ESPN NFL 2K5 Maybe the Greatest of All Time, But Not In Its Time

[Trey79]

Quote: Originally Posted by raidersbball20

right on

I agree 100%

[GiantBlue76]

Quote: Originally Posted by TheWatcher

2K5 was the Tecmo Bowl of its time, and the only people who hated it were strict Madden fans, and those who just refused to embrace something different. While the competition was giving you ways to price virtual popcorn, 2K was delivering a true Sunday experience and all the extras you needed to keep you involved with the game. It put the competition to shame and gave us a glimpse of what the future of football gaming could be... then the disaster happened. The game's status in history will always have some contention because of the overall popularity of Madden and its popularity at the time.

This post ^^^ == 100% correct. It seems the Madden faithful would rather hate a better game just because it isn't Madden rather than just get the best football game. No one cares who makes the games, it's the quality of the game that matters. How anyone could say that Madden of any kind was better than that game is beyond me. To each their own...

Why is it so hard to embrace something different even if it's better? I was converted. I had every Madden from 1989 until 2001. 2k football burst onto the scene and actually brought a new level of realism to the game that the Madden team could never deliver. Madden 2005 was a great game. NFL 2k5 was a phenomenal game...

[Allyn Wake]

Quote: Originally Posted by tazdevil20

This post ^^^ == 100% correct. It seems the Madden faithful would rather hate a better game just because it isn't Madden rather than just get the best football game. No one cares who makes the games, it's the quality of the game that matters. How anyone could say that Madden of any kind was better than that game is beyond me. To each their own... Why is it so hard to embrace something different even if it's better? I was converted. I had every Madden from 1989 until 2001. 2k football burst onto the scene and actually brought a new level of realism to the game that the Madden team could never deliver. Madden 2005 was a great game. NFL 2k5 was a phenomenal game...

i disagree with this ... i believe 2k's over rated ... the best presentation EVER ... yes ... but gameplay .. no... i dont really care for presentation tho ... or half time highlights ... i hate halftime in real football y would i really care for it in a game?.. the gameplay for 2k5 wasnt wat ppl made it seem ... it was ok but u cant tell me its far beyond every other football game .. and as far as 2k8 i actually played tht 2 weeks ago once again it was good ... but no where near GREAT ... i understand ppl are fed up with the glitches of madden an all its flaws ... but for ppl to sit an say 2k5 or 2k8 Gameplay is Great foolish imo ... but thts jus my opinion ya kno ... thts y everyone has one of there own ...

[Valdarez]

Quote: Originally Posted by tazdevil20

2k football burst onto the scene and actually brought a new level of realism to the game that the Madden team could never deliver. Madden 2005 was a great game. NFL 2k5 was a phenomenal game...

Dead on.

[Spanky]

Just stumbled across this forum. Interesting question, Steve. May I amend the question to read, "What sports game did you have the most fun with?'' because my list includes games that were probably inferior to subsequent versions and/or seem archaic by today's technological standards. But these are the games that I longed to play over and over again:

1. Tecmo Super Bowl, NES (December 1991): Still the king after all these years. We're talking stone age compared to today's games. But, man, it seemed years ahead of its time with NFL/NFLPA licenses, season mode and, especially, stat tracking. I bought it on a Sunday night from Toys R Us ($54 was extremely steep at the time), but played it until 7 a.m. that first day. Needless to say, it was worth the price.

2. College Hoops 2k4, XBox (November 2003): One of the biggest one-year improvements in any series that I can recall. Not only was the gameplay superb, I was overwhelmed by the atmosphere (real arenas and courts, enormous number of mascots and fight songs) and the depth of options. When you're playing a college basketball game the following summer, it has to be good.

3. Madden 10, 360 (August 2009): Post-patches. I've been a huge critic of this abomination of a series, but nearly 10 months after its release, I'm playing this game more than any other. I'm a graphics ho and proud of it, and this game just looks marvelous. Couple that with tight gameplay (no game-killing bugs) and I can overlook any other shortcomings.

4. NFL 2k5, XBox (July 2004): Not being familiar with this series, I was skeptical, but the $15 price tag (it was either on sale when I bought or there some kind of $5 off special the store was running) lured me in. Fantastic graphics and gameplay, coupled with a presentation element (particularly the weekly show with highlights of other games) that amazingly still hasn't been matched by even next-gen Madden, made for lots of fun and much anguish after its demise.

5. FIFA 1998: Road to the World Cup, PSX (December 1997): Strangely, I don't remember a lot about this title, expect that I played the hell out of it and loved it. The original PlayStation was a piece of junk for sports games and nearly prompted me to abandon this tremendous pastime, but this game was its shining moment. Loved the fact it had 170-plus countries and the custom tournaments I would create.


Honorable mention: 6. NCAA Football 2004 (XBox), 7. NHL 10 (360), 8. FIFA World Cup 2006 (Xbox), 9. NBA 2k8 (360), 10. NHL 95 (Sega) Genesis.

[GaryT531]

Quote: Originally Posted by StormJH1

Are any of you old enough to remember 2004? Just curious b/c I don't understand how you can argue that NFL 2k5 was the greatest sports video game ever, when it wasn't even clearly the best football game in 2004.

I believe that was the point of the article. The author is suggesting that this game has been popular for all of these years despite not being the unanimous hands down top football game of 2004-05.