The 15 Greatest Sports Video Games

Quick question: Most of your friends play Madden, right?

Another: Have you ever pulled an all-nighter just to ensure your created player makes it to the Big Leagues?

if you answered "yes" to both questions, you're an average sports gamer.

Sports and video games are two of the most popular mediums in our culture today. It's only natural that we love it when those two worlds collide.

After all, sports games let us live out our childhood dreams of leading our favorite team to the Super Bowl. They fulfill our fantasy of pitching a perfect game in the Majors. They give us the chance to create ourselves as a virtual athlete—who happens to be 4' 11'' and 450 pounds of solid muscle.

But as the age old question asks: What are the best games based on sports?

Everyone's list will be different, of course, but I've compiled a list of 15 games that I believe stand out above the rest.

15: Blitz: The League (2005, Various Consoles)

Sure, everyone loves Madden. But doesn't the clean-cut, rule-based gameplay get tiring after a while?

That's where Blitz: The League steps in.

Spun-off from the earlier NFL Blitz series, Blitz: The League offers gritty, hardcore, uncut action. It is virtually impossible to go through one game without someone's neck being snapped in half or hearing the satisfying sound of a skull being crunched.

The game also includes an aspect football fans have been dying to simulate—the ability to send prostitutes to your opponent's hotel room. Doing so also weakens their stats for the game. 

Also, tired of your wimpy QB's torn ACL keeping him out of action? Juice him with steroids and he's good as new!

Blitz isn't trying to win over traditional fans, but its over-the-top violence, frequent swearing, and general inability to play by the rules has endeared it to many.

14: 3D Pinball for Windows: Space Cadet (1996, Microsoft Windows)

Pinball is just plain addictive.

There have been literally hundreds of different forms of pinball. They range from licensed machines based on everything from The Simpson's to The Twilight Zone, as well as those with a theme, such as the intergalactic 3D Pinball for Windows: Space Cadet.

Space Cadet, like every version of pinball, has the unique charm of being addicting without boasting the latest advancements in technology. One can easily waste away several hours of a day attempting to break their previous high score.

In fact, I think I want my Space Cadet high score as the epitaph on my tombstone.

Also, it should be noted that the game becomes even more enjoyable while playing on the school's computer while the teacher isn't looking.

13: Pong (1972, Arcade)

Pong, by today's standards, is very primitive and unimpressive.

Still, its claim as not only the one of the first sports game, but one of the first video games period merits it's inclusion on this list.

And besides, table tennis needs to shown some love.

Simple objective: Knock the ball into the other guy's side of the screen. Nothing fancy, but it gets the job done.

Pong has an everlasting legacy as an innovation; it helped us get to where we are today.

So next time you see  it, say "thank you, Pong."

12: Super Baseball 2020 (1993, Sega Genesis/Super Nintendo)

Now that we've spent some time in the past, let's head into the future.

2020 to be precise.

Fun fact: Did you know that within the next decade the MLB will have robots as players?

That's the story Super Baseball 2020 claims.

2020 is what you would expect from a futuristic baseball game—it's short on realism and high on sci-fi elements. The droids blow up during games, balls are mashed more than humanly possible, and players are enhanced via power-ups.

While the story now seems improbable, its unorthodox style of play captured the imagination of the early 1990s.

11: Mutant League Football (1993, Sega Genesis)

Let's stay on the fantasy element, shall we?

The Mutant League series was Blitz: The League, only twenty years earlier. Actually, it made what goes on in Blitz look like a birthday party.

While it didn't feature swearing, the violence depicted was beyond anyone's imagination. Players were killed and refs mangled. MVP play was rewarded by being sent to the Hole of Flame, the game's personification of Hell.

The cartoony ultraviolence was well received, and the series got a hockey sequel the following year—as well as a brief cartoon series.

10: Baseball Mogul Series (Annual, PC)

A game intended for the obsessive compulsive, the Baseball Mogul series put players in charge of an entire franchise.

They are allowed to make every single decision, from setting your line-up against left handed pitching to setting the price for a hot dog in your stadium—and everything in between.

The actual on the field gameplay is where the game really shines. Want to play your outfield deep while Albert Pujols is batting? Done. Want to have your backup 2nd basemen pitch? You can do it!

Want to limit the number of hot dogs Prince Fielder can eat prior to a game? Not quite yet!

Baseball Mogul is one of those rare games which requires more brains than skill, making it lovable to many.

9: WWE Day of Reckoning (2004, GameCube)

WWE Day of Reckoning could be mentioned on this list for it's name alone.

Come on, say it.

Day of Reckoning.

But as it turns out, it's also a great game. Featuring a large roster of grapplers, entertaining gameplay, and a realistic minor league to main roster Story Mode, Day of Reckoning could still be enjoyed today.

One more time.

Day of Reckoning.

8: Wii Sports (2006, Wii)

Everybody you know who owns a Wii owns Wii Sports.

While it's because the game came bundled as a launch title for the system, there's no denying that it's hours of family fun.

After all, what's more fun than blasting home runs out of the stadium with a guy who's missing his arms—while you barely move a muscle?

Nothing, that's what.

7: Def Jam: Fight for NY (2004, Various Consoles)

It may be a stretch to call Def Jam: Fight for NY a sports game.

The way I see it, Fight for NY has cage fighting. Cage fighting is considered a sport. Therefore, Fight for NY is a sports game.

While the original is no slouch, Fight for NY is where the franchise grew the proverbial beard.

Packed with a large roster of Def Jam's most famous rappers, fighting venues such as nightclubs and subway stations—and the ability to trick out your created player with clothes from such brands as Air Jordan, P Diddy's Sean John, or South Pole (but don't pick that one), the game was really deep.

And how could you not like a game with Snoop Dogg as the final boss?

6: NCAA Football Series (Annual, Various Consoles)

NCAA Football is Madden Jr.

Not matter what, people will buy the latest installment.

Luckily, though, each new year brings in a few new bells and whistles. Last year featured the addition of numbered helmets.

However, the game's highlight is the "Road to Glory" Career Mode (or as I like to call it, Erin Andrews Mode). This is where you take your gridiron goon from his Senior Year of high school all the way through college.

Oh, and did I mention Erin Andrews is in it?

5: MLB Slugfest Series (2003-2006, Various Consoles)

The guilty pleasure to end all guilty pleasures.

As you can tell from the photo, this game is hot.

Taking a page from NFL Blitz, Slugfest focused on a more "street" based style of baseball. Beanballs were frequent, players combusted when on a hot streak, and you could throw punches.

So if you ever want to beat the living hell out of Albert Pujols with D'Angelo Jimenez, or you want to hit for the cycle with Scorpion from Mortal Kombat, this is the game for you.

4: Mario Kart 64 (1997, N64)

Ah, the legends of racing: Petty, Earnhardt...Mario?

This is a classic.

Every kid growing up in the 90's remembers trying to beat their own personal best on Rainbow Road, the humiliation of getting whacked with a blue shell—and of course, trying to find a way past that darn giant, Yoshi egg.

Mario Kart > NASCAR.

3: Madden (1988-Present, Various Consoles)

This one needs no introduction.

You play it, your mom plays it, everyone plays it.

Since 1988, Madden has been not just a game, but a cultural icon.

EA Sports could probably put out a blank disk that just said "Madden" and sell several million copies.

Madden, we salute you.

2: NBA 2K11 (2010, Various Consoles)

Your runner-up: NBA 2K11.

But why just one installment?

Hands down, NBA 2K11 is the zenith of the series.

A bloated Career Mode, jaw-dropping graphics, and commentary that feels ripped from an actual NBA game are just three of the many features that we love.

Not to mention the Jordan Challenges.

Those controller-destroying, profanity-inducing, hair-pulling Jordan Challenges.

1: Mike Tyson's Punch-out (1987, NES)

Oh Mike Tyson's Punch-Out.

Everyone has a story about how they almost beat Tyson; some spent years studying his every move.

Everyone jokes about how laughably easy Glass Joe is.

Everyone who's played it agrees it's a modern day masterpiece—a key ingredient in pop culture history.

It's also the greatest sports game in history.