’s unfortunate because the top FIFA game of its series should probably crack the top 10 if not top five.
Blame me on this. It’s all my fault due to non-experience with the game. But don’t let that take away the fact the FIFA series might be the greatest sports video game series ever.
13. EA Sports’ “Bulls vs. Blazers and the NBA Playoffs” on Genesis, SNES (1992)
“Bulls vs. Blazers and the NBA Playoffs” edges the previous “Bulls vs. Lakers and the NBA Playoffs” for one critical reason: signature moves were so much better.
Though the game’s signature moves were created during the debut version of “Lakers vs. Celtics and the NBA Playoffs” in 1989, they weren’t as crisp. Michael’s Jordan signature reverse layup wasn’t as nasty as it appeared in the ’92 version. The same can be said for Larry Bird’s baseline jumper and Magic Johnson’s running hook.
This series was way ahead of its time. When looking at the background animations such as the players on the bench, the crowd and how each player owned its attributes, Electronic Arts really had a winner on its hand.
12. EA Sports’ “NHL 95” on Genesis, NES (1994)
What did EA Sports do after its breakout hit of NHL 94? They simply came back with another solid edition with “NHL 95.”
Following up on the popularity of the NHL with its place on ESPN and the New York Rangers capturing the Stanley Cup, the sport of hockey and state of hockey video games saw its pinnacle during the year of 1995—even with that pesky lockout ruining half the year.
11. 2K’s “ESPN NFL 2K5” on PS2, Xbox (2004)
“ESPN NFL 2K5” for PS2 and Xbox is the most controversial sports video game of all-time.
With an ESPN backdrop and personalities owning the show—namely Chris Berman’s highlight show—many believe the gameplay and overall presentation make it the greatest football simulation of all-time. I don’t agree.
While I certainly played it a lot—along with Madden 2005—the EA Sports version was better. I don’t subscribe to the theory that 2K’s 2005 football game reigned supreme. The overall presentation was better, yes, but the gameplay wasn’t. The sheer football strategy play after play wasn’t.
2K, for some strange reason, made the turbo button as a tap effect. This meant the player had to continuously keep tapping the button in order to get the runner going. That’s arcade stuff—anti-simulation.
Who knows where 2K would be with the football simulations if the NFL license hadn’t forced them to give up football. On the other side of the token, who knows where EA Sports would be with baseball if MLB hadn’t forced them to give it up by way of 2K—who struggles with that sport while watching Sony’s “The Show” dominate the recent hardball landscape.
It’s a tremendous game, no doubt, but a little overrated by some. As it pertains to a pure simulation offensive versus defensive strategic football game, Madden 2005 edged it out.
10. EA Sports’ “NBA Live 2005” on PS2, Xbox, CameCube (2004)
Speaking of a changing of a guard, the last legitimate EA Sports hoops game came back during the 2005 season with “NBA Live 2005.”
It included an NBA All-Star Weekend and, by far, the greatest slam-dunk competition in basketball video game history.
Two-thousand-five was the end result of the developers re-engineering everything about the series for the previous three years. Obviously, it didn’t last.
9. EA Sports’ “MVP Baseball 2005” on PS2, Xbox, GameCube (2005)
While The Show has certainly grown to become the greatest baseball series of all-time, it may not have been had EA Sports been allowed to keep its MLB license.
Some folks place “MVP Baseball 2005” in the top five. Here, we place at nine due to a little respect for The Show.
Everything about the game was revolutionary and revolved around polygonal hitters reading pitches to baserunners sliding to specific spots of the bag. All of this coupled with an owners mode.
It’s argued as the greatest baseball simulation to date.
8. Sony’s “MLB 13: The Show” on PS3 (2013)
Speaking of baseball simulations, take your pick when it comes to Sony’s “MLB The Show.”
On this list, we’ll choose the 2013 version, but, realistically, every version once EA Sports was forced to walk away has been tremendous. The animations were just nasty and this was the specific version in which the developers opened up the hitting window a bit—as scoring had been down the previous couple versions.
Take your pick when it comes to The Show.
7. EA Sports’ “NBA Street Vol. 2” on PS2, Xbox, GameCube (2003)
Addictive. That’s the best way to explain “NBA Street” and “NBA Street Vol. 2.” It is, no doubt, a non-sim game that’s all arcade, but what a fun arcade-style court game this was.
In stark contrast to the granddaddy of all arcade hoops games, “NBA Jam,” Street actually took players on the outside hardcourt in authentic and iconic hoops areas of our country, such as Rucker Park or The Cage.
Collects point to build your player, to get that gear, and build your team—it was the game within the actual game on the court that made this copy so special.
6. 2K’s “NBA 2K11” on PS3, Xbox 360 (2010)
Baseball folks discuss The Show just as basketball folks discuss “NBA 2K.”
Again, take your pick. Every copy of 2K is pretty must stellar (save for a couple early versions when “NBA Live” was still at its highest level).
“NBA 2K11” is our sixth greatest game of all-time for a few reasons. Micheal Jordan graced the cover and was completely entrenched in the game to go along with many nostalgic elements of NBA history.
5. Nintendo’s “Mike Tyson’s Punch-Out” on NES (1987)
If you couldn’t take out Glass Joe, forget about it. Put down that rectangle controller immediately.
The characters that graced the ring leading up to the big-bad Mike Tyson will never be forgotten, especially Mario as the referee. What’s great about “Mike Tyson’s Punchout” is that anybody can pop it in right now and have one grand-ole’ time.
4. Midway’s “NBA Jam” on Arcade, Genesis, SNES (1993)
If not for “NBA Jam,” there would be no “NBA Street.”
“Is it the shoes? He’s on fire!” So many classic casual hoops terminology was born from NBA Jam that found its way into pop culture. Two-on-two indoor basketball play could never be as fun as it was during the early-to-mid 1990s.
When “NBA Jam Tournament Edition” came out just a short time later and we all learned we could choose from three players instead of just the default two, we all lost our minds.
3. EA Sports’ “Madden NFL 2005” on PS2, Xbox, GameCube (2004)
“EA Sports, it’s in the game.” Ah yes, we finally get to the biggest name in sports video game history. Madden.
Many holier-than-thou individuals will call the Madden series “garbage.” Many will call it “overrated.” And while there have been a few hiccups and poor releases, it’s anything but ordinary.
This series is legendary and some of the editions have produced tremendous gameplay. The top version of ’em all is “Madden NFL 2005,” but not by much. In fact, we only decided to put Madden 2005 in the three spot out of sheer respect for the series and its overall greatness. While this one’s probably still a top 10-15 games, it takes three in representing the entire series.
Two-thousand-five featured Ray Lewis and brought the hit stick to the table and made defensive-football matter again. This has led to more of a simulation feel leading to today’s version. In addition, the Tony Bruno radio voice talking about the happenings within your own franchise was a solid feature.
2. Tecmo’s “Tecmo Super Bowl” on NES (1991)
While “John Madden Football” by EA Sports was laying the groundwork for simulation football success to come, Tecmo found themselves with greatness on their hands during the early 1990s.
“Tecmo Super Bowl” was the unreal follow-up to “Tecmo Bowl.” It featured true 11-on-11 football with every team and virtually every player with several attributes to boot for each. Tossing in its side camera view and extremely unique gameplay made this game one of a kind. It was simulation reality meets the gameplay of the best of arcade.
The game contained seasonal play and this was all the way back in 1991. It kept track of the season statistics. This was unheard of. It even allowed teams to showcase their unique style of offense as the Atlanta Falcons, Houston Oilers and Detroit Lions all showcased a four WR run-and-shoot offense.
Bo Jackson, Barry Sanders, Lawrence Taylor, Thurman Thomas, Jerry Rice, Deion Sanders account for just a handful of studs who simply could not be stopped.
Many put Tecmo Super Bowl No. 1 on the list.
1. EA Sports’ “NHL 94” on Genesis, SNES (1993)
Though it was and always will be a tight call, EA Sports’ “NHL 94” tops our list as the greatest sports video game of all-time.
Tecmo Super Bowl brought the sim to football. EA Sports did the same for hockey around the same time during the turn of the decade (the 90s). However, NHL 94’s gameplay and overall feel is something so unique and excellent that it cannot be fully explained.
The players glided. It actually felt like the game was being played on ice. In stark contrast to ’95, which was still a great game, ’94 featured a true hockey-like feel in every sense.
The crowd was real. Each home arena was unique in the way music was played. Even the Sharks in San Jose played the “Jaws” theme song a couple times a game. During each intermission, an in-game look of other live games would take place (if you didn’t possess the patience of a seven-year-old and quickly resume). This in itself was such a groundbreaking feature it’s tough to translate.
The graphics were breathtaking. The one-timer—which would change all hockey games moving forward—was introduced. It was simply amazing.
Though the game didn’t possess a season mode or even trades (as the ’95 copy did), ’94 is, by far, the greatest of a terrific series. Even some of the more recent NHL games are solid. They simply cannot match up with the 1990s attempts.
Even more impressive is that ’94 beats out “NHL 93,” the version in which fighting and bleeding via player injury were fully incorporated.
“NHL 94” is the greatest sports video game of all-time.