Category: Sports Games

This game is widely acclaimed as one of the if not THE greatest Boxing Game ever made for the Personal Computer. It featured motion captured graphics albeit the boxers were, well, boxes. In between bouts, you can train your player in improving speed, power or stamina. The game also feature quite advanced 3D capability for…

So real it . . . sweats! Lace up you hightops and get psyched for a fast breaking, in-your-face, full court, 5-on-5 pro basketball simulation that looks exactly like a network broadcast. TV Sports: Basketball gives you total control over an entire squad, including player substitutions and strategic double teaming. Your skills as player and…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Simon Read GAME DEVELOPER:New Star Games GAME PUBLISHER:New Star Games Copyright 2005, Simon Read New Star Soccer 3 is a superb sequel to New Star Soccer 2, a unique soccer simulation/RPG title that breaks the mold by putting you in control of *one* soccer player as…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Intelligent Games GAME PUBLISHER:Electronic Arts Copyright 2000, Intelligent Games F1 Manager 2000 from Intelligent Games is a decent F1 manager game that unfortunately was too bug-riddled in the first release to pose any real challenge to the superb Grand Prix Manager 2 game from…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Laurent Lavaur GAME DEVELOPER:Freeware GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 2005, Unknown Formula D is an excellent fanmade PC version of a great tabletop F1 racing game from EuroGames. Coded in Java, the game looks and plays even better than FormulaPC, an older (2002) freeware title reviewed earlier on…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Data Becker GAME PUBLISHER:Data Becker Copyright 1999, Data Becker Billed as an “ultra-realistic boxing game,” unfortunately Data Becker’s KO is anything but. Although it does look like a decent boxing game at first glance, it doesn’t take long before the shallow execution and inaccurate…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Elite Systems GAME PUBLISHER:SEGA Copyright 1991, Elite Systems Probably the rarest PC game from SEGA, World Championship Soccer is an okay PC port of one of the first soccer games on the SEGA Genesis. This overhead soccer game lets you choose from 24 national…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Danny Boyd GAME DEVELOPER:Danjo Software GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 2005, Danny Boyd Minigolf 1 Shot is a great entry in Retro Remakes’ One Switch Competition. It finished a respectable third from over 40 entries in the competition, and deservedly so. Like all other entries, the game can…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Digital Lobster Company GAME PUBLISHER:Starhill Productions Copyright 1995, Digital Lobster Company Total Knockout Boxing is an ambitious boxing game that uses the same cartoon style as the classic SNES game Super Punch-Out!, but falls flat on its face due to awkward controls, ridiculously easy…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Dolphin Marine Systems GAME PUBLISHER:Dolphin Marine Systems Copyright 1994, Dolphin Marine Systems Dolphin Powerboating Simulator III is the last and best game in an obscure line of sailing simulations developed and published by Dolphin Marine Systems as shareware in the early 1990s. The game,…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Krisalis GAME PUBLISHER:Krisalis Copyright 1990, Krisalis One of the most obscure football (soccer) games ever made, Manchester United is the world’s first PC game based on the famous British club of the same name. The squad’s exploits are depicted quite faithfully in the PC…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Young Chung GAME DEVELOPER:Ninano Software GAME PUBLISHER:Ninano Software Copyright 1994, Ninano Software 1994pool is a very innovative pool/billiard underdog from a now-defunct Korean developer called Ninano Software. Apart from featuring very accurate ball physics that allow spins and curves to behave realistically, this obscure underdog offers…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Interactive Magic GAME PUBLISHER:Interactive Magic Copyright 1995, Interactive Magic Bruce Jenner’s Decathlon is a decent sports game from Interactive Magic that will probably be a love-hate affair for most gamers. I was infuriated by the button-mashing (or mouse-mashing, to be more accurate) requirements of…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Accolade GAME PUBLISHER:Accolade Copyright 1996, Accolade Unnecessary Roughness ’96 is the final – and definitely best – entry in Accolade’s underrated series of American football games that began in 1993. From game description at MobyGames: “Updates in this version attempt to correct the “arcadish”…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:SEGA GAME PUBLISHER:Activision Copyright 2002, SEGA Virtua Tennis is a good PC conversion of a reasonably popular tennis game for the Dreamcast console. The game features a new multiplayer mode for up to four players, but the gameplay remains intact. Like the Dreamcast version,…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Danny Boyd GAME DEVELOPER:Acoders GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 2004, Acoders Ski Xtreme is a superb skiing game by Danny “danjo” Boyd of Apocalyptic Coders. Circy’s concise review for Klik-me.com says it all about this modern “klik” classic: “Summer is drawing to a close, and winter seems to…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Andy LeBeis GAME DEVELOPER:Destiny Software Productions GAME PUBLISHER:Micro League Copyright 1994, Micro League A nice entry in Micro League’s short-lived “Time Out Sports” series, designed to provide bite-sized sporting entertainment for short coffee breaks between your spreadsheet or word processing. TOS Baseball is a simple and…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Microforum GAME PUBLISHER:Microforum Copyright 1997, Microforum Adrenaline Vault’s critical review says it all about this missed opportunity that could have been so much more: “Gooch Grundy’s X-Decathlon takes the whole olympic theme and turns it on its ear. [You compete] in ten wacky events…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Neil Holmes GAME DEVELOPER:Clockwork Games GAME PUBLISHER:Psygnosis Copyright 1997, Clockwork Games Rush Hour is a decent top-down arcade racing game that is much better known on the PlayStation than the PC. Like most arcade racers, driving in Rush Hour is very simple: just use the arrow…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Audiogenic GAME PUBLISHER:Audiogenic Copyright 1997, Audiogenic Arguably the best cricket game ever made, Shane Warne Cricket is the last cricket game from Audiogenic, makers of classic games including Allan Broder’s Cricket and Brian Lara Cricket. This 1997 version of their popular game engine sees…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Technos Japan GAME PUBLISHER:Technos Japan Copyright 1993, Technos Japan Kunio-kun no Dodge Ball for the SNES is definitely the best dodgeball game, and among the best console sports games ever. Released only in Japan, the game has been translated into English, thanks to the…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Magnetic Fields GAME PUBLISHER:Gremlin Copyright 1990, Magnetic Fields Supercars is a fun top-down racing game stylistically reminiscent of – and probably influenced by – Super Sprint series. Designed by a talented group of programmers who later produced the Lotus series of games (only the…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Attention to Detail (ATD) GAME PUBLISHER:Psygnosis Copyright 1999, Attention to Detail (ATD) Rollcage is a fun futuristic racer from Attention to Detail (ATD), a short-lived UK developer. Published by Psygnosis in 1999, the game did not sell very well despite introducing a number of…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Michiel van de Panne & Cedric Lee GAME DEVELOPER:Motion Playground GAME PUBLISHER:Motion Playground Copyright 2001, Motion Playground One of the best “physics-based” games I have ever played, Ski Stunt Simulator is a great game that superbly emulates the physics involved in performing acrobatic ski stunts. In…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Rayland Interactive GAME PUBLISHER:Project 2 Interactive Copyright 1998, Project 2 Interactive Mad Trax is a decent space racing game that unfortunately brings little innovation to the crowded genre. Sharky Extreme’s review explains quite well why this is merely an average underdog: “The idea for…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Accolade GAME PUBLISHER:Electronic Arts Copyright 1997, Accolade Test Drive: Off-Road is a disappointing entry in Accolade’s classic Test Drive series. Even a rocking soundtrack cannot save this marginal underdog from mediocrity. Greg Kasavin’s review at GameSpot says it all: “The ancient conflict of man…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Telstar GAME PUBLISHER:Telstar Copyright 1998, Telstar

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Mat Dickie GAME DEVELOPER:MDickie GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 2003, Mat Dickie Big BumpZ is an addictive and original freeware wrestling game from Mat “MDickie” Dickie, maker of a fun series of wrestling game including Wrestling Mpire and Booking Mpire. In Big BumpZ, your goal is not to…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Mat Dickie GAME DEVELOPER:MDickie GAME PUBLISHER:MDickie Copyright 2004, Mat Dickie Booking Mpire is an excellent wrestling management simulation from Mat “MDickie” Dickie, arguablye among the world’s most underrated “lone wolf” designers. This is no average wrestling game: instead of playing a wrestler, you play a promoter…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Namco GAME PUBLISHER:Mindscape Copyright 1988, Namco Pole Position II is a decent EGA/VGA conversion of Namco’s arcade hit of the same name. The premise is the same as the original: drive your F1 as fast as possible to qualify for “pole position” in the…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Shawn Bird GAME DEVELOPER:Dynamix GAME PUBLISHER:Sierra On-Line Copyright 2001, Dynamix An unfortunate casualty of when Sierra (or more accurately, Havas Interactive) shut down Dynamix in 2001, Minigolf Maniacs is a superb unreleased mini golf game that was 80% complete – less than a month from going…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Simon Read GAME DEVELOPER:New Star Games GAME PUBLISHER:New Star Games Copyright 2004, Simon Read New Star Soccer 2 is a wonderfully unique and addictive shareware underdog about the life of a footballer. Arguably the world’s first “footballer simulation,” your goal in NSS2 is to become the…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Gremlin GAME PUBLISHER:Gremlin Copyright 1996, Gremlin UEFO Euro 96 England (Euro 96 for short) is a fun and quite unknown football game from Gremlin. Although based on its Actua Soccer engine, Euro 96 is slightly worse than most in the series, perhaps due to…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Digital Dreams Multimedia GAME PUBLISHER:Digital Dreams Multimedia Copyright 1997, Digital Dreams Multimedia World Wide Rally from Digital Dreams Multimedia (DDM) is an average first-person rally racing game. A wide variety of rally cars and courses unfortunately do not make up for the game’s many…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Bethesda Softworks GAME PUBLISHER:Bethesda Softworks Copyright 1995, Bethesda Softworks This concise review at GameSpot says it all about this lackluster bowling game from Bethesda that could have been great: “I’m sure there are people out there saying “Yeah, football and baseball are great, but…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Distinctive Software GAME PUBLISHER:Mindscape Copyright 1991, Distinctive Software Arguably THE best action-oriented boxing game ever made for the PC, 4-D Boxing is a revolutionary sports title from Distinctive Software that does to the boxing genre what Stunts does for racing. Trixter in his review…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Nadeo GAME PUBLISHER:Digital Jesters Copyright 2004, Nadeo The best Stunts!-style game I have ever seen barring the original classic, TrackMania is a wonderful underdog from French developer Nadeo, published exclusively on-line by Digital Jesters. The excellent review at PC Gameworld says it all: “It’s…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Alan Roireau GAME DEVELOPER:Quest Inc. GAME PUBLISHER:Avalon Hill Copyright 1985, Avalon Hill An early pioneer in the genre of American football that was not nearly half as good as NFL Challenge. Ostentatiously based on Avalon Hill’s best-selling football boardgame, Super Bowl Sunday is much more simplistic…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Konami GAME PUBLISHER:Konami Copyright 2002, Konami First of all, let me make this clear: THIS GAME IS NOT PRO EVO SOCCER/WINNING ELEVEN Fine. Now that I’ve warned about this, let me explain a bit further. By the turn of the millenia, the ISS franchise…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Codemasters GAME PUBLISHER:Codemasters Copyright 1994, Codemasters The Premiership is a decent football (soccer to you Americans) management simulation from Codemasters. Your job, as the name implies, is to guide a team of your choice to the top of British premier league. While it won’t…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Mark Klein GAME DEVELOPER:Imagic GAME PUBLISHER:IBM Copyright 1984, IBM Not to be confused with a poor 1996 game of the same name, Touchdown Football is one of the first American football games ever released for the PC. Designed by Imagic and published by IBM in 1983,…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Bob Whitehead GAME DEVELOPER:Activision GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 2004, Anonymous Now this is what I call nostalgia! Boxindanga is an amazingly faithful remake of Boxing, a classic game from Activision that was released for Atari 2600 system over 20 years ago. Like the original classic, you will…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Telstar GAME PUBLISHER:Telstar Copyright 1996, Telstar Speed Rage is a simple arcade-ish fantasy racing game that lets you race either a dune buggy or a boat on various tracks. The game is decent, but it doesn’t really have anything to make you quit, say,…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Antti Mannisto GAME DEVELOPER:Freeware GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 2004, Antti Mannisto A freeware racing gem which deserves recognition and playing, Turbo Sliders offers a solid netplay code, and with a built-in server list, finding a race or setting up your own is not that difficult. Racing these…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:John Jacobs & Dick Aultman GAME DEVELOPER:1 Step Software GAME PUBLISHER:1 Step Software Copyright 1988, John Jacobs & Dick Aultman Golf Doctor is a neat – and highly obscure – program that was essentially the DOS conversion of John Jacobs’ best-selling book of the same name.…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Codemasters GAME PUBLISHER:Codemasters Copyright 1997, Codemasters TOCA Touring Car Championship is a great racing game from Codemasters that remains relatively unknown to many racing fans. A passionate and wonderfully comprehensive review at MobyGames says it all: “TOCA Touring Car Championship is the official game…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:ESP Software GAME PUBLISHER:ESP Software Copyright 1998, ESP Software Football Masters 98 is a bad but very detailed soccer management simulation that is one of the disappointing ‘missed opportunities.’ Games Domain says it all very critically in their review: “Football Masters 98 is easily…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:David Flamburis GAME DEVELOPER:Papyrus Design Group GAME PUBLISHER:Sierra On-Line Copyright 1996, Papyrus Design Group NASCAR Racing 2 is the superb sequel to Papyrus’ award-winning NASCAR Racing. Sporting a new game engine, SVGA graphics, improved gameplay, and excellent multiplayer support, NR2 also adds many official cars, tracks,…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Digital Illusions GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 1998, Digital Illusions/Volvo More of a “mini-game” than a real game, Volvo S40 Racing is a promotional title developed by Digital Illusions using the Motorhead. The game was commissioned by Swedish carmaker Volvo to promote their racing team. The…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Kev Shaw GAME DEVELOPER:Junkyard GAME PUBLISHER:Junkyard Copyright 1995, Junkyard Body Slam All-Star Wrestling is yet another quality title from UK developer Junkyard (formerly Zeppelin Games), who is best know for their Match Day Manager football simulation. Like most games from Zeppelin, BSASW was very little known…