August 2019 Together Retro: Retro Sports Games

[Gunstar Green]

It's retro sports season here at the Racketdome! Pull out those pixelated or low-poly bargain bin games and show them that they're still worth being loved. Below are some suggestions to get clueless people started, though I'm not well versed enough with some sports genres like golf (I'm also obviously USA sports biased here). I don't want to limit anyone too much in regards to what "retro" means, but let's try not to have current gen games in the mix. You don't need to include balls in your sports experience either, want to box? No problem, want a racing game? Sure! Just stay within the theme of "sports."

The opening kickoff has begun, let's go sports!

(Asterisks denote my personal favs.)

NES:

Tecmo Bowl
Tecmo Super Bowl*
Ice Hockey*
RBI Baseball
Blades of Steel
Super Dodgeball*
Double Dribble
Baseball Stars
Basball Simulator 1.000
Punch-Out!!

Sega Genesis:

Madden Series
FIFA series
NHLPA/NHL series (Especially '94*, '96)
NBA Live Series
NBA Jam/NBA Jam Tournament Edition
Bill Walsh College Football 95*
Coach K College Basketball
Sports Talk Baseball*
World Series Baseball*... uh... series (Especially the first).
Joe Montana/NFL Football Series (Especially '94, '98)
Mutant League Football/Hockey
Greatest Heavyweights*
Speedball 2
Wimbledon
ATP Tour Tennis
Super Monaco GP/Super Monaco GP 2
Sensible Soccer
Road Rash series*

Super Nintendo:

Tecmo Super Bowl III: Final Edition*
Madden 94-97
Bill Walsh College Football
NFL Quarterback Club/NFL Quarterback Club 2
NHL 94*/96
NHL Stanley Cup
NBA Jam/NBA Jam Tournament Edition*
Super Baseball 2020
Ken Griffey Jr. Presents Major League Baseball*
Super Punch Out
Boxing Legends of the Ring
Kirby's Dream Course* (I'm counting it!)
Super Mario Kart
F-Zero
International Superstar Soccer
Sensible Soccer
Super Tennis

Turbografx-16

Fire ProWrestling series
World Class Baseball
World Court Tennis
World Sports Competition
TV Sports series
John Madden Duo CD Football

What'd I miss? What else should be suggested? What 32-bit and beyond gems must be played? What will you be playing? Suggest away and have fun!

[stickem]

Hadn't played dusty diamonds all star softball in awhile, so I'll dust that off.

[PartridgeSenpai]

I decided to boot up my SFC Mini and participate in this month's TR while I waited for my laundry to be done today. I played some Super Formation Soccer, a soccer game (believe it or not :b ) by Human Entertainment in 1991. It's quite good fun! I'm absolute TRASH at it, but it was some fun arcadey action that's an addition I appreciate a lot more on the SFC Mini than I did before ^w^

Key can attest to this, but I get really into watching sports games (just ask her about when I watched her stream Super Spike V'Ball), and I'm the same playing them. There were many accusations at the ref for what WAS OBVIOUSLY A FOUL and MUCH pointing of middle fingers at the Belgian team whenever we'd score a goal. It was a VERY close game and I was getting really into it, what can I say

[prfsnl_gmr]

Last night, the Boston Frogs defeated the Chicago Devils 61-57. The Devils need just one win on normal difficulty to “beat” Double Dribble for the NES, and we expect them to make another run at the as-yet-undefeated Frogs tonight. The game requires almost no strategy or knowledge of the sport, though; so, whether the Devils will be victorious is anyone’s guess.

.....

I’m very excited for this month’s TR, and I’m going to be playing some of the old sports games I never defeated in my youth. I doubt I’ll get through all of these, but the games on my list for this month are:

Baseball Simulator 1.000 (NES)
Baseball Stars (NES)
Double Dribble (NES)
Hot Shots Golf 2 (PS1)
NFL Football (INTV)
Tecmo Bowl (NES)
Tecmo Super Bowl (NES)

I don’t play a lot of sports games, like many of you; so, this month should really expand my gaming knowledge and help me appreciate another genre. That said, there are a few sports games I love and highly recommend. They are:

Blades of Steel (NES)
Hot Shots Golf 3 (PS2)
Ice Hockey (NES)
Iron Man Ivan Stewart’s Off-Road (SNES)
Mario Golf (Gameboy Color)
NBA Jam (SNES)
Pro Wrestling (NES)
Punch Out!! (NES)
Punch Out!! (Wii)
Super Dodge Ball (NES)
Super Punch Out!! (SNES)
Super Sprint (NES)
Tecmo NBA Basketball (NES)
Tony Hawk Pro Skater 3 (PS2)
WWF Monday Night Raw (SNES)
WWF Royal Rumble (SNES)

I hope that this list helps some of you on the sidelines get into the game!

[Nemoide]

I own a few sports games, but I've never played a football game and that's going to be my first goal of the month. I picked up Joe Montana Football for Genesis, which was highly praised when it first came out and even though it's published as a first-party Sega game, it was actually developed by EA and based directly on their popular John Madden Football.

The manual is a bit intimidating because I KNOW NOTHING ABOUT FOOTBALL. I know the main goal is to get the ball into the endzone, but I don't really understand anything about strategies but the game expects you to pick a "play" and I don't get it. I don't know what a quarterback is. The game has the license for Joe Montana himself, but there are no other player-names or team names, which is fine with me because I don't know the team names and DEFINITELY don't know the big players from 1990.
Last night I played a quick 2-minute "drill test" and managed to get a touchdown, so I guess I'm off to a decent start? Can I win the Sega Bowl by the end of the month? M-maybe?

[pierrot]

I’m planning to at least play Funky Head Boxers, and Decathalete on the Saturn this month. Maybe Sega Rally as well. I’m also going to be taking another sojourn to Fun Spot soon, so I will also likely be playing 8-way Daytona USA on the new cabs they have. I don’t love the updated version, but they added mirror tracks for all three standard tracks.

I also have tons of options on the genesis, and sixth gen options, if I’m really feeling saucy.


I actually kind of like football strategy, so if you want some tips for plays, I’d be happy to go over them with you Nemoide. Joe Montana is the quarterback, btw.

[Gunstar Green]

I own a few sports games, but I've never played a football game and that's going to be my first goal of the month. I picked up Joe Montana Football for Genesis, which was highly praised when it first came out and even though it's published as a first-party Sega game, it was actually developed by EA and based directly on their popular John Madden Football.

The manual is a bit intimidating because I KNOW NOTHING ABOUT FOOTBALL. I know the main goal is to get the ball into the endzone, but I don't really understand anything about strategies but the game expects you to pick a "play" and I don't get it. I don't know what a quarterback is. The game has the license for Joe Montana himself, but there are no other player-names or team names, which is fine with me because I don't know the team names and DEFINITELY don't know the big players from 1990.
Last night I played a quick 2-minute "drill test" and managed to get a touchdown, so I guess I'm off to a decent start? Can I win the Sega Bowl by the end of the month? M-maybe?

The first Joe Montana is a good choice because it's more arcadey and has less features to worry about than even the original Madden. The only thing I don't like about it is the passing system which was a cool idea, putting you in the helmet of the quarterback especially in a game endorsed by a quarterback, but in practice it's clunkier than even the early Madden pass windows.

The AI is simple enough and the gameplay is accessible enough that you should still have mostly high-scoring, high-action games. They also include the "Joe's Pick" feature for plays for the completely uninitiated which is nice, though it can be questionable at times.

I'll be making a big ol' post about the Madden series (and other EA sports football games) on Genesis soon-ish.

[Nemoide]

I actually kind of like football strategy, so if you want some tips for plays, I’d be happy to go over them with you Nemoide. Joe Montana is the quarterback, btw.

Any tips would be appreciated!
I'm still figuring out how to pull off simple things like "pass the ball to a teammate" (which I can SOMETIMES do but not always?) so I should PROBABLY just keep selecting "Joe's pick" for the plays and then scrambling around like a random fool until something clicks and I gain some semblance of an idea of what to do. I have the manual but it's not too helpful for someone who doesn't even know what "snapping the ball" means.

[BoneSnapDeez]

Oh, I think y'all know what I'll be playing...


Also, as prfsnl_gmr saw when he was here, I recently obtained the Famicom Disk System versions of Nintendo Ice Hockey and Blades of Steel. May hit those up as well. I've got a few things going on right now; will probably join this thread in a week or so.

[noiseredux]

I don't have a real plan, but looking thru my collection...

Baseball (NES)
Ice Hockey (NES)
Soccer (NES)
Tecmo Bowl (NES)
Tennis (NES)
NES Open Tournament Golf (NES)
Super Dodge Ball (NES)
Mike Tyson's Punch-Out (NES)
Volleyball (NES)

Also, if my wife and I get a chance to co-op anything, Beach Spikers on GCN is one of our favorites.