Ben Vollmer: The biggest surprise of the year is undoubtedly Rocket League. Most folks who have played it get why Rocket League is so popular, but such an obscure title rarely receives such support in the sports gaming genre. It is great to see an indie title emerge as one of the most popular and critically acclaimed titles of the year.

Jayson Young: I respect Rocket League's design, and I appreciate how foolish it's made the bigger publishers look for believing that arcade-style sports games would never take off again, but Rocket League's camera angle and control scheme never clicked with me, so I didn't spend much time with it once the initial release-week novelty wore off. Maybe I would've enjoyed Rocket League more on the PC with a larger field of view and more precise mouselook controls, but tracking/striking the ball in the PlayStation 4 version just never looked right or felt comfortable to me while using a DualShock 4 and being stuck at the basic 1080p resolution.

Chase Becotte: I'm sticking with Rocket League because I'm surprised it was able to get the third spot in the reader's sports game of the year vote. As I've said, I really think the game deserves it, but it's not like this year was a bad one for sports games. There were a lot of very good games that came out in 2015, and yet Rocket League got enough traction and support to beat out games like Madden, FIFA and PES. Long love rocket car soccer, and long live arcade sports games.

Caley Roark: I'm relatively surprised the NBA 2K16 Relocation feature didn't get more love from the staff as an innovative feature. To be fair, I'm only now starting to dabble in the system, but for a "create a team" mode, it's as full-featured as we've seen in a while. I also like the fact that the owners need to vote on your move, a nod to the real NBA political machine (and sports machine in general as we just witnessed with the NFL relocation news). Anyway, I think 2K's Relocation feature is more innovative than Draft Champions, though that mode did put a unique spin on the card-collecting genre.

Ben Vollmer: This year's biggest snub has to be Robot Roller-Derby Disco Dodgeball. Releasing early in the year, this title had little shot at making any end of the year lists. This doesn't make it any less disappointing, though, as Roller-Derby was a perfect mix of chaos and skill. The developer support wasn't nearly as good as Rocket League and didn't seem to have the lasting power of its competition. All the same, Roller-Derby deserves a look from everyone.

Caley Roark: I think the fact that FIFA 16 didn't get any recognition in any category is a snub, for sure. I've played FIFA for a long time, and this year's version is the most fun I've had in a while. Also, the inclusion of women's teams, even if limited to a single tournament, is pretty important and unique in its own right.

Chase Becotte: I have to go with Caley here and mention FIFA. It was talked about a ton when it came out, had great positive reactions both due to the addition of the women's teams and the strength of its gameplay, but it was sort of forgotten by December for whatever reason. I don't really know why it seemed to drift out of our collective minds, especially with soccer being as popular as ever in the States, but FIFA just didn't get much love.

Jayson Young: I voted for OlliOlli 2 in the independent category, and I ranked it number three on my favorite sports game of the year list behind Forza 6 and NBA 2K16. Skateboarding fans haven't had much to play since Electronic Arts shutdown Skate developer Black Box, and OlliOlli 2 is easily the best release in the genre since the first Skate. Robomodo's botched Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 5 launch further cemented OlliOlli 2's positive impression on 2015. Its controls were smartly setup to simulate the foot movements of actual skateboarding, and its challenging gameplay was offset by a pastel color palette and relaxing electronic soundtrack. Most of the recent attempts at arcade-style sports games (Madden NFL Arcade, 3 on 3 NHL Arcade, MLB Stickball, Backyard Sports: Rookie Rush, et al.) have thoughtlessly ignored the importance of good audiovisual design, but OlliOlli 2 shows how much stylish graphics and complementary music can add to a game's enjoyability.
 

Ben Vollmer: The toughest decision for me was easily the "Game of the Year" vote. NBA 2K16 is a deserving winner to be sure, but Rocket League could be the indie sports game that revitalizes the genre and its willingness to take risks. Still, NBA 2K16 is far too polished and in-depth to lose out.

Caley Roark: The "Best Single-Player Experience" vote was the toughest for me because I really liked four games. It was a real toss-up between MLB 15, NBA 16, Madden 16 and FIFA 16. I've enjoyed all of them this year, and I find the wealth of single-player options (not just franchise modes) is growing in positive ways.

Chase Becotte: The "Best Gameplay" award was the one I wrestled with the most. I always knew The Show, Rocket League and NBA 2K would be my three choices, but ordering them was really tough. I really felt like each game hit a high point this year, and so it took a long time before I finally put Rocket League at number one on my list.

Jayson Young: Forza Motorsport 6 got lots of great reviews, but it didn't seem to generate nearly as much consumer support. Microsoft's super-aggressive, staggered release schedule is probably to blame, as is alternating between Horizon and Motorsport titles each fall -- when the competition in the entertainment industry is the toughest -- just doesn't seem to be working out. Too many Forza games are coming out in too little time (and at the wrong time, to boot), with not enough must-have improvements in each iteration. The racing genre is also the most crowded it's been since the PlayStation 2's heyday, which probably kept Forza 6 from attracting a larger following. Still, I feel like it was the year's finest "everyman's" racer, with a huge selection of highly customizable cars and a nice mix of interesting online/offline modes. I just wish Turn 10 would create more track DLC (I don't need anymore cars; my garage is already full!), and find some way to get Drivatars working in local split-screen races (competing one-on-one isn't as much fun).
 

Ben Vollmer: The easiest decision for me was easily the "Best Presentation" award. The fact that a lackluster MLB: The Show 15 might be the second-most deserving title speaks to how far ahead of the game NBA 2K16 is here. I really believe that presentation is the next category in sports gaming that will receive a boost. There is too much uninspired banter being repeated from years before, and in a day in age when hundreds of thousands of dialogue lines can fit into a single game, there is no excuse for flat presentation.

Caley Roark: The easiest decision was the "Indie Sports Game" category where I voted for OOTP 16. I get that Rocket League was unique and innovative, but it didn't grab me as much as this year's version of OOTP -- a game that gets better every year.

Chase Becotte: The easiest decision on my ballot was giving Rocket League the "Dopest Game Alive" award. It wasn't on any other ballots because everyone else on the staff is a non-believer, but the award exists and Rocket League owns it forever and always.

Jayson Young: Since Electronic Arts is doubling down on Madden NFL's Draft Champions mode by making it an eSport, I have to say that I liked the concept much better when it was called All-Pro Football 2K8, and you could carefully choose your entire team from the full roster of available players, instead of being forced to pick between three randomly selected player cards in each round. I just can't see a serious tournament scene developing around a mode that features so much randomization. Big money events like Evo don't play Street Fighter or Smash Bros. with random select turned on, so I don't understand why EA decided to go with "dice roll" character selection in Draft Champions. I've long argued that All-Pro Football 2K8's team-building model is the best way to balance a sports game for competitive play, and while Draft Champions comes close to replicating that system, it's overlooked a crucial component of what made All-Pro Football 2K8 such a well-balanced and long-lasting multiplayer game. I played Draft Champions for one week until I became bothered by the limited player pool and the lack of roster control; I played All-Pro Football 2K8 for eight years before I finally exhausted all of that game's lineup possibilities.