A sports video game is a video game that simulates the practice of sports. Most sports have been recreated with video games, including team sports, track and field, extreme sports, and combat sports. Some games emphasize playing the sport, whilst others emphasize strategy and sport management. Some, such as Need for Speed, Arch Rivals and Punch-Out!!, satirize the sport for comic effect. This genre has been popular throughout the history of video games and is competitive, just like real-world sports. A number of game series feature the names and characteristics of real teams and players, and are updated annually to reflect real-world changes. The sports genre is one of the oldest genres in gaming history.
Altered Beast is a 1988 beat 'em up arcade video game developed and published by Sega. The game is set in Ancient Greece and follows a player character chosen by Zeus to rescue his daughter Athena from the demonic ruler of the underworld, Neff. Through the use of power-ups, the player character can assume the form of different magical beasts. It was ported to several home video game consoles and home computers. It was the pack-in game for the Mega Drive when that system launched in 1988.
Pete Sampras Tennis is a sports video game developed by Zeppelin Games and published by Codemasters for the Sega Genesis and Game Gear in 1994. It was followed by Sampras Tennis 96 for the Genesis and Pete Sampras Tennis '97.
The J-Cart is a special ROM cartridge developed by Codemasters for the Sega Genesis console. It held not only the game data but also came with two additional gamepad ports. This effectively allowed four players to play simultaneously without any extra adapters. The first J-Cart game, Tennis All-Stars, was released in early 1994.
Gunstar Heroes is a run and gun video game developed by Treasure and published by Sega. It was Treasure's debut game, originally released for the Sega Genesis in 1993. The game's premise is centered around a pair of characters, the Gunstars, in their efforts to stop an evil empire from recovering four powerful gems. The characters can fire guns and perform a series of acrobatic maneuvers to fight enemies across each stage. There are four weapons in the game which can be combined with one another to create different shot types.
FIFA International Soccer is a 1993 association football video game developed by EA Canada's Extended Play Productions team and published by Electronic Arts. The game was released for the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis console in December 1993 and ported to numerous other systems in 1994. It is the first game in the FIFA series.
Players use different strategies while playing tennis to enhance their own strengths and exploit their opponent's weaknesses in order to gain the advantage and win more points.
Side Pocket is a pocket billiards simulation released as an arcade video game by Data East in 1986. It was ported to the Nintendo Entertainment System and Game Boy, while an enhanced remake was later released on the Sega Genesis, Super Nintendo Entertainment System, and Game Gear. The game spawned two sequels, as well as arcade spin-off series titled Pocket Gal.
Pro Tennis: World Court is a tennis sports video game that was released by Namco in 1988 for Japanese arcades. It runs upon Namco System 1 hardware, and was inspired by the 1987 Famicom game Family Tennis. In August 1988, the game was ported to the PC Engine console, in which a new tennis-based role-playing quest mode was added, and was later ported to the North American TurboGrafx-16 console by NEC under the title of World Court Tennis in 1989. Up to four players could play simultaneously. A sequel named Super World Court was released in 1992, which ran on Namco NA-1 hardware and allowed up to four players to play simultaneously. The arcade version was recently confirmed to be released on the PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch as part of the Arcade Archives lineup on May 12, 2022 worldwide.
Minnesota Fats: Pool Legend is a pool video game for the Sega Genesis and Sega Saturn. It was also released in Japan for the Saturn under the alternative title Side Pocket 2: Legend of Hustler. The game features famed player Rudolf "Minnesota Fats" Wanderone. It was released as a sequel to Data East's earlier success Side Pocket.
PGA Tour 96 is a sports video game developed by Hitmen Productions for the PlayStation, MS-DOS, and Windows versions, Unexpected Development for the Game Boy version, NuFX for the Sega Genesis and 3DO versions, Ceris Software for the Game Gear version, and Polygames for the SNES version and published by EA Sports for PlayStation, MS-DOS, Windows, Game Boy, Sega Genesis, 3DO, Game Gear and SNES.
Dream Match Tennis is a 2006 tennis simulation game developed by Bimboosoft, a company based in Saitama, Japan. Unlike other games in its genre, Dream Match Tennis was aimed to produce a more realistic depiction of the sport, requiring more skill from the player in order to direct their shots accurately.
The Games: Winter Challenge is a sports video game developed by Canadian developer Mindspan and published by Accolade for MS-DOS compatible operating systems in 1991 and as Winter Challenge for the Sega Genesis/Mega Drive in Europe in 1991 and the United States in 1992. The game portrays eight winter sports events that are competed in during the Winter Olympics. The game is unlicensed and not endorsed by the International Olympic Committee or similar organisations. Upon release, Winter Challenge received praise from several publications, with attention directed to the game's variety of events and visual presentation, with some criticism towards the inconsistency and difficulty of events. A sequel to the game based on the Summer Olympics, The Games: Summer Challenge, was released by Accolade in 1992.
A passing shot is a forceful shot, as in tennis or team handball, that travels to one side out of the reach of one's opponent. In tennis, this shot is generally a groundstroke and is used when one's opponent is running to the net or if they are at the net already. The alternative to a passing shot is to lob the ball over the opponent's head. The aim of the passing shot in tennis is to prevent the opponent from returning the ball once he/she is at the net.
ATP Tour Championship Tennis is a tennis video game published by Sega for the Genesis in 1994.
Tennis Elbow is a series of tennis video games developed by France-based firm Mana Games. Its first version was released in 1996 and as of May 2015 it is currently on its 2013 version, available for Windows, Mac & Linux platforms.
Pete Sampras Tennis '97 is a tennis video game developed and published by Codemasters. It was released for Microsoft Windows and MS-DOS. It was also released for the PlayStation as Sampras Extreme Tennis. It was endorsed by multiple Grand Slam champion Pete Sampras who appears in the game as an unlockable character. It is the third and final game in the Pete Sampras Tennis series, following Pete Sampras Tennis and Sampras Tennis 96.
Pro Tennis Tour 2 is a sports video game developed by Blue Byte Software for the Amiga and published by Ubisoft in 1991. It is the sequel to the 1989 game Pro Tennis Tour. Pro Tennis Tour 2 was ported to MS-DOS compatible operating systems and the Atari ST. A sequel, Jimmy Connors Pro Tennis Tour (1992), was released for the Super Nintendo.
Pelé! is a 1993 sports video game developed by Radical Entertainment and published by Accolade for the Sega Genesis. The game is based on the sport of association football and puts the player in control of a football team in modes of play such as exhibitions, tournaments, and seasons. It is named after and endorsed by former Brazilian footballer Pelé, who also provided input on the game's design.
Tennis Cup is a 1990 tennis video game developed and published by Loriciel for the Amiga. It was ported to the Atari ST, MS-DOS and Amstrad CPC during the same year. Tennis Cup was ported to TurboGrafx-16 in 1991 as Davis Cup Tennis. Versions for the Super Nintendo and Mega Drive/Genesis were released in 1993.
