So I've recently been playing a lot of Tecmo Bowl on the Switch Online service. I'm not at all a football fan and have probably never watched a whole game-it's stop and go and I find it boring to watch. I know only the basic rules and don't know what most plays are called. Definitely not the kind of person that knows how to or would want to play a Madden. If a football game didn't have a league or team license I'd never notice! But Tecmo Bowl strips it down so it's simple and feels action packed.
It got me thinking about other sports titles that are still a good time for those that don't follow the sport. NBA Jam is probably the king of this. Pretty much everything I know about basketball I learned from endless NBA Jam sessions after school at my friends' house.
What other sports games are fun for people that don't play sports? SNK's Baseball Stars on the Neo-Geo is probably good (though I'm enough of a baseball fan that I don't know if it would be fun for people that don't follow it).
I think the core components here are:
1) Simplified rules.
2) Arcade style pick up and play gameplay.
3) Multiplayer capability.
Does anyone else similarly enjoy a particular sports game despite not really care about the professional sport? I'd love to discuss this. Retro and current, arcade and console, if you have a favorite I want to hear about it!
@Magitek_Knight
1. K-1 World MAX 2005 PS2 Japan
Kickboxing game from Japan.
Gameplay similar with Tekken, you can play 2 players and use Edit characters.
Also, you can train your edit characters to build their parameter (Career Mode)
2. Bomberman Hardball PS2 PAL
Compilation Bomberman games: Classic Battle, Golf, Tennis and Baseball.
3. Wii Sports Resort
Ready to play 12 different sports by using Wii motion control or Wii U remote.
@Magitek_Knight I agree with @Anti-Matter, Wii sports Resort is a really good game. Don't get that game and the original Wii Sports mixed up though, there's a huge difference.
Another one I like is What The Golf? It's not exactly a sports game, but closely resembles one.
I like most of the Mario Tennis games quite a bit. Power Tennis and Aces are my two favorites. (Power Tennis for the power shots that all the characters can do, and Aces for its surprisingly technical gameplay. Really like the trick shots, slow motion, and shot aiming.) Open is decent, as well. Oh and there's Ultra Smash, but that one's not very good. Skip that one.
@Anti-Matter I love Wii Sports Resort! I kinda miss playing it. I remember liking it a bit more than the original Wii Sports.
@Blooper987 I would LOVE to play Golf Story one of these days. I haven't played too much of MG:WT, but from what I've played it's pretty good. I liked Toadstool Tour as well.
Retro there's a whole bunch of them some of my favorites are
Nintendo World Cup (NES) it's actually part of the Kunio series but when they localized it for NA they removed all references to Kunio and changed the teams to countries.
Super Spike V-Ball (NES)
Blades of Steel (NES)
Mutant League Football and Mutant League Hockey (Genesis)
Reggie Jackson Baseball (Master System)
Tommy LaSorda Baseball (Genesis)
NHL Hockey 94 (Genesis)
Greatest Heavyweights (Genesis)
Ken Griffey Jr. Presents Major League Baseball (SNES)
Bill Laimbeer's Combat Basketball (SNES)
Tecmo Super Bowl (SNES)
NFL Blitz (N64, PSOne)
Virtua Tennis (Dreamcast)
For modern systems I particularly like
Mutant Football League (PC, Switch, PS4, Xbox One).
MLB The Show (PS4 but starting next year Xbox One, and Switch as well). This one you can make as arcadey or as sim as you want via the options.
Personally, I got enjoyment out of Sega Superstars Tennis on Wii and DS. I found both versions easy to pick up and play. The Wii version supports motion, but you can play with traditional controls if you like. Each character has an special move to use on the opponent when hitting the ball.
On the subject of tennis, I actually enjoyed Family Tennis SP. I've played this one on Wii U, but it did get a recent release on Switch IIRC. Like Sega Superstars Tennis, I also found this one easy to pick up and play.
Also, I can't forget the Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games series.
I'm not into sports and I've enjoyed these games.
The resident Trolls superfan! Saw Trolls Band Together via early access and absolutely loved it!
@Sunsy I forgot about the Mario & Sonic games on my first post - the ones I've played were Winter (Vancouver) and London 2012 on the Wii. I liked the winter one quite a bit, that one is my favorite. Really like the dream events in that game.
@MarioLover92 The earlier Mario & Sonic games mainly the ones on the Wii were alot better IMO. Once the got to the Wii U they just seemed to get worst and worst. The lastest one on Switch was really bad. The only thing that I liked was the retro mode but even that got boring after awhile. I still play the London one every once in awhile.
RetiredPush Square Moderator and all around retro gamer.
@Tasuki I agree with all that. Me and my bud used our money we had to split the OD version and the Winter version and traded every month or so. Good times.
The newest Mario and Sonic is beyond awful. I cannot explain how bad I hate that thing. It was worth $30 at most. Thankfully I got it on physical so I just sold it after 2 weeks. I can describe that game as basically mini games and dialogue.
@Zeldafan79 I just find it satisfying to punch my opponents lights out honestly. that's basically the sole reason I play it.
@Magitek_KnightRocket League. I was very skeptical of Rocket League when I got it 2+ years ago. However, it's an impressive game. I thought I plateaued at 100 hours, learned a couple new skills... and went on to play another 500 hours.
I’m not sure there is such a thing as an inaccessible tennis game. From Pong to Virtua Tennis, they’re pretty much all pick-up-and-play. Always been a favourite genre of mine in sports games.
I’ll throw out Speedball and Speedball II - even if they’re not real sports, they’re certainly sports games, and everyone can enjoy them.
I’d say any arcade take on sport is usually fun regardless of who you are. Anything on the Neo Geo, from golf to football (soccer), can be enjoyed by people who know little or nothing about the sport it’s based on.
Ooh, one more: Mario Kart. The racing game for people who don’t really like racing games!
Probably the closest we'll get to arcade American football since the NFL Street series.
You can toggle the dirty plays and hazards off at the team select screen if things are too silly.
Switch Physical Collection - 1,247 games (as of April 15th, 2024)
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Topic: Sports games that are still fun if you're not a sports fan
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