All it takes is a quick scan of the most popular games on Xbox Live and the PlayStation Network to reveal what most gamers already know: remakes are big business in the gaming world right now.

Taking classic, old-school games, dressing them up a bit and releasing them for download is nothing new, particularly among Xbox Live Arcade games. But in the past year or so, high-quality remakes of old games have really come into their own and, in the process, have carved out quite a nice niche for themselves.

For proof look no further than Major Nelson’s list of the top arcade titles on Xbox Live for the week of August 31. Among the top 10: Battlefield 1943, Marvel vs. Capcom 2 and Turtles in Time Re-Shelled. Meanwhile, on PSN both Final Fantasy VII and SimCity 2000 currently sit among the top downloads. And over the course of the past year, both Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix and Worms 2 have enjoyed success in the digital-download space.

It’s not hard to understand why so many remakes are cropping up, or why they’re doing so well. If you take the tried and true gameplay of older hits, mix it with modern online play and perhaps some refreshing high-definition visuals, and then market the whole package at a reasonably affordable price, the legions of 30-something gamers with a taste for nostalgia will likely eat it up.

What is hard to comprehend is why sports gamers seem to be getting the short end of the stick in this rush to remake. The list of hall-of-fame caliber sports titles that have made their way back onto modern consoles through digital download is decidedly shorter than most other popular genres. However, the Wii’s Virtual Console has been home to a few of these releases, namely Ice Hockey, Tecmo Bowl, Blades of Steel, Punch-Out!! and Bases Loaded.

But on Xbox Live and PSN, the pickings remain slim. So with that in mind, Operation Sports takes a look at five of the games we’d most like to see as XBLA and PSN offerings.

5. Tecmo Bowl/Tecmo Super Bowl

Long before Madden, there was Tecmo Bowl. The granddaddy of videogame football and its equally fantastic sequel remain two of the most popular football games ever released. In fact, when OS ran its Best Sports Game tournament back in 2008, both games made it into the "Elite Eight," with Tecmo Super Bowl eventually taking the third spot behind NFL 2K5 and College Hoops 2K8. Tecmo has actually announced that Tecmo Bowl will be released as an XBLA game at some point in 2010, but few details are known about it right now. We’d like to see both games make their way onto the platform (and PSN, too) -- and the sooner, the better.

4. R.B.I. Baseball

Another game that may eventually make its way onto Xbox Live Arcade (although details are even more difficult to come by for this one), R.B.I. Baseball was one of the first really great NES sports games. Released in the US in 1987, the game featured real MLB players, which was unusual for the time. More importantly, each player’s attributes for things like hitting, power and speed were based on their real-life counterpart’s abilities, which made them feel unique and authentic. Six Degrees Games is purportedly developing an XBLA version of R.B.I. Baseball for release sometime this century, but the fact that there is no concrete information, combined with the dearth of R.B.I.-related information on Six Degrees’ website, leaves us skeptical at best.

3. NFL Blitz

Sure, the Blitz series does lives on -- minus the NFL license -- in the form of Blitz: The League II, released last year on the 360 and PS3. But as anyone who has ever pumped quarters into the arcade version knows, there’s just no substitute for the original. Over the top arcade sports titles might be commonplace now, but Blitz was one of the trailblazers. Give us an HD version with lag-free online play at a reasonable price point (perhaps 400 Microsoft points or $4.99 on PSN) and we would be all over it. Licensing may be a concern, but it shouldn’t be something some generic names and full-on customization options can't overcome.

2. NBA Jam

Speaking of arcade trailblazers, no one game did more to invent the genre than the original NBA Jam. While the concept was replicated at various points, and the series eventually evolved into what we see today in the modern NBA Street/Homecourt series, there’s still something appealing about the simplicity and style of the first NBA Jam. Like with Blitz, a fresh coat of paint, an easy-on-the-wallet price tag, full-on customization options and some silky smooth online action over Xbox Live and the PlayStation Network might be all it takes to introduce a whole new generation of gamers to the bliss that was NBA Jam. Boomshakalaka.

1. NHL 94

If you’re still not convinced that reintroducing old games with online play can work, look no further than nhl94.com. Through the beauty of emulation, an entire community has sprung up around this classic, complete with online leagues, tournaments and even instructions on how to make your own edits to the game. Trouble is, for those of us less technically inclined (or just plain lazy), the prospect of delving into the whole emulation scene can be enough of a barrier to entry to prevent us from ever experiencing NHL 94 online. But if EA were to re-release the game on Xbox Live and PSN, suddenly everything would get a whole lot more appealing. And it’s not like EA hasn’t done this before -- they included NHL 94 on the PlayStation 2 version of NHL 06. All we ask is that EA take it one step further and give it to us as a download. If the developers want to throw in HD sprites while they’re at it, we won’t complain.


So there you have it, five games that could make sports gamers break out the credit card and click “download now.” Disagree with the list? Want to add your own favorites? Let us know by leaving a comment below.