August 2019 Together Retro: Retro Sports Games

[prfsnl_gmr]

Agreed. Gunstar is dropping knowledge. I’m kind of shocked at how many of the great sports titles Gunstar mentions in his posts I’ve pocked up over the years. I have the original Joe Montana Football, Joe Montana Football ‘94 (which, being from KC, I bought because it has Joe Montana playing for the KC Chiefs). I also have World Series Baseball and, apparently, the SNES’s best football games, which I bought for nostalgia but which, apparently, are still good. Lucky me!

@Noise

I agree that NES Punch Out!! has held up extremely well (also that Mr. Sandman, the champion in the Wii version, will wreck you). It also remains my favorite entry in the series, although I liked Super Punch Out!! and adored Wii Punch Out!!. Has anyone here played the arcade Punch Out!! games? (I thibk pook99 beat one recently.) What’s the best way to play these today? Are they tough to emulate? Also, what about Punch Out!! clones like Animal Boxing, Power Punch II, or Wade Hixon’s Counter Punch? Can anyone recommend those?

.....

After I beat Double Dribble last night I fired up NFL Football for the INTV (or, rather, Super Pro Football, which is the same game with a few enhancements and a single-player mode). It’s so good and so deep for a game it’s age. I’m looking forward to getting through a whole hour-long game over the weekend. (Plus, it features prominently the awesome INTV running man animation!) I may also fire up Indy 500 for the 2600 to really dive into great second generation sports games. Are there any other classic sports games from that era that have held up and I should be sure to check out?

[marurun]

I know, right? I want Gunstar to play TV Sports Football so he can lambaste it (or give it some credit if and where it is due).

[noiseredux]

@Noise

I agree that NES Punch Out!! has held up extremely well (also that Mr. Sandman, the champion in the Wii version, will wreck you). It also remains my favorite entry in the series, although I liked Super Punch Out!! and adored Wii Punch Out!!. Has anyone here played the arcade Punch Out!! games? (I thibk pook99 beat one recently.) What’s the best way to play these today? Are they tough to emulate? Also, what about Punch Out!! clones like Animal Boxing, Power Punch II, or Wade Hixon’s Counter Punch? Can anyone recommend those?

I really don't care for Super Punch-Out. The Wii one was fun, though. The arcade game is available on the Switch eShop.

[BoneSnapDeez]

[le post]

Andromeda Galaxy IQ post. Based and Maddenpilled.

[pierrot]

How long were you working on that post for GG? Did you actually revisit all of the games for it, too?


I’m pretty sure I had Madden 93 and 95, as a kid. I’m starting to feel like revisiting them for the nostalgias.


Also, let’s not forget about Pigskin Footbrawl on the Genesis.

[Gunstar Green]

How long were you working on that post for GG? Did you actually revisit all of the games for it, too?


I’m pretty sure I had Madden 93 and 95, as a kid. I’m starting to feel like revisiting them for the nostalgias.


Also, let’s not forget about Pigskin Footbrawl on the Genesis.

I started when sports won the vote and have been pecking away at it. I played a little bit of each game and a lot of a few of them. Surprised how well many of them held up and it was cool to see how things progressed from the bare bones first game to the detailed 97 one. The whole EA vs. Sega Sports thing is also a really fascinating rivalry.

But seriously, Bill Walsh College Football '95 is god tier.

Pigskin Footbrawl is pretty funny, it's more of a violent Rugby.

[prfsnl_gmr]

Won a game in Super Pro Football (INTV) this morning. (I was the home team, and I ran all over the visiting team.) Super Pro Football is an enhanced version of NFL Football (INTV) that includes a few additional features and, more importantly for my purposes, a single-player mode. I was very, very impressed by it. The graphics are a bit dated, obviously, but the sound and animation are very solid for the era. (The INTV running man is classic!) The game also allows only five players on each team, and there are no penalties as far as I can tell. Nonetheless, the game requires a lot of strategy, and it allows you to set formations, tactics, receiver routes, etc. via the touchpad. You can also use the touchpad to call audibles, and I found that employing the tactics and strategies my team employed in high school worked fairly well. (We were pretty good back then, and despite being impressed by the game’s AI, I crushed the visiting team in INTV football.) This would undoubtably be a great multi-player game, but it is also a remarkably strong single-player game too. My only complaint is that the game allows for only 15-minute quarters and the clock works like it does in a real football game (i.e., it stops frequently). Moreover, the computer (quite impressively, actually) really knew how to work the clock; so the game took forever. Being able to set the quarters to five or ten minutes would have alleviated this problem, but, hey, it’s the INTV, you can only expect so much! Highly recommended.

[TheSSNintendo]

Gunstar, I noticed in your Madden/College Football write up, that you mentioned All American College Football. I still have that, along with NFL Pro League Football.

[prfsnl_gmr]

Played some Indy 500 with my son this afternoon. He hated it.... I did play all the single player modes, though, which were strangely addictive. Since you can’t really beat the game, I set a success criteria of completing a lap in under ten seconds without touching a wall. (I can complete a lap much faster than that if I tap the walls a bit!) The game would probably be a lot more fun with two people who enjoyed it, and it plays a lot like my beloved Super Sprint (NES). Pretty much every racing game evolved from this, and I am glad I finally spent some time with it, even if I probably won’t spend much time with it again (unless I play it at Bone’s house or something).

BTW...after we attempted Indy 500, my son and I played Surround (2600). I told him it was like the light cycles in Tron. He grasped the concept and controls immediately, and loved it. We played four or five complete games, and he actually got pretty good...

[BoneSnapDeez]

Epic. I might try out some Indy 500 myself soon.

I dunno if this will actually land in August, but the arcade version of Tecmo Bowl is slated for an Arcade Archives release.