Best sports video games ever ...

You got it. I'll play the Royals any day of the week. I'm pretty good at the game, though usually when I make a mistake in the field, it's usually followed by a second. And they're never at good times. My best friend is a little better than me. If we kept track -- and I'm actually surprised we don't, considering we've got a book of our NBA Jam records and codes and 21 pages of answers to Family Feud in a Word document as a back-up to our print-outs in an envelope (just in case) -- he'd probably have me by a few games in the all-time series.

 

For me, it was the first hockey game I've ever owned. If you look at my list, it's filled with Super Nintendo games because that's really all I've ever played. And, aside from the regular Nintendo and Playstation, it's the only system I've ever owned.

When I play NHL '94, I still think back to when I couldn't beat Vancouver in the finals; when I could only score by plowing into the goalie; how when a one-time actually went in, I called my friend to tell him about it. I can usually muster about 45 or 50 goals in a 60-minute game now, but it's still a lot of fun. That's why it has my vote.

 

My Top 5

Super Bowl
Tecmo Baseball
Blades of Steel
Racket Attack
Double Dribble

 

So who was your team?

 

My go-to teams are the Rangers and the White Sox. Then I'll go to the Braves, Blue Jays and Cubs. Every once in a while, I'll be the Mets because I love that old lineup: Vince Coleman, Jeff Kent, Eddie Murray, Bobby Bonilla, Howard Johnson, Todd Hundley, Ryan Thompson, Tim Bogar and Dwight Gooden. They were atrocious in the field -- and in real life -- but I enjoy them anyway.

 

I hated my second-pick teams, but the White Sox were my main backup. Also played with the Hollywood Angels and the Mariners (when I wanted to be a real dick).

 

Anyone remember the basketball game Arch-Rivals?

 

But of course. It was no Bill Laimbeer's Combat Basketball, but still a great game.

 

Good stuff here ...

 

A friend of mine really likes the Mariners. When we play -- generally three guys in a tournament format -- we close our eyes and choose teams at random. We're all good enough -- or at least around equal strength of players -- that it won't matter which teams we choose. It's usually a good time.

 

Can't believe StaggerLee was the first to mention Mike Tyson's Punchout!. Maybe the best boxing game ever, until the Fight Night series. And maybe even including the Fight Night series. Just a blast to play and it never gets old, no matter how many times you beat the living crap out of Glass Joe or the first Don Flamenco. And one lapse in concentration against Tyson and you're toast, no matter how good you are.
And if wrestling games count, Pro Wrestling for the NES was a blast. And No Mercy for the N64 is a classic. The character creation stuff in that game is legendary.

Tecmo Super Bowl is still No. 1, though. The first football game where you could play a season, and that kept stats. And simple enough that anyone can pick up and play.
Madden 96 deserves mention for some of the same reasons. That was the first one I remember where you could play multiple seasons and the schedule even changed.

Not sure if anyone remembers it, but I also loved Baseball Simulator 1.000 for the NES. You could do all these crazy pitches and hits, like 120 mph fastballs (the photon ball) or my personal favorite the stop ball (you could stop the pitch before it got to the plate). It was also one of the first baseball games that let you play a whole season and kept stats. I always liked to take a normal team and play a season against the superpowered teams.

 

Pro Wrestling was good, but it was no Royal Rumble for SNES. Raw was very good, too.