Outside of the traditional fall sports gaming release window, March is by far one of the busiest months when it comes to new sports titles being released. And with the release of the 3DS and the every-other-year releases of Top Spin and Fight Night, March 2011 was a an even more packed month than usual.

Bucking the old weather adage, sports gaming in March came in like a Lion and went out like a half man, half Lion, super soldier. Eight weeks after the sports gaming onslaught began, it's time to take a look back at the winners and losers of March, and hand out some awards in the process.

WWE All Stars

Selling even better than THQ expected, and receiving solid reviews across the board, means All Stars walks away with the "better than the developer's sim title in its rookie year" award.

While THQ's SvR series has pushed away many No Mercy vets (myself included), All Stars blends simple controls, gorgeous graphics and frantic action together, which helps to recapture that nostalgic N64 feeling all over again. Where else can editor Chase Becotte and I lose ourselves online for hours while carving out our own wrestling personalities during brutal fatal four-way matches. (Pro tip: don't enter the ring against Chase, he's more of a heel than Michael Cole and Eddie Guererro put together.)

MLB 11: The Show

Just when the series was starting to feel a bit long in the tooth, SCE San Diego implements buttery smooth analog controls that make the game feel fresh. Even with a buggy franchise mode that is in desperate need of an overhaul, the on-field gameplay of MLB 11 is good enough that this game will not only be a 2011 game of the year candidate, but will also be considered one of the best baseball sims ever.

MLB 11 takes home the coveted "if only the console I am exclusive for was as good as I am" award mostly because of the great PSN blackout and ridiculous load times.

Top Spin 4

Top Spin may never climb the sales charts here in America, which is somewhat sad considering how polished and fun the game is. Not since the days of Pong have I had as many tightly contested on-court battles with my friends. The game is gorgeous, and the player physics constantly keep me on my toes.

I award Top Spin 4 my "game I'm somewhat embarrassed that I spend so much time playing" award.

Tiger Woods 11: The Masters

Sadly a new name could not mask the fact that the Tiger Woods franchise is teetering on the brink of irrelevance. Hampered by a shameful amount of DLC upon release and archaic gameplay mechanics (please remove the spin button!), TW11 was saved by an incredibly addictive RPG-like career mode that has players earning the right to take on Augusta. The Tiger team members may be running out of ideas on how to innovate this series (who can blame them), but for at least one more year Tiger 11 was worth dumping a fair amount of time into.

Congratulations Tiger 11, you win my inaugural "I'm on the verge of playing Lee Carvallo's putting challenge instead" award.

Shift 2 Unleashed

Barely releasing in time to make this list, Shift 2 is another entertaining racing game from EA. Even though this game does not have a Need for Speed tagline anymore, you sort of knew the game would end up being a solid racing experience.

Shift 2 wins my "Ford Fusion reliability" award. I support American vehicles -- and maybe now Ford will advertise with the site? USA! USA!

Fight Night Champion

Boxing is dying a slow death, and it's at least in part because of UFC's rise to spectacular new heights. Sadly Fight Night Champion's fisticuffs, for as impressive as they look, were not as adrenaline pumping, and ultimately not as fun as those found in EA MMA. However, the game did give gamers an outstanding single-player campaign that added something new and exciting to single-player sports gaming. Champion is the definition of just a "good" game

So Fight Night Champion wins the "Spider Rico" award. And if you're a fan of Rocky, you understand what that means.

NASCAR The Game 2011

A bug-riddled game that left tire marks all over NASCAR gamers' hearts, this game could have benefited from another couple months of polishing. Because of this I had to award the game the "Meguiar's Gold Car Care" award. I'm still holding out hope that someday soon, someone will produce a NASCAR game on the level of the Papyrus classics from the past.

MLB 2K11

Even solid gameplay could not save this game from being labeled as a March loser. Gameplay bugs galore, an injury bug making franchise mode unbearable, and the fact that the game's MLB Today mode is still not accurately tracking stats leads to one sorry state of affairs for 2K's MLB franchise. Yes, there is fun to be had with this title, and it does have some good aspects (hit variety and pitching comes to mind). Unfortunately, every moment of enjoyment I have with this game is destroyed by multiple moments of frustration. With an MLB exclusive license, it should be embarrassing to 2K that the competition is able to produce such a high quality product for roughly half the cost.

MLB 2K11 wins my dreaded "Pirates of the Caribbean 3" award, given to a franchise that has gotten so bad that it simply needs to be discontinued.

The Entire 3DS Sports Gaming Lineup

Half-baked sports games that feel rushed and incomplete for a brand new console. I give these the "What is this, 2005?" award.


Christian McLeod is a senior (citizen) staff writer at Operation Sports. An avid classic sports gamer, he is actively working on finding a way to travel back in time to compete in the Nintendo World Championships. Follow him on Twitter @Bumble14_OS, talk to him on our forums via Bumble14 or challenge him on XBL/PSN via Bumble14.