Players love sports video games as much as the real-world athletics that inspire them. Why? Because these digital games empower us to play as our favorite athletes, compete against our friends, and defeat our opponents with gravity-defying slam dunks, 90-yard touchdown sprints, and other fantastic feats most of us can only dream about. These ten games shaped and reshaped the genre.
Pong (1972)
No game did more to define sports video games than Atari’s table tennis-themed arcade game Pong. Its universally intuitive gameplay—bounce a pixelated ball back and forth using a digital paddle—introduced millions of people to video games. Its simple instructions to “avoid missing ball for high score” ignited a craze for tennis and ping pong-style video games for years to come.
One-on-One: Dr. J vs. Larry Bird (1983)
Sports games from the 1970s and early 1980s were mostly abstract and not linked to specific athletes or teams. Electronic Arts’ One-on-One: Dr. J. vs. Larry Bird changed that. Players controlled superstars in a basketball game filled with shot blocks, spin moves, and backboard-breaking slam dunks. The formula of featuring famous professionals and action-packed gameplay became the model for future sports franchises.
Excitebike (1984)
Nintendo’s Excitebike was a new kind of home console sports game developed by Shigeru Myamoto. The side-scrolling motocross racer challenged players to control an off-road motorcycle and spin their wheels on preprogrammed tracks. But the game’s real innovation was its design mode, which permitted players with no computer programming knowledge to create their own courses filled with bumps, jumps, rough patches, and other hazards.
Nintendo’s Excitebike (1984) by NintendoThe Strong National Museum of Play
John Madden Football (1990)
Lead designers Scott Orr and Rich Hilleman worked closely with legendary football personality John Madden to create the 1990 revamp of John Madden Football, an arcade-style action game that balanced dramatic individual confrontations between on-field players with a robust system of player skill ratings such as speed, agility, and strength. This recipe launched the most popular football game franchise ever.
Super Mario Kart (1992)
Nintendo’s Super Mario Kart combined the thrill of racing games with a stable of beloved characters from the world of Mario. The exhilarating gameplay, that encouraged players to hurl shells and banana peels at their opponents to slow them down, appealed to people of all ages and skill levels. Decades after it first appeared, this beloved series shows no signs of slowing down.
NBA Jam (1993)
NBA Jam set the arcade world on fire. Published by Midway, the four-player game’s mixture of realistic graphics, over-the-top play-by-play commentary such as “Boomshakalaka!”, and body contorting slam dunks made it an immediate hit. Earning more than $1 billion in quarters in the first year of its release, it remains the best-selling arcade sports game ever.
NBA JamThe Strong National Museum of Play
FIFA International Soccer (1993)
Electronic Arts’ FIFA International Soccer wasn’t the first soccer video game, but it was the first to secure an official license from soccer’s (football outside the United States) international governing body. The game proved an instant hit. Its much-anticipated annual updates, including an online multiplayer mode, attracted a worldwide fanbase clamoring to play as their favorite national team.
NBA 2K (1999)
No video game captured the culture of its sport better than NBA 2K. Initially released by Sega and later by 2K Sports, the series’ developers strove for accuracy, including the precise way an athlete such as Lebron James dunked a basketball, wore his sneakers, or tossed chalk in the air during a pre-game ritual. This attention to detail helped solidify NBA 2K as the premier basketball game franchise.
Tony Hawk Pro Skater (1999)
Activision’s Tony Hawk Pro Skater revolutionized skateboarding video games. Controlling one of ten professional skateboarders, players could perform jumping, grinding, flipping, and grabbing tricks on open-ended courses while punk rock songs like the Dead Kennedys’ “Police Truck” blared in the background. Players who landed several tricks in a row could execute Hawk’s mind-blowingly difficult 900-degree aerial spin.
Activision’s Tony Hawk Pro SkaterThe Strong National Museum of Play
Wii Sports (2006)
Nintendo redefined sports video games with Wii Sports. Using the Wii’s innovative Wii-mote, people of all ages could play tennis, bowling, baseball, boxing, and golf with arm gestures that mimicked simple, natural movements. The game’s mass appeal and word-of-mouth popularity spawned a string of virtual bowling leagues—including in nursing homes and senior centers—and helped Nintendo sell more than 100 million units of its console.
Conclusion: A World of Digital Sports Play
The widespread appeal of real-life sports made them likely candidates for conversion into early video games. Today, sports video games and franchises are global brands that captivate diverse fanbases and players across the world. These ten games defined and redefined the genre by translating athletic contests into virtual matches filled with action and strategy, fantasy and reality, exaggeration and exacting detail.
Produced by The Strong National Museum of Play in Rochester, New York.
