Sports sims like Madden, NBA2K and Pro Eleven Soccer have always been played as a virtual gateway to athletic competition. Especially for those who suck at the sport in reality. Every now and then, a developer steps out of its comfort zone to create sports games that are either made up or is a different take on something that already exists. Allow GameNGuide to give the rundown on sports that aren't reality but are good enough to wish it was.
Deathrow - Xbox 2002
Published by Ubisoft as a Xbox exclusive almost a year after Microsoft's console made its debut, Deathrow may be one of the most underrated games on this list. Deathrow can somewhat be described an interesting mix of hockey and frisbee with an overtone inspired by the 1975 cinematic classic Rollerball (and not that crappy 2002 remake). The rules of the game involve either scoring goals with a futuristic disc or knocking out every player of the opposing team. The concept is so ridiculous it adds to the game's gritty charm.
Harry Potter: Quidditch World Cup - PS2/Gamecube/ Xbox 2003
Quidditch is a monumental sport throughout the Harry Potter universe. Harry Potter's magical take on rugby plays exactly like any fan of the series would expect. EA Games not only lent their signature cinematic quality to the game but, also enlisted EA Sports for help in development. That meant a strategic sports game with a presentation that felt like an ESPN broadcast.
Mutant League Football - Sega Genesis 1993
There was a time where EA was fearless in the games it would create. One of those games came in the form of Mutant League Football. Built upon its Madden 93 engine, Mutant League Football uses football staples like play calling and scoring touchdowns but mixes them with hazards along with ref bribing. There's also the ability to kill players on the opposite team. The popularity of this would lead to another awesome game in:
Mutant League Hockey - Sega Genesis 1994
Mutant League Hockey took the idea of Mutant League Football and ran with it. Being a hockey game, fighting is an important feature and Mutant League Hockey makes it excitingly brutal. The popularity of both franchises would even led to a short lived Saturday morning cartoon.
Super Baseball 2020 - Neo Geo 1993
Neo-Geo's futuristic take on America's favorite pastime is still beautiful and fun even all these years later. One of the best features of Super Baseball 2020 had to be its in-game upgrade system that gave money to players who made home runs, struck out an opposing team member or even beaning players. Humanoid robots and robots that passed for RTD2 played alongside humans that sported jet-packs among others tech perks. It would later be released on both Sega's Genesis and Nintendo's Super NES.
