Summary
Modern sports video games have mostly consisted of annual releases of the same flagship names, like Madden NFL, NBA 2K, and EA Sports FC. While these series continue to maintain large fanbases, other players have been getting tired of them, noting that these games change little from year to year outside of roster updates or graphical enhancements.
So, there’s an appetite for dormant sports properties to return to the gaming picture. Progress has already been made on this front, with remakes of the first two Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater titles. Otherunderrepresented sports in the gaming worldcould follow suit, as could titles that offer unique takes on more popular sports.
The ATV Offroad Fury series was hugely successful for the PlayStation 2. These games allow you to race across both winding racetracks and open-world terrains in all-terrain vehicles. It had a total of four games, plus a spin-off for the PSP titled Blazin' Trails, before it was merged with the MX series for the multi-platform MX vs. ATV series.
MX vs. ATV continues to go strong to this day, but a remake or remaster of the original games would please many PS2 fans. The main hurdle such a game would have to get through though is reacquiring the licenses for the soundtrack, but with the Tony Hawk games having done so for its remakes, it’s not hard to see ATV doing the same.
Snowboarding games were once a staple of console gaming, with Cool Boarders, 1080 Snowboard, and Amped being among the more notable series that dominated in the early 2000s. But no series made quite as much of an impact as EA’s SSX games. The series' colorful cast of characters, outlandish course design, and enthralling gameplay made the games a staple of sixth-generation console owners' libraries.
After going dark after 2005, SSX was revived for a 2012 reboot. While the game was mostly well-received by critics, some fans were upset by its more grounded presentation. No new SSX game has seen the light of day since, and players are hoping that if it does come back, it embraces the over-the-top nature of the original games.
While professional wrestling and mixed martial arts games continue to come out on a regular basis, boxing hasn’t been so lucky. EA’s Fight Night, formerly known as Knockout Kings, was the dominant boxing video game series for much of the 2000s, with new installments on an annual or biannual basis.
In 2011, the game went in a darker and grittier direction with the M-rated Fight Night Champion, with overhauled gameplay and an original story. While hailed by critics, some fans weren’t keen on the new direction, and no new games have been made since. However, with boxing enjoying a resurgence in mainstream popularity, there is room in the market for a new Fight Night, and the success of EA’s UFC games could be the template for a new boxing title.
The success of the Tony Hawk video gamesinspired many imitators, and several of those were based on pre-existing characters. The most popular of the bunch was 2003’s Disney’s Extreme Skate adventure, which allowed Disney fans to play as characters from Tarzan, The Lion King, and Toy Story and skate in environments based on the hit movies.
While no sequel was ever made, there is potential for Disney to revisit this concept in the future. In 2023, Disney launcheda free-to-play kart racer called Disney Speedstorm, which featured its characters participating in Mario Kart-like races. A skating game could follow this same template, and allow for many brand-new Disney properties to be represented as both skaters and courses.
After WCW was bought out by the WWF in 2001, EA Games lost the rights to make games based on the promotion to THQ, who held the WWF license. Thus, a WCW game in development at the time had to be retooled. Out of the ashes came Def Jam Vendetta, a hybrid wrestling-fighting game starring popular rappers under the Def Jam label at the time, with their songs being featured in the soundtrack.
A sequel, Fight For NY, came out the following year, and was even more popular. Unfortunately, the series was put on ice after 2007’s Def Jam: Icon received middling reviews due to its gameplay overhaul. A new game in the vein of the first two has been on fans' wishlist for well over a decade, and could focus on a brand-new generation of rappers under the Def Jam umbrella, like DJ Khaled and Rick Ross.
EA Sports is the king of sports video games, and in 2001, it decided to stray from its traditional offerings with NBA Street, a game that focuses on street basketball with over-the-top presentation and gameplay akin to ’90s arcade games as opposed to the NBA Live and 2K games' simulation-style.
Football and soccer fans would also get their own street variants with NFL Street and FIFA Street respectively. However, EA stopped making these games after 2008, and while FIFA Street got a one-off revival in 2012, NBA and NFL fans weren’t so lucky. A reboot or rerelease of the Street games would provide fans tired of the simulation-based league games with an alternative product.
Genre
Sports
One of the more forgotten Tony Hawk-inspired games was one that tried its hand at another sport entirely. Aggressive Inline, rather than focusing on skateboarding, has you roller-skate around the courses, which were much more open than any Tony Hawk game had ever done at the time. It was an innovative new concept that would inspire later Hawk titles.
While the game was liked by those who played it, Aggressive Inline largely went under the radar upon its launch in 2002, and no sequel was ever made. However, the game eventually became regarded as a cult classic and many fans would be excited for it to return, whether as a rerelease of the original game or a brand-new reboot.
Mario Superstar Baseball launched on the GameCube in 2005, allowing you to simulate baseball games with characters from the beloved Nintendo series. After a Wii sequel, Mario Super Sluggers, came out in 2008, the series has remained dormant. To date, it’s the only Mario sports series to not have made its way to the Switch, and many fans have been clamoring for a new game.
With Nintendo Switch 2, it’s only a matter of time beforethe next Mario Sports titlegets announced, and Baseball seems like the logical next step. The plumber’s return to the baseball diamond is long overdue.
Hypnotix’s Outlaw series of sports games consisted of two golf games in addition to tennis and volleyball entires. The game’s main gimmick is that, unlike most sports games, it consists of crude and provocative themes similar to those seen in Grand Theft Auto, including highly sexualized characters and lots of profanity.
Reviews for the games were good, but not great, and the series never achieved anything more than cult popularity. After 2005’s Outlaw Tennis, Hypnotix was bought out by Electronic Arts and the series was discontinued. Despite largely average reviews from critics, a remaster of the old games may please fans.
Humongous Entertainment, known for its point-and-click children’s adventure games, released Backyard Baseball in 1997, which allows you to play baseball controlling cartoon children. Several sequels expanding to other sports were later launched, and Humongous collaborated with major sports leagues to feature child versions of top athletes of the era as playable guest characters.
More than a quarter-century after its debut, there continues to be plenty of nostalgia for the games and their characters, especially fan-favorite Pablo Sanchez. Re-releases of the original games were announced in 2024, and the potential for brand-new games, possibly focusing on new sports like golf and tennis, are high on fans' wishlists.
