What Is The Best Sports Video Game of Ever???

I was hanging out with a couple friends recently who grew up during my era. One of them brought up the classic video game NBA Jam.  The 2 on 2 iconic basketball video game was originally released by Midway as an arcade game in 1993. It paved the way for many other sports video games that would follow, as it was one of the first video games to feature the full names and likeness of NBA players and teams. It was released in 1994 for home gaming consoles such as Sega Genesis and Super Nintendo.

My parents didn’t have much money, so I typically could not buy video games when they were first released. Instead, I would have to ride my bike to Blockbuster Video or another local video store and rent games that I wanted to play. I can recall renting NBA Jam multiple times until I could afford to buy the game once the initial hype waned. I had many, many epic battles for hours on end with my brother and cousins on my Sega and fuzzy 19” tube tv.

NBA Jam was a perfect combination of realism and hyperbole. The people depicted were real, but the stuff they could do on the court was heavily exaggerated! The players could jump so high that they defied human ability and physics and could earn turbo speed! There were no fouls, so you could freely elbow and push your opponents around like rag dolls. (Now that I think about it, maybe this is where Draymond Green got the idea for his famous groin punches, chest stomps, and headlocks!). The game featured commentary from a voice that closely resembled the great Marv Albert. I still hear his catch-phrases in my head loud and clear: “Boomshakalaka”, “He’s heating up”, “He’s on fire!”, “Hey come on, the rim has feelings too.”

What sports video games bring back memories for you? Which sports video game would say is the best ever and why? Tecomo Bowl, Double Dribble, Madden, NBA Live, MLB The Show, Tiger Woods Golf, NBA 2K? Share your thoughts in the comments section below and don’t forget to like, share, and subscribe!