Sports games have been a torrid topic in gaming history, haven't they? In the early days of Atari, Tandy and Coleco, they were one of the staples of gaming if you wanted any structure or replay value. Soccer, baseball, and football games were all the rage for the 2600, the Commodore 64 and the like. While they may not have been as graphically enthralling as the real game, they brought player versus player gaming into existence, and encouraged those first Saturday afternoon rivalries between friends.
But, when the reboot of the console market happened in the mid-80s, this kind of changed. Yeah, sports games began to be pumped out left and right, and most of them were... not so terrific. Oh come now, admit it, you had that copy of Bases Loaded that your friends had to beg you to play like everyone else. But, like so many other fields of interest, when the 90s arrived, something truly magical happened. The arrival of the 16-bit systems completely reinvented gaming, without losing its identity, and sports games were along for the ride. Companies like Hudson Soft looked at the audience reaction to the 8-bit era's problems with existing tropes. And you know what they said? "Yeah, sports games are bad. Well, let's see what we can do about that!" And they sure did!
Evolution Of Sports Games
On top of making physics, AI and graphics run so much better in this era, these innovative companies also took sports games less seriously. Believe it or not, that was the best thing they could do. Nothing was as satisfying as basketball and hockey games where you could gain powerups and blow up your opponents to score a goal. Nothing. This followed over into the wonderful arcade games of the age, too, with even more power to them. With this feel of true competitive sports mixed with new and unique ways to zest up tired concepts, the world's quarters were never safe again.
So, what does modern gaming offer someone who likes a creatively-done and entertaining sports game? Well, that depends on what kind of sports game you like, and what platform you want it on. You don't like action games? Then free sports games are probably going to be the best choice. But, let's be fair as always, and measure retail and free games separately.
Ultra Realistic 3D Sports Games
If you want to play true-to-life sports games, including extreme sports games, then consoles are going to be more your scene. The Xbox has lines of sports commission-licensed games which come out every year to update their stats and teams to match the real world of sports. Their physics and probability are pretty much spot-on and if a realistic sports experience is what you seek, then you won't be disappointed.The Playstation 3 also has similar titles, if you’re not an Xbox fan. For those faithful Nintendo heads out there, you’re going to need to settle for a more creative, quirky experience with titles like Wii Sports, though they still tend to be fairly true to the sports they imitate.
But, those who want that classic 90s take on sports games, that bring just a little something extra to the world, then look no further than Flash games. Like it has done for adventure games, Flash has empowered developers to make all kinds of wild and creative sports games experiences for users at no cost whatsoever. They can create pixel-styled classic games, or innovative, artistic new takes on 2D sports games forms as well. With flash becoming more powerful as time goes by, the net play functionality allows for the experience of playing Flash sports games online exceed any net play possibilities consoles can even offer. If you want creative, rethought sports games experiences, then these free sports games are the way to go. Unsure of where to find them? Fear not, gamers, as GamezAdvisor.com offers the best sports games.
