Sports Games of the Decade: Other Sports Game of the Decade

Gold:Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2

Many people forgot that Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 was indeed released after 1999. Debuting on the original Playstation in the year 2000 (cue Conan O'Brien), TH2 was near perfection. With its marvelous control scheme, addictive multiplayer and various game modes, Tony Hawk 2 was a sports gaming masterpiece. It's not often that a sports title is mentioned in the same breath as GoldenEye and Zelda: Ocarina of Time, but in TH2's case it was well deserved. Tony Hawk Pro Skater 2 is hands down the greatest alternative sports game ever created.


Silver: Virtua Tennis

By definition, Dreamcast owners were hardcore sports fanatics. With that said, if you owned a Dreamcast and did not own Virtua Tennis, you should be ashamed of yourself. It didn't matter that the game's most recognizable licensed player was Tommy Haas, or that tennis was not exactly the most popular sport on Earth. Why? Because the game was a blast to play. It was so much fun that my entire freshman year of college was spent having doubles tournaments against my roommates and eventually our entire dorm. When a game has the power to turn 30-plus 18-year-old kids living in a dorm for football and baseball players into rabid tennis fans, you know you have something special. Virtua Tennis still finds its way into my Dreamcast at least once every few months. It is the greatest tennis game ever.

Readers' Choice: WWF No Mercy

In the wide open other games category, WWF No Mercy ended up taking the crown from all other contenders. However, the category was close as No Mercy managed 13 percent of the vote while Fight Night Round 4 was on its heels at 12 percent of the vote. Interestingly enough the readers didn't show as much love towards Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 or Virtua Tennis, as the former was down on the list and Virtua Tennis barely garnered any reader support.