/vr/ - Retro Games

Sports games are mostly bought by casuals/NPCs who have no serious interest in vidya. That is they'll buy a console and never ever play anything but sports games.

>>10630616
This. It's surprising how many listings there are of people selling their consoles with the games they had, and it's all sports shovelware. A large proportion of children had these consoles and none of the big hitters or even anything decent.

>>10630280
As a big fan of sports games it comes down to a couple things. First thing to point out is that with the benefit of hindsight everyone who wants them for playing and not collecting will just get the one they like the most and ignore the others in the same series. I would also say that while sports games were okay for a time they didn't really hit their strike until they went 3D, obviously there are a few exceptions. Another thing that a lot of people don't want to admit is that despite the shitty predatory business practices of modern game companies, modern sports games actually play really well, especially Madden and 2K Basketball.

For me personally I enjoy the following games.
>All Pro Football 2K8
>MVP Baseball 05
>NFL Street 1-3
>NBA Street V3
>Blitz The League 1 and 2
>NBA LIVE 05 (only the dunk contest)
>NHL99 on N64
>ESPN NFL 2K5 (Some of the best presentation in a sports game to this day)
>Mario Superstar Baseball
>The Backyard Sport series by Humongous Entertainment

I know there's not a lot in that list classified as retro but they are my personal top picks for sports vidya. Hope this helps.

There's a really small group of sports games that fun to play without focusing entirely on simulation. Tecmo Super Bowl and NBA Jam are the best examples of this. Nothing compares to those games.

Outside of that are sports games that try to simulate a realistic experience. What's the point of playing an old simulator? Older players that you like more than newer ones? That's about it. Simulators generally improve alongside technology. That's kind of a simplification because gaming is a massive business so there are choices made that aren't exactly great, but you get the idea.

>>10630724
Definitely agree with this. There's two types of sports games, arcade and simulation. Simulation games make up the majority of the genre and they advanced well beyond what was possible in the retro era, so you really just see retro players playing the more arcade like titles.

Pic related is my favorite retro simulation sports game.

>>10630724
Basically this, standard classic games are like classic novels or films that will be enjoyed for generations. Older simulation sports games are like outdated text books.

>>10630650
>No blades of steel, super dodgeball, megaman soccer, Mario tennis or NBA jam oooor mutant league football
Ok, at least you have backyard series, that's good.

>>10630926
What can I say, I prefer NBA Street over NBA Jam and I've never played any of the other ones you listed other than Mario Tennis which is a fine game but not for me. I do have vivid memories of me and my cousin testing to see if the tennis ball could hit Boo or not.

>>10630280
I don't really know what people brought them. I did know one person who was I like soccer so I guess I'll get fifa without knowing anything about how it plays. I guess you get voices and stuff just like tv so its basically a tv watching game since in a real soccer simulator you would be controlling one person from a fps perspective like libra grande. With the more recent fifa games the tackling and stuff is pseudo randomized so its almost like you are not really controlling the game in a sense.
I did like fifa 97 and super side kicks but newer games became less fun over time.

I do in particular really like retro golf games, they often have really novel ways to draw the graphics and the whole try to hit the ball close to the hole is fun and after many play thoughs you can attempt hole in ones. I also don't care about playing the sport in real life.

Some of the most fun I've had in a football game is local multiplayer messing around and laughing at how bad the commentry is, not trying to play it seriously.

>>10630639
Its one big thing I don't like about 16 bit gaming vs 8 bit.

>>10630280
It's mostly because people who are into sports video games always want the newer stuff with updated players, teams and kits... but there's a few out there who do appreciate the old titles and even collect them, it's just that those don't represent a large amount of the community, at least not for the time being. We have a few fans that collect this stuff, but way more copies still.

I personally love sports video games and, unlike most, I prefer the more simulation ones over an arcade experience, though I enjoy those too if it manages to be well made and fun to play with.

However, there are so many different titles for the same sports back then, which makes it a lot more difficult to collect than anything else, it's a bit too much, so I just stick to emulation for this.

>>10632174
What would you recommend to someone who’s never played sports games outside of Wii Sports and Sensible Soccer but is interested in sports and trying out some good games?

>>10630280
coming from a footballing goat nation, I can say most footballing fans dgaf about any other sport, and after that add that most fans go for that ONE release from that ONE series

so far the only looked for (aka GOOD) football games are:
>Goal 3 (Kunio Kun hack)
>Captain Tsubasa 2 & 3
>ISSS Deluxe
>WE 2000/2002
>PES 5 & 6

the Mexican Runner said he was the only guy he went to school with that gaf about video games outside sports shit

>>10630280
People probably just buy the cheapest year on a given system, which basically multiplies the supply side by 3-5 relative to other titles

>>10630280
NHL games on genesis had massive crossover at the time. I'd never watched a hockey game but the design and gameplay was better than almost any head to head game available on the system. They still jerk those games off with retro references and such in current hockey games

>>10632802
Not that anon but it depends on what you want. If you are looking for a less realistic experience and more arcade like titles such as NBA Jam, NFL Blitz, NFL & NBA Street, The Bigs, Captain Tsubasa, and Backyard Sports might be some options to look into. If you want a realistic simulation experience without just buying the most modern releases you can look for pretty much any 2K sports game, MVP Baseball, NFL Fever. I don't know much about hockey or soccer.

>>10632802
I'd say start out with the most acclaimed ones in each genre, since they'll give you a good idea of whether you like video games for whatever sport those titles are based on, or not, this might work.

Soccer: WE 2002, PES 6 and Mario Strikers
Football: TECMO Bowl, NFL 2K5 and Madden '04
Basketball: NBA Jam, NBA Live '05 and NBA 2K11
Hockey: Blades of Steel, NHL '94 and NHL '14

I think you can't go wrong with most of these I've mentioned, and if you dislike all of the titles for any of these sports, then I'd discard said sport entirely, but if you have fun, then dive deeper in.

>>10630280
Like others have said these games came out yearly and there is a sense that if you've played one you've played them all.
>>10630724
Also this, good point.
>>10632174
I think it's cool that there are fans who update older games every year with new rosters and stuff. There is definitely a very dedicated audience for these games. But you also can't really play these mods on original hardware unless you have a flash cart so even the hardcore don't need these cartridges anymore.

>>10633157
>Madden 04
This game only gets talked about because of how broken Vick was, it's not actually good compared to other NFL games of the time.

>>10633121
>>10633157
Thank you, I’ll try some of these up. I suppose maybe I’m a little more interested in arcade games but I don’t really have preference, I’m just curious to discover this part of the world of video games.

>>10630280
There are some fun sports games in vr but i think most sports game players need to update yearly. So madden 03 isnt of particular regard unless you like it. Im gonna try a madden game soon now, just to do it

>>10634238
The 6th Gen versions of Madden 08 are probably the best of the non modern Maddens.

I think a large problem with sports games is the difficulty is very hard to get right. There are very few sports games that after enough time can't be completely mastered even on the hardest difficulties.

>>10630280
I always preferred the crazy over the top sports games to the real ones. NBA JAM, NHL Hitz, NFL Blitz all of them are good shit, only I never played was the baseball one.

>>10634346
MLB Slugfest offers pretty much all the same goofy "matureness" that the other midway games did. I remember it playing okay too but not great.

>>10634346
my fave is the "micro sports" take with tiny teams - nba jam, 2 on 2 open ice challenge, wayne gretzkys 3d hockey 98

way more fun and manageable

>>10634364
Wayne Gretzkys 3D hokey is fucking awesome, love that game. I remember Detroit was STOOPID busted in that game.

>THAT GOALIE'S A WALL

>>10630280
I used to enjoy NBA Live '95 or '96 for the Snes back then but it is outdated compared to the later 3D games we got on PS2/DC/GC/PS3/360/etc. I'll take NBA Street Vol. 2 over NBA Jam anyday. Sometimes, better graphics & technology really do improve certain genres.

>>10632862
The Kunio sports games are pretty hype. The basketball one has 3(I think) hoops on various heights and had tall backgrounds (like the marvel games on arcade) on NES. https://youtu.be/CgpfYKdwJmE?si=YfbmPm26FH-5DAXT

>>10630724
Every simulation has some level of abstraction and sometimes less is more.

Used to play a lot of Blitz with my dad just before the real games. Always picked Dallas or Miami.