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Best sports games on GamesNostalgia

In the world of gaming, sports games have always held a special place; they have not only entertained millions of fans worldwide but have also managed to revolutionize the gaming industry as a whole. These games have come a long way, evolving from simple 2D renditions to immersive experiences that bring the thrill of the stadium right into our living rooms.

At the beginning of the '80s, the first sports computer games appeared. Kevin Toms wrote the first Football Manager in 1982 for the ZX Spectrum. International Soccer in 1983 was one of the first soccer games for the Commodore 64, while David Crane developed the iconic The Activision Decathlon for the Atari 2600, later ported to Commodore 64 and many other platforms. The same year, One-on-One created a fantastic basketball experience on the Apple II. Anyway, Epyx "Games" series was one of the biggest sports hits in the '80s, with Summer Games, Winter Games, California Games, and other titles.

In 1989, Kick Off for the Amiga changed football simulations forever, with its innovative top-down view and a ball not "glued" to the players. This inspired Sensible Soccer in 1992, the game that stole the throne to Kick Off 2 as the most played soccer game, at least until Sensible World of Soccer was released in 1994. The Manager changed the perspective in 1991 as a pure managerial game. In 1992, the famous Championship Manager was released. It was the first of a long series that continued for many years; see for example, Championship Manager 97/98.

But it's not all about football (aka soccer). Wayne Gretzky Hockey in 1988 was the first successful hockey sim, while Links: The Challenge of Golf in 1990 made golf a popular game on computers. John Madden Football in 1989 started a long series of (American) football sims, a series that is still alive today. Cinemaware introduced a new way to present sports games with the TV Sports series, started with TV Sports: Football in 1988 and continued with TV Sports: Basketball and TV Sports: Boxing.

If you like rugby, don't miss World Class Rugby and especially Jonah Lomu Rugby, while for tennis, you should not miss Center Court 2 for the Amiga. For sure many other great titles are missing in this overview. Just browse the titles below and have fun!

Championship Manager 03/04 windows

Championship Manager: Season 03/04 is an updated edition of Championship Manager 4, the famous soccer/football management sim. Eidos released it in November 2003 for Microsoft Windows only.

Year: 2003 Genre: Sports

football soccer sport management sports

Backyard Baseball windows

Backyard Baseball is a baseball game created by Humongous Entertainment and released for Windows and Macintosh in 1997. It's the first of a long series of successful titles, the last one of which was released in 2015.

Year: 1997 Genre: Sports

baseball cartoon scumm sports

Championship Manager 97/98 dos

Championship Manager 97/98 is a football-management game developed by Sports Interactive and published by Eidos Interactive in October 1997 for PC. The series was created by the C...

Year: 1997 Genre: Sports

football management soccer sport management sports

Sensible World of Soccer 2020 amiga

Sensible World of Soccer 2020 is a real Xmas gift! The one and only Sensible World of Soccer, updated with all the teams, leagues, and players of the 2019/2020 season. The guy...

Year: 2019 Genre: Sports

2 players amiga original game birds-eye view competitive soccer sport management sports

FIFA International Soccer dosamiga

FIFA International Soccer is a soccer/football sim released by Electronic Arts in 1993 for the Sega Mega Drive and later ported to several other platforms. It's the prequel of FIF...

Year: 1994 Genre: Sports

2 players football isometric licensed multiplayer soccer sports

Sensible World of Soccer 96/97 amiga

Sensible World of Soccer '96/'97 is the fourth and final release of the popular soccer game created by Sensible Software. Released in 1996 for PC and Amiga, it's mostly an updated ...

Year: 1996 Genre: Sports

2 players birds-eye view football multiplayer real-time soccer sport management sports top-down

Sensible Soccer amiga

Sensible Soccer is the first game of the popular series of football (soccer, if you are in the US) sim created by Sensible Software and published by Renegade. With this package, we...

Year: 1992 Genre: Sports

2 players football multiplayer soccer sports

Championship Manager Italia '95 dos

Championship Manager Italia is an updated version of Championship Manager 93, the first generation of the famous soccer management sim. This version is updated with the players a...

Year: 1994 Genre: Sports

football soccer sport management sports

Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!! nes

Mike Tyson’s Punch-Out! is one of the most iconic boxing games and was developed and published by Nintendo in 1987 for the NES. In addition to being a classic icon, it is also one of the best-selling games of all time.

Year: 1987 Genre: Sports

boxing fighting licensed nes original game sports

FIFA Soccer 95 genesis

FIFA Soccer 95 is a football game released by Electronic Arts in 1994 exclusively for the Sega Genesis/Mega Drive. It was when EA Games was a junior entering the gaming industry; n...

Year: 1994 Genre: Sports

2 players football genesis original game isometric licensed soccer sports

Sensible World of Soccer 95/96 amiga

Sensible World of Soccer 95/96 is an improved version of Sensible World of Soccer, the soccer sim created by Sensible Soccer and considered by many the best game ever created for the Amiga.

Year: 1995 Genre: Sports

2 players football management multiplayer real-time soccer sports

FIFA Soccer 96 dosgenesis

FIFA Soccer 96 is the third football (soccer) simulation released by Electronic Arts and it was the first to feature real-time 3D graphics. Developed by Extended Play Productions, ...

Year: 1995 Genre: Sports

football management soccer sports

Championship Manager 96/97 dos

Championship Manager 96/97 is a new version of Championship Manager 2, the popular football management sim created by Sports Interactive. As you can imagine this re-release inclu...

Year: 1996 Genre: Sports

football management soccer sport management sports

PC Calcio 6.0 windows

PC Fútbol (PC Calcio in Italian) is a series of soccer management sims created by Spanish developers Dinamic Multimedia, sold at a budget price, and very successful in Spain and Italy.

Year: 1998 Genre: Sports

football management soccer sport management sports