Category: Sports Games

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Thomas Hertzler GAME DEVELOPER:Rainbow Arts GAME PUBLISHER:Rainbow Arts Copyright 1988, Rainbow Arts Nice little cat sports(?!) game with various fun stages, designed by Thomas Hertzler, nowadays president of Blue Byte. The controls are not really intiutive – so be sure to also download the manual below.…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Audiogenic GAME PUBLISHER:Audiogenic Copyright 1994, Audiogenic Probably the world’s best cricket game until Electronic Arts’ EA Sports version years later, Allan Border’s Cricket is also known as Graham Gooch World Class Cricket, Jonty Rhodes II World Class Cricket, and probably a myriad other names…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Empire Interactive GAME PUBLISHER:Empire Interactive Copyright 1991, Empire Interactive Poor soccer/manager mix endorsed by Britain’s “bad boy” Paul Gascoigne. You have the option to play either a standard soccer game or the management option only. Nice idea, but both are executed too poorly to…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Zeppelin Games GAME PUBLISHER:Zeppelin Games Copyright 1993, Zeppelin Games Carnage is a nice little overhead racer in the style of Atari’s arcade classic Super Sprint. Progress in races to earn money, spend it on car improvements, nitro-fuel or mines – handy for staying on…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Imagitec Design GAME PUBLISHER:GameTek Copyright 1992, GameTek A mini-games collection based on that Amercian TV show thingie of the same name, probably one of the dumbest things ever to hit the TV screen. The game was developed by Imagitec Design, designers of such popular…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Alternative GAME PUBLISHER:Alternative Copyright 1993, Alternative Well, you won’t play darts with tennis or golf balls in this game – although the game title and box cover might tell you that. Bully’s Sporting Darts is a fairly decent darts simulation, or better said: It’s…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Zeppelin Games GAME PUBLISHER:Zeppelin Games Copyright 1994, Zeppelin Games Peter Schmeichel Soccer Manager is a fairly primitive soccer management simulation of the English league. The relation with the Danish star is, as usual, just in the title and title pic. Choose your club, buy/sell…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Futura GAME PUBLISHER:Futura Copyright 1990, Futura Panza Kick Boxing is a very nice PC conversion of the classic Amiga kick boxing game by French company Futura. Probably one of the best fighting games ever made (and one of the few Thai boxing games in…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Zeppelin Games GAME PUBLISHER:Zeppelin Games Copyright 1993, Zeppelin Games Tennis game with ok graphics, nice sound and very good gameplay. It’s very easy to get some great shots together. When I first played the game, I complained about the lack of options, the extremly…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Zeppelin Games GAME PUBLISHER:Zeppelin Games Copyright 1994, Zeppelin Games Soccer game similar to Sensible Soccer. At first, it looks quite promising and graphically it can keep up with the popular game by Sensible Software. But International Soccer is really lacking in terms of gameplay.…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Zeppelin Games GAME PUBLISHER:Zeppelin Games Copyright 1993, Zeppelin Games Also known as Olympic Games 92 (that one published by Opera Soft), International Athletics is another sports games collection in the style of Epyx’s C64 classic Summer Games or MindSpan’s Summer Challenge. Quite a decent…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:TerraTools GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 2000, TerraTools An incredibly addictive game developed as a marketing gimmick for the German Karstadt AG for the relaunch of its e-commerce platform “my world,” FunRun is a colorful first-person driving game that features excellent 3D graphics, smooth animations, and…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Loriciel GAME PUBLISHER:Loriciel Copyright 1987, Loriciel Oldie arcade-style racing game by Loriciel. Features four different tracks to race on. Very nice for its time with good smooth graphics – for CGA standards. Similar to Br?derbund’s SuperBike Challenge, but with less emphasis on realism and…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Dominique Sablons GAME DEVELOPER:Loriciel GAME PUBLISHER:Loriciel Copyright 1992, Loriciel Nice follow-up to Loriciel’s tennis game Tennis Cup from 1990. Gameplay has been nicely improved in this one, so finally you can also produce good strokes and winners more often from the baseline, than just from the…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Dominique Sablons GAME DEVELOPER:Loriciel GAME PUBLISHER:Electronic Zoo Copyright 1990, Loriciel Tennis Cup is yet another tennis simulation that came out in the early 90’s. Graphically, the game is a beauty with typical Sablons characters and design. It offers many options and play modes, such as Davis…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Loriciel GAME PUBLISHER:Loriciel Copyright 1988, Loriciel Space Racer is an oldie futuristic racing game with a “blast your opponents out of the way” action element. Quite fun and as in Mach 3, there’s a cool Michel Winogradoff sampled PC-speaker title tune. Should be played…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Audiogenic GAME PUBLISHER:OCEAN Copyright 1994, OCEAN European Champions is a fairly mediocre soccer game developed by Audiogenic covering most of Europe’s top leagues. The game features two display modes, which can be changed during gameplay: An overhead view, similar to the one found in…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Dino Dini & Steve Screech GAME DEVELOPER:Anco Software GAME PUBLISHER:Anco Software Copyright 1990, Anco Software One of the very best (if not THE best) soccer games ever made, Dino Dini’s seminal classic Kick Off 2 was a huge success on the Atari ST and Amiga, although,…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Keniti Makamura GAME DEVELOPER:Freeware GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 2000, Keniti Makamura A small but amazingly addictive little game of volleyball, OJ Volleyball lets you control only one player, and your goal is simply to serve, return the ball, and smash it into the opponent’s corner to score…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Konami GAME PUBLISHER:Konami Copyright 1992, Konami A faithful translation of a fun arcade sports game (a rare event in itself) by Konami, NFL Football is a fun football game that offers a good balance between coaching and action without taking itself too seriously. As…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Junkyard GAME PUBLISHER:Merit Studios Copyright 1995, Merit Studios While no Championship Manager (I frequently won games without realising I was fielding 9 or less players), this underdog is still surprisingly playable. The game simulates England’s division two soccer league, so Manchester United or Liverpool…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Accolade GAME PUBLISHER:Accolade Copyright 1995, Accolade One of the best action-oriented hockey games ever made, this 1995 version of Accolade’s Brett Hull Hockey series is widely regarded as the best game in the series, even though two more sequels would be made. Fans of…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Patrick Cook GAME DEVELOPER:Dynamix GAME PUBLISHER:Sierra On-Line Copyright 1994, Dynamix The people who brought us FPS: Football Pro, one of the best football games ever made, has done it again with baseball. Unfortunately though, Front Page Sports: Baseball Pro never achieved the same level of accolades…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Charles Owen GAME DEVELOPER:XOR Corporation GAME PUBLISHER:XOR Corporation Copyright 1987, XOR Corporation Building on their solid simulation model used in NFL Challenge, XOR released Basketball Challenge 2 years later, to even less fanfare than the original. Don’t let the lack of recognition fool you, though– Basketball…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Charles Owen GAME DEVELOPER:XOR Corporation GAME PUBLISHER:XOR Corporation Copyright 1985, XOR Corporation One of the oldest football games ever made, XOR’s NFL Challenge remain to this day one of the most ambitious simulations of its kind, containing over 30,000 lines of C and Assembly source codes…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Acclaim Entertainment GAME PUBLISHER:Acclaim Entertainment Copyright 1996, Acclaim Entertainment One of the best arcade basketball games ever made, Acclaim’s NBA Jam is a great conversion of the blockbuster arcade game to PC. The Tournament Edition features several options not available on the original NBA…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Les Spink & Ade Carless GAME DEVELOPER:Gremlin GAME PUBLISHER:Gremlin Copyright 1996, Gremlin Fatal Racing (released as Whiplash in the USA by Interplay a year later) is one of the best stunt car racing games ever made. In many ways a spiritual successor to Geoff Crammond’s underrated…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:21st Century Entertainment GAME PUBLISHER:21st Century Entertainment Copyright 1996, 21st Century Entertainment It’s a Funny Old Game is one of the few tongue-in-cheek soccer simulations in existence. While it will never dethrone the likes of Championship Manager or even On The Ball as one…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Konami GAME PUBLISHER:Konami Copyright 1991, Konami A solid Nascar racing game that places more emphasis on adrenaline rush than realism, Konami’s Bill Elliott’s Nascar Challenge is a great arcade-style racing game that also offers plenty of options to keep die-hard fans happy. Endorsed by…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Microids GAME PUBLISHER:Microids Copyright 1991, Microids Microids’ Grand Prix 500 2 is a fun motorcycle racing game that boasts vibrant graphics and smooth animations that are better than average for its time. In many ways, the game feels like an update of Br?derbund’s 1987…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Logical Design Works GAME PUBLISHER:California Dreams Copyright 1991, California Dreams A great sequel to Street Rod that improves upon its predecessor in every respect, Street Rod 2 features more and faster cars, more challenging courses, and new customization options that were added based on…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Logical Design Works GAME PUBLISHER:California Dreams Copyright 1989, California Dreams Street Rod is California Dreams’s masterpiece and one of the very best racing games ever made for the PC. What set the game apart from other racing games of the era (and even now)…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Konami GAME PUBLISHER:Konami Copyright 1990, Konami Excellent PC port of arguably the best action-oriented hockey game ever made for the NES, Konami’s Blades of Steel offers full-out, white-knuckled action at its blistering best. Gameplay is hockey at its rawest, action-packed level. Although there are…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Brderbund GAME PUBLISHER:Brderbund Copyright 1987, Brderbund One of the first truly excellent motorcycle racing games, SuperBike Challenge features smooth CGA graphics, multiplayer options, a wide variety of tracks, and intuitive keyboard and joystick controls. The game’s split-screen display in two-player mode is one of…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Dan Geisler & Gilman Louie GAME DEVELOPER:Spectrum Holobyte GAME PUBLISHER:Spectrum Holobyte Copyright 1989, Spectrum Holobyte A highly underrated racing game, Vette! features great graphics, camera angle options, and multiplayer. It was, in fact, one of the first racing games to offer multiplayer racing via modem, which…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Fernando Jimenez GAME DEVELOPER:Dinamic Multimedia GAME PUBLISHER:Dinamic Multimedia Copyright 1988, Dinamic Multimedia Aspar GP Master is a fun but little-known motorcycle racing game inspired by Jorge “Aspar” Martinez, Spanish world champion who dominated the 125cc class in the 1980s. It is only fitting, then, that his…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Stormfront Studios GAME PUBLISHER:Strategic Simulations Inc. (SSI) Copyright 1993, Strategic Simulations Inc. (SSI) Stormfront’s underrated Tony La Russa series continues with Tony La Russa Baseball II, an astounding sequel that features numerous enhancements that makes a great game even better. The innovative “fly ball…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Stormfront Studios GAME PUBLISHER:Strategic Simulations Inc. (SSI) Copyright 1991, Strategic Simulations Inc. (SSI) The original in Stormfront Studios’ popular baseball game series combines a high production value action game with a detailed and accurate statistical simulation. The result is Tony La Russa’s Ultimate Baseball,…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:GameStar GAME PUBLISHER:GameStar Copyright 1988, GameStar A fun wrestling game that doesn’t take itself too seriously, Take Down Wrestling features a good sense of humor, a wide variety of moves, and good controls. Gameplay is very fast: pick a tag-team of two wrestlers, and…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Eric Zmiro GAME DEVELOPER:Titus GAME PUBLISHER:Titus Copyright 1994, Titus The last and arguably best in Titus’ Crazy Cars series, Lamborghini – American Challenge is essentially the same game as Crazy Cars 3, except for the addition of a two-player mode and speed synchronization (so that slowdown…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:OCEAN GAME PUBLISHER:OCEAN Copyright 1991, OCEAN The first WWF-licensed computer game is a horrendous game, although still (surprisingly enough) better than its even worse successor WWF European Rampage. OCEAN’s WWF Wrestlemania features a lot of blocky wrestlers who look nothing like their real-life counterparts,…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Accolade GAME PUBLISHER:Accolade Copyright 1993, Accolade First in a long series of American football games that ends with ’96 version, Unnecessary Roughness, released in 1993, is an ambitious football game that unfortunately suffers from an SVGA engine that was too demanding for most computers…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:MicroProse GAME PUBLISHER:MicroProse Copyright 1995, MicroProse MicroProse’ Ultimate NFL Coaches Club Football is an ambitious football game that is unfortunately bogged down with too many bugs and gameplay quirks to be fun. While it will not tear anyone away from Front Page Sports Football,…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Darek Lukaszuk GAME DEVELOPER:Dynamix GAME PUBLISHER:Activision Copyright 1990, Dynamix One of the most underrated sci-fi racing games of all time, Activision’s Death Track is a fun futuristic racing game where the objective is to eliminate your opponents– literally. With names like “Preying Menace” and “Crimson Death,”…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Distinctive Software GAME PUBLISHER:Mindscape Copyright 1990, Distinctive Software 4D Sports Tennis is a revolutionary tennis game that unfortunately was both critically and commercially less successful than its over-hyped cousin 4D Sports Boxing. Based on a more advanced version of polygonal 3D engine used in…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:GTE Entertainment GAME PUBLISHER:GTE Entertainment Copyright 1994, GTE Entertainment Jammit is a very entertaining arcade-style basketball game that almost perfectly captures the flavor and atmosphere of “street” basketball that is very popular in the US. In contrast to normal team basketball, street basketball is…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Chris Coupe GAME DEVELOPER:OCEAN GAME PUBLISHER:OCEAN Copyright 1992, OCEAN One of the worst games ever made, WWF European Rampage is dull, repetitive, and even looks horrible. The entirety of gameplay consists of walking up to your opponent and hitting the fire button to punch him a…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Titus GAME PUBLISHER:Titus Copyright 1988, Titus A simple arcade motorboat racing game, Offshore Warrior nevertheless offers a lot of gameplay despite 4-color CGA graphics. Your goal is simple: compete in a motorboat tournament that spans the globe. While the tracks, which range from North…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Banana Development GAME PUBLISHER:Konami Copyright 1989, Banana Development One of the more original sports games I’ve seen, Konami’s Boot Camp is, as the name implies, a game about life in the military camp. The goal in each level is simple: get to the end…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Data East GAME PUBLISHER:Data East Copyright 1991, Data East One of the best-looking arcade-oriented baseball games for its time, Data East’s Bo Jackson Baseball also offers some managerial options, although not as extensive as “true” baseball sims such as Micro League Baseball. Still, it…