Top 10 Sports Games I'd like to see return - thescoop's Blog

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Top 10 Sports Games I'd like to see return

Posted on July 6, 2018 at 01:28 PM.

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I recently purchased a Nintendo Classic mini and with it I've been able to relive the world of classic gaming. Doing so got me thinking about old school sports titles I'd want to see return. Some on this list have little to no shot at ever coming back. While others are ones we may one day see a return from.

Honorable Mention: Skate or Die

This series may not be as good as I remember it as a child but I still have fond memories of it. It was one of the very first skateboarding games I played and I remember myself and all my friends had to have it. It could be fun to see what was done with the series in current gen gaming. I wanted to include this game in the list but it just wasn't enough to make my top ten so I have it here as an honorable mention.

Honorable mention 2: All Star Baseball

Another series I use to love but didn't really have room to include it on my top ten. I miss the expansion mode, the classic stadiums and everything. This series might not be as beloved as others you'll see mentioned but to me this was another of my long love of baseball video games. (You'll see a few on this list.)

10. Mutant League Hockey

With the return of Mutant League Football in the Mutant Football League, Hockey should be the next to return. Both games were fun classics and I would love to see this one brought back as well. I really enjoy the fun with the mutant players all somewhat based on real players. This series would be a lot of fun to see brought back, especially if they can do as good a job as they did with the football return. Spoof sports games are lacking in today's sports climate.

9. Track and Field

Track and Field was button mashing at its finest. It is also one of the very first sports games I remember getting into heated competition with my friends in. I'd love to see this franchise return but only if they kept it in the very simple button mashing format. My freinds and I would spend hours trying to break one another's records. This game was one of my favorite from my childhood.

8. NFL Blitz

Sadly, in today's over sensitive world I doubt we'd ever see the violent game that was the original. If somehow we did, it wouldn't feature the NFL license. But we all remember how much fun we had with the original game. I can remember hours playing against friends and the over the top hits. I miss the old Blitz games.

7. Bases Loaded

Some may not remember this series but it was the game that started my love of baseball video games. The second and third games weren't as good as that first but still. I can remember the day I saw an ad for this game and was amazed by the view it gave you. Keep in mind that the graphics today aren't anything impressive, but at the time they blew us away. See the screenshot below

I believe this was the first game to feature that behind the pitcher view. All the teams and players were fictional but it didn't matter. I was a fan of Oko with the Philly team. He could crush it but if you beaned him twice he'd always charge the mound. I'd love to see this game come back with the same fictional players, new teams. It would be fun to attempt a career with Oko and Carr. Carr was a pitcher for the Philly team. Also, with no MLB license you could keep things like charging the mound and other fun nuggets from the series. Maybe I should have ranked this one higher just based on how much I typed about it.

6. Tecmo Bowl

You can make a list like this and not include Tecmo Bowl. This game was amazing. And the follow up, Super Tecmo Bowl was even better. Sure they did a DLC game a few years ago and it was fun. But I'd love to see a return of Tecmo Bowl for a modern age with updated graphics but the same simple controls that made it easy for all to enjoy. I wouldn't care if they didn't have an NFL license if the game was fun and offered some fun beyond just a season.

5. MVP College Baseball

College baseball will never be as popular as other college sports. But still I enjoyed this series. It was never what it could have been though. They failed to ever feature all the stadiums or even most of them. But the game was still loads of fun and it gave the MVP team something to do after MLB sold the third party exclusive rights to 2K. I would love to see anyone make a college baseball game. But sadly due to the current issues with college video games this one won't be happening any time soon if ever.

4. NFL 2K

Some will be mad that I don't have this one higher on my list. For a lot of folks, this is number one. I wasn't a huge 2K fan though. While I did enjoy a lot of what they did my main reason for including it is they made Madden have to be better. Madden got stale for one reason: no competition. And when 2K made the brilliant 2K5, Madden was in trouble. Well, they were until they bought the NFL exclusive license. And as a result, they got stale because there was no one that could push them. The two series were better because of the other one. This is why we need NFL 2K to return.

3. MVP MLB Baseball

Man, MVP Baseball was hitting it stride. It is shame the NFL deal lead to 2K jumping on the MLB third party deal. You can't really blame them but I would have loved to see where this series would have gone. I was tempted to merge this with the College baseball version, but that wouldn't have been fair to the truly great MVP MLB series. They actually featured a full minor leagues with Single A! They introduced the meter based pitching. As I stated early on, I love baseball games. This one is still one of the best. And as I said with NFL 2K above, even a series as great as The Show would be made better if there was someone else out there pushing them. And since there is no current 3rd party exclusive deal (also no true MLB game for Xbox customers. Sorry RBI.) this series is possible to return. The fact it hasn't may mean it never will. But I think we'd all at least check out a new MVP MLB Baseball

2. College Basketball 2K

Don't get me wrong, I'd take any college basketball game right now. If EA somehow brought back March Madness I'd be happy. If the Gridiron Champions guys are successful with their game I'd take a basketball version as well. But we all know the 2K series was the best. And this column isn't about what types of games we want back. It is about what series we want to see return. I loved everything about the 2K College series. I loved the CBS show and the tournament selection show. I still play the last entry in the series to this very day. It has been 11 years since we saw this game. I'd love to see this one get started again. We as sports fans are really missing out to not have this wonderful series in our lives anymore.

1. NCAA Football

Is this any shock that this one takes the number one spot? It is the one we all want to see back. You see the picture I chose and you wish that was a real release. It is why we're willing to even entertain the idea of a game like Gridiron Champions because for now we feel that's the closest we'll get to this game. But this is the one we want. We don't really want generic teams. We want what EA had built and we want it for this generation of consoles. The NCAA series may not have been perfect but it appeared to be headed in the right direction with the final release. And the fact it ended right before a jump to the current generation is a true tragedy. EA is never going to allow NCAA 14 to be backwards compatible so if we wish to keep playing we have to keep our 360 or PS3's just for the game. (And a lot of us do.) I do wish EA had gone ahead and released the College game minus the NCAA license they originally were going to release after NCAA didn't renew. But they felt we needed it to be authentic since that's what they've produced in the past. They may have been right to do so but as this point I'm so starved for a new college football game I wish they'd put something out. And maybe if Gridiron Champions is successful EA will decide to dip a toe back in that water in some fashion. Maybe the NCAA will decide there is a way to do this without ripping off the player's likeness without payment. But I really want to see this series back and to see it pick up right where NCAA Football 14 left off. With the popularity of college football, it is really a shame there is no longer a true representation of the sport in video game form.