Taking a ride down memory lane as I look back at my favorite old-school video games. Nostalgic fans of the NES, SNES or Sega will find indulgence here. Enjoy~!
Before I even get into my list, keep in mind this is my favorite retro video games, so no X-Box, PS 3, or anything current. I’ve also not included huge franchises like FIFA or Madden because they are such common place I didn’t think it was that interesting to mention them.
Tecmo Bowl (NES - 1987)
There’s a reason this game makes it almost anyone’s list of favorite retro sports games. It was the first true football game where you actually felt like you were playing a video game version of the sport. The game had 12 teams—each having four different offensive plays and four defensive. Any old Tecmo Bowl players know how insanely fast Bo Jackson was in the game—a true sports legend of the 80s/90s. Using him was basically cheating. In real life, Bo Jackson played both professional baseball and football, and he absolutely destroyed in Tecmo Bowl. Almost any gamers who grew up during the era played Tecmo football.
Skate or Die (NES - 1988)
A slightly more obscure entry on my list. It’s another NES classic, but this time with skateboarding. Skate or Die was everything funny and great about 90s skate culture put on a video game cartridge. The game had different skating events, including races and freestyle half pipe. This game was Tony Hawk Pro Skater way, way before THPS existed. I will say the game can be hard to control at times as you are trying to skate in a 3D space but with 2D graphics. I spent so many hours of my childhood pulling big air tricks in this game. A true favorite of my childhood.
NFL Blitz Football (Nintendo 64 - 1997)
The second football game on my list and also the most modern game. With so many good sports games, I hated to include two football games, but I kind of had to. Tecmo is a legendary classic, but NFL Blitz was one of the funniest sports games out during that era. If you aren’t familiar with the game, it was an extreme amped-up version of NFL Football but with modified rules. You had seven players instead of eleven and many rules (pass inference, indelible receiver) had been removed, resulting in a more aggressive version of the sport. You can try playing the most recent version on Xbox.
NBA Jam (SNES - 1993)
“From Downtown”
“BOOMSHAKALAKA”
“He’s on Fire”
Any retro gamer who has spent any time with NBA Jam knows these sound bites. They were ingrained in my head as a child, playing NBA Jam anytime I was hanging out with friends. Not only was this game famous on home consoles, it was also a mainstay in any mall arcade. The arcade machine was great because you could play with up to 4 players, allowing every character to be controlled by a person. For anyone not familiar with this game, it was a 2 vs 2 style basketball game that included over the top slam dunks and arcadey gameplay. This was a cornerstone of my sports gaming growing up and a must at any childhood birthday party.
RBI Baseball (NES - 1987)
I really can’t express in words what made this game so special to me. Perhaps it was because RBI Baseball was one of the first games I ever had, and thus, I played it for years and years. Maye it was the cute chibi style graphics or the fun catchy soundtrack. Even the game’s sound effects for when you got a big hit or a nice defensive play were whimsical and exciting. Something else that was unique was the game included real players and names, a first for its kind during that era; however, the game did not include real MLB team names. Something else that put this game ahead of its time was its attention to detail, making different players have different skills and abilities. Of course, this is how all sports games are now, but for back then, it was not expected for a baseball game to have vary stats for different players and positions. All in all, this games did so many things right so early on when other games were failing to translate sports into a video game. RBI Baseball could be seen as the origin of all modern baseball games. A true pinnacle in sports gaming.
Have you have ever played any of these games or did I missed one of your favorites? Let me know in the comments below.
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