"EA Sports, it's in the game!" is something that gamers have been hearing ever since 1990 and the release of EA Sports' first game PGA Tour Golf. Ever since then EA has had a monopoly on basically every sports game with few exceptions.
That being said, there have definitely been ups and downs in the 30-year life span of EA sports and we've decided to show you some of the best and some of the worst that they have to offer. For this list we are going to using use the Metascore from Metacritic and will only include one title per series, or else this list would just be Madden games.
10 Best: Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2005 - 91
Starting off this list with the number five ranked game in that EA Sports has ever made with Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2005. This game was one that split fans and critics down the middle. In terms of fan scores on Metacritic, the game received mixed reviews with some fans scoring it very low and others scoring it extremely high, with the game overall receiving a 4.0. This was basically the exact opposite feeling that critics got from the game, with them unanimously giving the game praise for its straight forward gameplay and graphical power for the time earning its current rating of 91 percent on Metacritic.
9 Worst: NASCAR 08 - 56
It seems despite all of the bad press that the publisher gets, it still puts out games that are at the very least considered competent for the most part. In keeping with that their number 5 worst game isn't even ranked that poorly, belonging more to the mediocre category for the most part. NASCAR 08 was released on the PlayStation 2 and original Xbox and is another game that divides the fans and critics.
While most critics gave the game a meh rating, some fans gave the game a sold rating. However, for the critic reviews, the game currently has a 56 percent on Metacritic.
8 Best: FIFA Soccer 10 - 91
The FIFA series is probably the best selling sports game in the history of gaming, it might just be one of the best selling game series in history, period. While there are complaints from a lot of people, who are usually not fans of the series, that the games are basically the same each year - that clearly doesn't stop the vast majority of players picking up the new entry every year. This game was favorably rated by both fans and critics but critics seemingly enjoyed it more. While the user score on Metacritic is 7.6, a solid score the official Metascore was given the very generous 91.
7 Worst: FIFA Street 3 - 56
Keeping on the soccer/FIFA train with the companion series to the wildly successful FIFA franchise in FIFA Street. If you haven't heard about the FIFA Street series before, we can't blame you, as it was nowhere near the massive success that the mainline FIFA games are. The Street series was supposed to be something of a reboot to the mainline games and focused more on street soccer games that some people might have been used to playing in real life. The series lost favor with both fans and critics quickly and its third entry into the series currently sits at 56 percent on Metacritic.
6 Best: NHL 2002 - 92
Moving away from the soccer pitch and into the ice hockey rink with the famous NHL series by EA Sports. This is another game where the fans and critics actually agreed pretty closely for once. This game was praised for its addition of a career mode that lets players compete for the legendary Stanley Cup for 10 years while building up a hockey dynasty to sit among legends. The game was also praised for its smooth controls and sound design. The game currently has a 92 percent on Metacritic.
5 Worst: NCAA March Madness 2002 - 54
The NCAA game series is something that you probably haven't heard of if you don't live in the United States, maybe you haven't even heard about the NCAA at all if that's the case. If you are in that situation, basically the NCAA is the university athletes' version of sports and its video games are just based on those teams. It seems that this game wasn't a good representation of these athletes, as it seems that the game was made just an NBA game, but just downgraded and somewhat cheaper. Overall the game was considered a mediocre attempt at best, earning it a middling 54 percent on Metacritic.
4 Best: NCAA Football 2004 - 94
It seems that EA Sports took all the criticism that they received from their first attempt at an NCAA game and used it to help improve their attempt at another NCAA Sports series two years later. NCAA Football 2004 is focused around American College Football, which is super popular in the United States so it's easy to see why it was made into a game. This game was praised for its solid controls, allowing the player to easily conduct complex plays with a satisfying effect. The game also received credit for its sound design for its music and voice audio. The game currently has a 94 on Metacritic.
3 Worst: Facebreaker - 53
If you asked yourself what Facebreaker is, don't worry most people would ask that question. You might also get the vibe that this game wasn't made by EA Sports because of its more cartoony art style and over the top visuals, but this game was officially published by EA Sports.
Facebreaker was made as a boxing game as a sort of spinoff to the Fight Night series, which was a boxing series more akin to other EA Sports games that used real-life boxers and was more realistic. This game was considered fun by a lot of players but it lacked any depth and had frustrating controls. The game currently has a 53 percent on Metacritic.
2 Best: Madden NFL 2003 - 95
Moving on to the top-rated game that EA Sports has ever had its name attached to with Madden NFL 2003. It shouldn't come to any sports game fans surprise that Madden topped out this list, as most of the list of top games that EA sports have published on Metacritic is filled with different entries of the Madden series but like we said, only one game per franchise. This game is considered the peak of the Madden franchise, even though it came out 18 years ago. The game was praised for being the best to control and the best to play with friends and currently has a 95 percent on Metacritic.
1 Worst: NBA Live 14 - 36
Moving from EA Sport's highest of highs to its lowest of lows with this. While most of the games in this list that have been labeled under worst haven't been that great, you could conceivably put all of them in the mediocre to ok category and you probably wouldn't get much push back from the people who have played those games, but NBA Live 14 on the other hand. The game was roasted for its ugly graphics and sound design, as well as its bad AI and gameplay. All this without comparing it to the NBA 2K series that was releasing games at the same time. This game currently sits at a 36 on Metacritic.