16 bit sports games are simply the best

[maibock]

From Triple Play '96 to Tecmo Super Bowl to Rugby World Cup '95 I love them all. There's something about the graphics and the game play which make pretty much all these games real fun to play.

 

Even though Bill Walsh's College Football is made by EA, I do find it more fun to play than the Madden series, which was a good find since I love the Madden games.

 

NHL 95 simply rocks as the best hockey game for any system including the Xbox which I have.

 

Anyone have any favorites that they like of this genre? Perhaps there's an awesome game which I just don't have yet.

[chrisbid]

honestly i prefer 8-bit sports games more, they had more of an arcade feel, and weren't as obsessed with realism. Tecmo Bowl and Tecmo Super Bowl on the NES were outstanding, as was Blades of Steel, Double Dribble, Bases Loaded, Baseball Stars, Great Baseball (SMS), Super Spike V'Ball, Nintendo World Cup, and a lot of other games

 

Thats not to say i didnt enjoy some 16 bit games, NHL 94 was a great game, as were a couple of the Madden games, and World Series Baseball, but the lame ass idea of rereleasing the same freakin game every year was annoying as hell.

[maibock]

I agree about Tecmo Super Bowl for the NES - Just an awesome game. and I too enjoy some 8 bit sports games, but for me the 16 bit added a whole new dimension to it.

 

I also agree that it really sucks to have them re-release the same game with minor tweaks to it each year, but now they're quite inexpensive, so it's kind of cool to collect them.

 

ps - I played Baseball Stars way too many hours to even admit

[Lemmi]

I love my Genesis hockey games (all of them)

 

i own every hockey game made for the Gen and its my Sports console of choice

[devils advocate]

I think the 16 bit systems were the perfect forum for hockey games. 8 bit hockey was bad, and the newer systems just keep rehashing graphically superior versions of the same 16 bit gameplay.

Best Regards, Julian Scott

[chrisbid]

i wouldnt say so, i thought Blades of Steel was really fun, where the loser of the fight had to go the box, and Nintendo Ice Hockey, while it had a lame international format, had the cool setup where you could choose your own lineup.

[badbrad]

Ken Griffey jr baseball is hella fun on the snes.

[PuddWakkr]

I'll throw my hat into the ring with Genesis. Gotta be the best sports console. Although I never cared much for the EA basketball games, I'm more of a NBA Jam player. Hockey is still the best on it.

 

Only problem I have with the 16 bit sports games are the single player modes. If you play any of these games for a while the AI really gets bad.

This may be true to some extent on the new consoles too but it seems really blatant on my Genesis or SNES. I can score at will on any version of hockey on the genesis. Get a buddy over your house though and they rule.

[JankenTheGreat]

i own every hockey game made for the Gen and its my Sports console of choice

 

Same here.

 

Genesis had it all. Great sports games, perfect arcade conversions (for the most part.), great games PERIOD and not to mention the coolest game character ever (Sonic, duh!).

 

 

Not only is it the best Sports console, in my opinion...

 

...its the best EVERTHING console

 

 

Sorry, Im a fan-boy.

[junglehunter]

@maibock

 

How can you say NHL '95 was the best hockey game for any system when the best one was '94?

[Brad2600]

I've never been a fan of 16 bit sports carts, but I do own RBI Baseball '93 and NBA Jam for the Genesis. NBA Jam is totally fun to play and RBI Baseball '93 was purchased nearly 10 years ago brand new and I had tons of fun with that game. I used to be totally obsessed with Baseball.

[maibock]

How can you say NHL '95 was the best hockey game for any system when the best one was '94?

 

I don't have '94 yet

 

however I did play '97 on easports.com which is free, and I sort of like that better than '95. I think I must do more research into this :wink:

[MegaManFan]

Sports games, in my honest opinion, are the retro-games that hold up the least well as consoles age. Simple example: Demon Attack in the 1980's is still Demon Attack in 2003 - a fun shooter with a nice degree of challenge to it. Football on VCS though looks so retarded now it's hard to imagine it was ever fun to begin with. To be honest I've never even bothered to look at the manual how to play, because what would the point be? With a stick and one button, it's not like I can call offense and defense, stunt the line, make a flying tackle, or throw a long bomb from one homogenous non-football-player-looking blip to the other. It doesn't really get better with Nintendo - the play control got sophisticated enough with two buttons to actually make run a playbook, but you still can't create your own teams or players and the graphics still have very little resemblance to real life sports. It's only when you get into NHL games on the Sega Genesis that retro sports starts to even become TOLERABLE.

 

Don't get me wrong, I love console sports games, but there's a reason you can find 50 of them for 50 cents each at every pawn and thrift - everybody bought them then and nobody wants them now. In the unreal worlds of sci-fi and fantasy, you can accept old school games with subpar graphics because that world wasn't real to begin with. Sports though is something you see in real life and on television all the time, and today's modern console sports games try really hard to capture that look and feel (and often do to a remarkable degree). How can you go from that to blips on a screen? For me it just doesn't work, so this is one aspect of classic gaming I'll probably never get into.

[maibock]

Sports games, in my honest opinion, are the retro-games that hold up the least well as consoles age.

 

While I appreciate your opinions, I obviously disagree. Your post made me think of why I enjoy the 16 bit sports games much better than Xbox's. Although it's kind of hard to explain, I'll highlight some of the reasons that came to mind, but in total, it's the overall feel and experience of the 16 bit games that I enjoy.

 

- 16 bit games are much more easier to comprehend and you don't need to read a novel just to "get into" the game.

 

- While you could argue that the graphics are far superior in the next-gen games, there seems to be a lack of the proverbial "game play" when playing vs the ai or even vs a buddy. There tends to be more excitement, yelling and laughing when playing a 16-bit game as oppossed to the "whoa cool graphics" you get from the Xbox games.

 

- There are just so many varied sports games available to play, there are a boatload of football games alone to keep me busy for years.

 

- except for hockey, I don't get vertigo when playing a 16-bit game when running on the treadmill

 

I'm sure I'll come up with more, but suffice to say, I think the 16-bit sports games have held up a lot better than some other genres.

[Lemmi]

Whoa to much time thinking and not enough time playing

j/k

 

Sports games, in my honest opinion, are the retro-games that hold up the least well as consoles age.  Simple example: Demon Attack in the 1980's is still Demon Attack in 2003 - a fun shooter with a nice degree of challenge to it.  Football on VCS though looks so retarded now it's hard to imagine it was ever fun to begin with.  To be honest I've never even bothered to look at the manual how to play, because what would the point be?  With a stick and one button, it's not like I can call offense and defense, stunt the line, make a flying tackle, or throw a long bomb from one homogenous non-football-player-looking blip to the other.  It doesn't really get better with Nintendo - the play control got sophisticated enough with two buttons to actually make run a playbook, but you still can't create your own teams or players and the graphics still have very little resemblance to real life sports.  It's only when you get into NHL games on the Sega Genesis that retro sports starts to even become TOLERABLE.

 

Don't get me wrong, I love console sports games, but there's a reason you can find 50 of them for 50 cents each at every pawn and thrift - everybody bought them then and nobody wants them now.  In the unreal worlds of sci-fi and fantasy, you can accept old school games with subpar graphics because that world wasn't real to begin with. Sports though is something you see in real life and on television all the time, and today's modern console sports games try really hard to capture that look and feel (and often do to a remarkable degree).  How can you go from that to blips on a screen?  For me it just doesn't work, so this is one aspect of classic gaming I'll probably never get into.

 

 

I remember seeing NHL98 for the GEN back when it came out, and i wanted to buy it but i was still into 97 and then all of a sudden all the 98's dissappeared i couldnt find one anywhere locally for a few years, then early last year i found a sealed one for $4.99 at funco - and then another complete copy 2 weeks later for $5 ---- 2 or 3 years not seeing one complete copy then in 2 weeks i found 2

 

 

I tried to play the first NHL a few weeks ago and i couldnt play it longer then 5 min before i had to put in 97 and 98 , it was just alittle (actually alot) slower