Despite being thegaming industry’s 2nd most popular genre in 2020, the range of sports games released each year is surprisingly slim. As anyone familiar with the genre will know, this is largely due to licensed titles like2K’s NBA and EA’s FIFAdominating the market.
The dominance of licensed sports games may be called into question shortly, asDavid Beckham’s reported £40 million earningsfor appearing as an icon in three FIFA titles has caused a stir amongst soccer’s biggest stars. Mino Riola, one of the sport’s most recognizable agents, has claimed thataround 300 players may take legal action against EA over their likeness.
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If the players were successful in their lawsuit, it would likely have huge ramifications for the entire sports genre.Unlicensed sports gameslikeSuper Mega Baseball 3andPro Evolution Soccer,which only has a select few licenses, would become the norm. The gaming world may even see peculiar sporting titles become more prevalent. What are some examples of strange sports games?
10Pirates Vs. Ninjas Dodgeball
The titlePirates Vs. Ninjas Dodgeballshould be telling enough as to why Blazing Lizard’s game features on this list. The Xbox 360 and Nintendo Wii game originally released in 2008 andscored 44 and 46 on Metacriticrespectively.
Pirates Vs. Ninjas Dodgeballhas some decent gameplay variety to it, particularly with how different teams have their own set of strengths and weaknesses. However, the game suffered from weak A.I. that seriously harmed the overall gameplay.
9Sega Soccer Slam
Considering that it is theworld’s most-watched sport, it should come as little surprise that there are tons of odd-ball soccer games; one of which isSega Soccer Slam. The gamewas likely a large inspiration behindMario’s soccer ventureSuper Mario Strikers, which was released on the Gamecube three years later.
Sega Soccer Slamis one of themost critically acclaimed titlesin this article, exemplified by its impressive GameCube Metascore of 84. Much likePirates Vs. Ninjas Dodgeball,Black Box Games’Sega Soccer Slamfeatures numerous different teams with varying attributes.
8Ninja Golf
Combining the slow, methodical gameplay of golf with the fast-paced action of Ninja combat is certainly an unorthodox move, but one that compliments each factor surprisingly well – sort of like peanut butter and chocolate.
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BlueSky Software’sNinja Golfwas released in 1990 on the Atari 7800 and required players to fight off hordes of enemies when walking to their ball between shots. Believe it or not,Atari is currently working on a remake of the game.
7Diabolical Pitch
Of all the many gaming innovations for a company to try and emulate, it was certainly unexpected when Microsoft decided to create their own take on the EyeToy, a failed venture of Sony’s.
One of the many issues with the Kinect was that there were very few Kinect-exclusive games that made the product look appealing to consumers. It’s safe to say thatDiabolical Pitch,a game that tasked a baseball pitcher with taking down hordes of mascots, didn’t have gamers rushing to buy Microsoft’s motion-sensing device.
6Outlaw Golf
A self-proclaimed golf game for adults,Outlaw Golfattempted to liven up thesport of golfby essentially putting it in a blender with aJersey Shoreboxset. It also hired Steve Carell to provide commentary.
As well as offering players a cast of characters that looked like they stumbled out of a nightclub,Outlaw Golfis remembered for its over-the-top gameplay mechanics, such as making players punch and kick their caddy to improve the state of their composure meter.
5Blitz: The League II
Midway Games’Blitz: The League IIreleased in 2008 and much like its predecessor, offers a hardcore alternative toElectronic Arts’Maddenseriesby focusing on the dark side of the National Football League.
The game exaggerates the sport’s less-glamorous features by letting players inflict bone-breaking injuries on opposition players and take numerous perform enhancing drugs. While not excelling in any one area,Blitz: The League IIis a passable game and a solid alternative to the more realisticMaddentitles.
4Captain Tsubasa: Rise of New Champions
Based on the 2018 anime seriesCaptainTsubasa,Tamsoft’sCaptain Tsubasa: Rise of New Championsreleased in August 2020 and scored between 70 and 75 on Metacritic.
Rise of New Championswas praised by fans and critics for its deep and varied range of gameplay mechanics. However, the game was criticized for inundating players with fan service and weak teammate A.I. It also plays out quite differently than a traditional soccer game, as scoring generally requires depleting the goalkeeper’s spirit.
3Mega Man Soccer
Mario isn’t the only platforming mascot to attempt to profit from soccer’s worldwide popularity, as Capcom’sMega Manfeatured in alesser-known soccer gameon the SNES in 1994.
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UnlikeSuper Mario Strikers,Sun L’sMega Man Soccerdidn’t utilize the personalities and characteristics of its cast to offer an extreme-iteration of soccer. It instead offered a fairly true-to-life interpretation of the sport, which resulted in the game performing poorly commercially and critically.
2Mutant Football League
Mutant Football Leagueis on the other end of the spectrum toMega Man Soccer, as it offers some of the most over-the-top action available in the sports genre. Digital Dreams Entertainment’s game was released in 2017 and is a modern interpretation of Electronic Arts' Sega Genesis gameMutant League Football.
Mutant FootballLeague’s three releasesscored between 62 and 74 on Metacritic, with praise being directed towards the comically fun gameplay.
1What The Golf
The most critically acclaimed entry on this list along with Black Box Games’Sega Soccer Slam, Triband’sWhat The Golfscored between 79 and 84 on Metacritic andwon the Best Mobile Game award at the 2020 Game Developers Choice Awards.
The crowdfunded game has incredible range in its gameplay variety, as it throws many bizarre obstacles in the player’s way such as mines, cars, gun-wielding enemies, and exploding barrels.
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