Sports games have really become a protected franchise in recent years. In addition to the licensing rights being exclusive to a select few publishers, a lot of them have really stuck to the traditional formula of success. That is, they change the roster and add and remove features every so many years.
For this reason, it's been a minute since we've seen some of the more creative sports games of the past that really won our hearts as children. This list is dedicated to them in hopes we will see a resurrection sooner than later of these beloved franchises.
NFL Blitz
If you never played NFL Blitz, you missed out! The game that took the rules of Football and threw them out the window remains one of my favorite games to this day. Hours were spent amongst friends with heated matches running all the way down to the wire. Unfortunately, Midway lost their NFL license and tried to remain relevant with a Mature rated Blitz: The League and it was all downhill from there.
There was a remaster released in the Xbox Live Arcade way back when...but no updated version for current-gen consoles.
NBA Street
People like to say "ball is life" now, but back then people really loved their basketball. If you weren't "ballin" enough to get on the And-1 Mixtape Tour, you had this game and were doing sick street moves there. The A.I. wasn't incredibly good, but that didn't matter. What mattered is that you broke their ankles three times over and still dunked over two guys heads!
Dave Mirra Freestyle BMX
What other video game allowed such blatant marketing that they inserted the weird dude from the Slim Jim commercials into the game itself?
It would probably be uncouth to continue to use Dave Mirra's name after his untimely death, but the BMX series needs a comeback because I think it was more fun than the Tony Hawk series to be honest. There's just so much more you can do with a bike than a skateboard! Maybe someone just make a game that has both?
Jet Moto
If you want a fun racing game that would look mind blowing on current gen look no further. I remember this game rocking my world as a kid when I played it on PSX. I could see this game becoming a hit once again with a cheap digital release and online mode!
NBA Hangtime
A lot of people back in the day thought NBA Hangtime was a cheap knockoff to NBA Jam. Truth is the original development team behind NBA Jam made Hangtime after the rights to their title were sold to Acclaim. While NBA Jam is the remembered game, Hangtime has all the bells and whistles you could ever want from the franchise. You could unlock costumes featuring President's heads, aliens, you name it. I put it over NBA Jam any day of the week.
I think I did pretty good with this list but of course I'm sure I forgot something so if I did let me know.
