BEST SPORTS VIDEO GAMES FROM OUR CHILDHOOD

“Stop Looking at My Controller!”

By Cody Phillips

When first considering this topic, I felt I was going to struggle in determining my two favorite sports video games growing up.  It literally took me all of two minutes.  Without a shadow of a doubt, it was Tecmo Bowl and R.B.I. Baseball for the Nintendo Entertainment System.

The original Tecmo Bowl was released on the Nintendo in 1989 and shortly thereafter become a love of mine.  It was really the first video game to feature real NFL teams and players.  Tecmo Bowl contained twelve teams, each equipped with four offensive plays. Most teams have two running plays and two passing plays. The exceptions were San Francisco and Miami, who have three passing plays and one running play.  

Tecmo Bowl had its quirks. For instance, almost any pass thrown to a covered receiver resulted in an interception, and it was unrealistically easy for some teams to block field goals and extra points. Lawrence Taylor of New York and Dexter Manley of Washington could block any field goal or extra point simply by selecting them and running down the line and through the long snapper.  On offense Walter Payton, Marcus Allen, Neal Anderson, and Bo Jackson were nearly unstoppable running the football.  Montana, Elway, and Marino deadly through the air.  On defense, the aforementioned L.T., Mike Singletary, Ronnie Lott, and Howie Long were menacing.  

Playing against a friend could be extremely frustrating seeming how the gamer controlling the defense had a 1 (Ozzie Smith) in 4 (Bobby Orr) chance of guessing the offensive play, which resulted in almost assuredly a loss on the play.  Also, it seemed extremely easy to sneak a peek at your friends controller and see which play they were choosing! (Of course, I never did such a thing)  The phrase, “stop looking at my controller” was screamed thousands of times at a bloody murder pitch from an upstairs bedroom at the Phillips abode. 

The second coming of the franchise, Tecmo Super Bowl, was almost my top choice because it was the first game to have every NFL team, expanded rosters, expanded playbooks, and statistics tracking over the entire season (my favorite facet of the game.)  I also loved that you could edit playbooks and substitute offensive players.  This really ignited my passion for “x’s and o’s” in the game of football.  Both Tecmo Bowl and Tecmo Super Bowl were fantastic, but the original garnered my top nod. 

R.B.I. Baseball comes in a very close second when thinking back to my most fond video game memories as a youngster.  It contained 8 teams listed only by city name.  Boston, California, Detroit, Houston, Minnesota, and San Francisco.

The real fun came when you controlled either the American League or the National League All Star teams.  These squads had the real studs.  The two teams featured established veterans such as George Brett, Dale Murphy, and Andre “The Hawk” Dawson —none of whom appeared on the other eight teams—as well as up-and-coming stars like Mark McGwire, Andres Galarraga, and Jose Canseco.  I wish I could make this screen talk, because the sounds in this game are particularly cemented into my brain.  I can still hear the specific sound associated with a homerun that flew OUT OF THE STADIUM, a missed swing, an error made in the field, a pitch with a lot of movement, a batter being hit by a pitch, and many other gameplay features.  I also remember every player on the field being “shaped” exactly the same...looking very much like Penguins.  Crazy what you remember from your childhood.  

This game resulted in many head-to-head heated battles with friends as well.  Less likely than Tecmo to sneak a peak and cheat on this game...much more likely to set a “fastball’s only” designation prior to starting and get super pi**ed when your friend decides in the most crucial part of the game that he’s gonna either A.) disregard the rule that was agreed on prior to the start regarding "fastballs only" or B.) have an erroneous hand slip that results in your hitter swinging 10 seconds before the pitch gets to the plate.  Talk about “fighting mad”...that’ll get me fighting mad!  

I absolutely love both of these games and will forever cherish that time in my life.  We all like to reminisce about our childhood and both Tecmo Bowl and R.B.I. Baseball stick out as bright spots in a childhood filled with many stars.  

*A Special Thanks to my Uncle Terry & Aunt Shari for buying me that Nintendo as a Christmas Gift all those years ago...*

Real Players Have Muddy Uniforms

By Eric Brookes 

I would like to open by saying that this topic has me a little flustered. It has been a tough, arduous decision trying to determine which two sports games to choose as my favorites from my childhood. Probably the toughest decision of my day to this point. (Take that last statement however you choose.) 

After thinking about it for a short time, my first selection actually came quite simple and didn't require much thinking.  It is the one and only John Madden Football. I remember being at my friend Michael Jebbia’s house for a birthday party when he received the original John Madden game. It was the most realistic football game I had ever seen to this point and I remember thinking I had to have it. The first major problem I had was the fact that I didn't have a Sega at the time.  The console which the original John Madden Football was played on.  I was still stuck with the original  Nintendo.  After a lot of begging and agitation, I received my Sega and Madden game for my next birthday.  

To this day, much of what sticks with me from that game were the subtleties that appeared overwhelming for that day and age.  One that I remember is that when it rained, the field and the players uniforms got muddy. Although the rain drops appeared to be less than authentic, the fact the field and uniform conditions changed throughout the game was a big deal!  Weather conditions, time of quarters, fatigue, were all adjustable by the gamer. This was by far the most realistic football game that I’d ever seen.  

Twenty years later, the Madden Football series of video games is still going strong and has become one of the highest selling video games of all time (worth $4 Billion dollars). It is scary to see how far this game has come since its original version first hit the Sega Genesis and my heart. Free Agency, salary caps, even the ability to import draft classes from the EA Franchise of College football games are all now a part of the John Madden Football 2012. 

Looking into my fuzzy 31 (Reggie Miller) year old memory, I don't think you could even play an entire season in the inaugural version of this game and it only had 17(Dave Krieg) of the NFL Teams, but the thought of seeing those muddy, grass stained uniforms during those rainy games takes me back to some great childhood memories.

I was close to choosing several other games for my second pick, but after much thought, the one and only Baseball Stars is my selection.  This game had eight teams that came created on the game with six slots where you could create your own team.  It was one of the first sports games to have data memory, therefore gamers could create a team, configure a league and play a season, and the game's memory chip stored cumulative statistics. Baseball Stars was also the first sports game for the NES to have a create a player feature; giving gamers the power to name their players, as well as their teams.  

For all of you Nintendo gamers throughout the world...I know you remember the “blow” technique we ALL used to clean the dust out of our games in an attempt to get them to work properly.  (This was followed swiftly by a hard/open hand slap to the side, front, rear, and top of the console if it was not cooperating)  Anyway, Baseball Stars was the one game that was the quintessential “blow in” adversary...literally every time I played it, it had to be beaten into submission before it would work.  Like they say, “The harder you have to work, the more rewarding the result is...” Maybe that’s another reason why I loved this game.

The one feature I will never forget from this game was as a defender you had the ability to climb the outfield wall in an attempt to rob the hitter of a Homerun.  I’m almost positive this was the first game that you could do that on.

Both games are near and dear to my heart and looking back spark some great memories of being a kid.   

Left On The Cutting Room Floor:      

There were so many great games to choose from when we put our head’s together for this blog topic.  Our final list consisted of Mike Tyson’s Punch Out, Double Dribble, Blades of Steel, NHL Hockey, Lakers vs. Celtics, NBA Jam, and the one and only Bases Loaded.  I know we’re forgetting some... 

...Let us know what some of your favorites were and hopefully we can spark some cool memories of your youth.