Nostalgia is sort of an odd phenomenon, when you really think about it. Naturally, we tend to look upon items, events, and moments in our past lives with a fondness that may have not actually existed back when they were more prevalent than they are now. So how exactly are we supposed to evaluate those things properly? It’s not an easy task, and ranking some of our favorite sports games from our childhoods is no different. But here at OS, we’re going to try and put ourselves up to the task by ranking three of our favorite sports titles as children.

Here is my (imperfect) list:

3. Ken Griffey Jr. Presents Major League Baseball (SNES)

There’s something to be said for simplicity. Ken Griffey Jr. Presents Major League Baseball was about as simple as it got: you saw the pitch, you pressed a button, and you watched it fly. It was the first baseball game I had ever played which incorporated real life player stats (with fictionalized player names) and paid homage to some of the games’ best traditions. I attribute this title to my love for statistics in baseball, as the game would provide you with a neat box score in a newspaper format after each and every game. I’d write the stats down, and average them out over the course of a make-believe season. As sluggish as the game was at times, there was no denying its character – something which lacked in a lot of sports games in the late 1990’s.

2. NFL Blitz (N64)

It’s really a shame that there aren’t many exaggerated sports titles to go around anymore. More than anything, the blame should be put directly on the shoulders of the leagues themselves, as they continue to restrict things like late hits and bullish gameplay. NFL Blitz was the absolute king of over-the-top gameplay, with monster in-play hits, wild post-play wrestling between players, and drawn up plays like “Da Bomb”. There wasn’t a whole lot of depth to the title, but it was fun as heck to play with friends and produced hours of competitive play.

1. NBA Jam (Sega Genesis/SNES)

If there was ever a game that deserved to be called fun, it was NBA Jam. The game was in no way realistic, but what it didn’t have in realism, it more than made up for in innovation and creativity. The easy to learn 2 on 2 setting made the game easy to pick up and play, with a load of awesome animations that were foreign to sports gaming before it. NBA Jam also introduced me to cheat codes – most of which were just another way to customize the way you wanted to play the game. In a way, the “no rules” style of gameplay is exactly what made it so refreshing.

What is your childhood top three sports games list?