Despite being the gaming industry's 2nd most popular genre in 2020, the range of sports games released each year is surprisingly slim. As anyone familiar with the genre will know, this is largely due to licensed titles like 2K's NBA and EA's FIFA dominating the market.
The dominance of licensed sports games may be called into question shortly, as David Beckham's reported £40 million earnings for appearing as an icon in three FIFA titles has caused a stir amongst soccer's biggest stars. Mino Riola, one of the sport's most recognizable agents, has claimed that around 300 players may take legal action against EA over their likeness.
If the players were successful in their lawsuit, it would likely have huge ramifications for the entire sports genre. Unlicensed sports games like Super Mega Baseball 3 and Pro Evolution Soccer, which only has a select few licenses, would become the norm. The gaming world may even see peculiar sporting titles become more prevalent. What are some examples of strange sports games?
10 Pirates Vs. Ninjas Dodgeball
The title Pirates Vs. Ninjas Dodgeball should be telling enough as to why Blazing Lizard's game features on this list. The Xbox 360 and Nintendo Wii game originally released in 2008 and scored 44 and 46 on Metacritic respectively.
Pirates Vs. Ninjas Dodgeball has some decent gameplay variety to it, particularly with how different teams have their own set of strengths and weaknesses. However, the game suffered from weak A.I. that seriously harmed the overall gameplay.
9 Sega Soccer Slam
Considering that it is the world's most-watched sport, it should come as little surprise that there are tons of odd-ball soccer games; one of which is Sega Soccer Slam. The game was likely a large inspiration behind Mario's soccer venture Super Mario Strikers, which was released on the Gamecube three years later.
Sega Soccer Slam is one of the most critically acclaimed titles in this article, exemplified by its impressive GameCube Metascore of 84. Much like Pirates Vs. Ninjas Dodgeball, Black Box Games' Sega Soccer Slam features numerous different teams with varying attributes.
8 Ninja Golf
Combining the slow, methodical gameplay of golf with the fast-paced action of Ninja combat is certainly an unorthodox move, but one that compliments each factor surprisingly well – sort of like peanut butter and chocolate.
BlueSky Software's Ninja Golf was released in 1990 on the Atari 7800 and required players to fight off hordes of enemies when walking to their ball between shots. Believe it or not, Atari is currently working on a remake of the game.
7 Diabolical Pitch
Of all the many gaming innovations for a company to try and emulate, it was certainly unexpected when Microsoft decided to create their own take on the EyeToy, a failed venture of Sony's.
One of the many issues with the Kinect was that there were very few Kinect-exclusive games that made the product look appealing to consumers. It's safe to say that Diabolical Pitch, a game that tasked a baseball pitcher with taking down hordes of mascots, didn't have gamers rushing to buy Microsoft's motion-sensing device.
6 Outlaw Golf
A self-proclaimed golf game for adults, Outlaw Golf attempted to liven up the sport of golf by essentially putting it in a blender with a Jersey Shore boxset. It also hired Steve Carell to provide commentary.
As well as offering players a cast of characters that looked like they stumbled out of a nightclub, Outlaw Golf is remembered for its over-the-top gameplay mechanics, such as making players punch and kick their caddy to improve the state of their composure meter.
5 Blitz: The League II
Midway Games' Blitz: The League II released in 2008 and much like its predecessor, offers a hardcore alternative to Electronic Arts' Madden series by focusing on the dark side of the National Football League.
The game exaggerates the sport's less-glamorous features by letting players inflict bone-breaking injuries on opposition players and take numerous perform enhancing drugs. While not excelling in any one area, Blitz: The League II is a passable game and a solid alternative to the more realistic Madden titles.
4 Captain Tsubasa: Rise of New Champions
Based on the 2018 anime series Captain Tsubasa, Tamsoft's Captain Tsubasa: Rise of New Champions released in August 2020 and scored between 70 and 75 on Metacritic.
Rise of New Champions was praised by fans and critics for its deep and varied range of gameplay mechanics. However, the game was criticized for inundating players with fan service and weak teammate A.I. It also plays out quite differently than a traditional soccer game, as scoring generally requires depleting the goalkeeper's spirit.
3 Mega Man Soccer
Mario isn't the only platforming mascot to attempt to profit from soccer's worldwide popularity, as Capcom's Mega Man featured in a lesser-known soccer game on the SNES in 1994.
Unlike Super Mario Strikers, Sun L's Mega Man Soccer didn't utilize the personalities and characteristics of its cast to offer an extreme-iteration of soccer. It instead offered a fairly true-to-life interpretation of the sport, which resulted in the game performing poorly commercially and critically.
2 Mutant Football League
Mutant Football League is on the other end of the spectrum to Mega Man Soccer, as it offers some of the most over-the-top action available in the sports genre. Digital Dreams Entertainment's game was released in 2017 and is a modern interpretation of Electronic Arts' Sega Genesis game Mutant League Football.
Mutant Football League's three releases scored between 62 and 74 on Metacritic, with praise being directed towards the comically fun gameplay.
1 What The Golf
The most critically acclaimed entry on this list along with Black Box Games' Sega Soccer Slam, Triband's What The Golf scored between 79 and 84 on Metacritic and won the Best Mobile Game award at the 2020 Game Developers Choice Awards.
The crowdfunded game has incredible range in its gameplay variety, as it throws many bizarre obstacles in the player's way such as mines, cars, gun-wielding enemies, and exploding barrels.