Official licensing has been a major part of gaming’s sports genre for many years. It’s a fundamental reason why fans are happy to buy yearly installments of their favorite sports games, as attribute updates, player transfers, and updated kits are enough of a reason for many to make the purchase year after year. The future of licensing in sports games may be about to change though. EA Sports’FIFAseries,which is gaming’s most popular sports series by a huge margin, recentlypaid David Beckham £40 million ($53,416,000)to appear as an Icon in their games for the next three years. The issue with this is that the eye-watering sum has caught the attention of current players. Mino Railo, the agent of stars like Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Paul Pogba, has said thataround 300 players may be taking legal action against EA over their likeness in the games.
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This case could have huge ramifications on the future of sports video games, and if the case were to go ahead, official licensing in all sporting games could be called into question. Thankfully, the gaming industry has proven many times that licensing in sports games isn’t a necessity, and these games show that gameplay will always prevail as the most important feature in the genre.
10Super Mega Baseball 3
Metalhead Software’sSuper Mega Baseballseries is quickly becoming a serious challengerto SIE San Diego Studio’sMLB The Show.
Despite the similarity in character models,Super Mega Baseball 3doesn’t have any turbo or special moves like inNBA Jam.The gameplay has realistic physics, but with a simplistic playstyle that differentiates it from itsMLBcompetitor.
9SSX Tricky
EA Sports clearly took the extreme part of extreme sport seriously with their iconic over-the-top snowboarding gameSSX Tricky.EA didn’t feel the need to worry about licensing with the niche sport, and instead implemented a set of characters bursting with charisma and personality.
Ubisoft had a crack at releasing a licensed snowboarding game in 2008 withShaun White Snowboarding, though the game was poorly received.
8The Everybody’s Golf Series
Formerly known in North America asHot Shots Golf, theEverybody’s Golfseries has had ten releases since the original game in 1997, with the most recent beingEverybody’s Golf VR.The series utilizes the popular three-click system that many golf games implement.
The success of the series led Sony Computer Entertainment to releaseHot Shots Tennis(also known asEverybody’s Tennis) in 2006, althoughthe game struggled to impress and has a Metascore of just 70.
7Wii Sports
Wii Sportsis a strong contender for being the best launch title in gaming history. Sure, its objective quality doesn’t come anywhere close to launch titlesSuper Mario 64, Super Mario World,orHalo: Combat Evolved, butWii Sportswas incredibly important for the Nintendo Wii as it extinguished fears that the Wii’s motion controls were just a gimmick destined to flop like PlayStation’s EyeToy.
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Although the variety of game modes are lacking and the gameplay is simplistic,Wii Sportswas revolutionary in 2006 and is still great fun to play with friends today.
6SEGA Soccer Slam
SEGASoccer Slamis essentiallyFIFAif EA’s developers asked their children to pitch ideas for it. That isn’t meant as an insult, asSoccer Slamprovides a funalternative to the sport’s realism-focused games.
SEGA Soccer Slamwas likely a big inspiration behind the GameCube’sSuper Mario Strikersand Wii’sMario Strikers Charged.
5Super Stickman Golf 3
Considering that mobile gaming is inundated with unlicensed sports games, it would feel wrong not to include one on this list.
LikeSEGA Soccer Slam, Super Stickman Golf 3doesn’t worry about realism and instead aims to simply provide enjoyable gameplay. Noodlecake Games succeeded in this through its set of excellently designed, puzzle-like levels that earned the game ahuge Metacritic score of 95.
4Excitebike
Back in the days of the Atari 2600, and the NES, official branding wasn’t needed to sell games. Instead ofTiger Woods PGA Tour 12: The Masters,there was simplyTennis(1984), Soccer(1985), andGolf(1984).
Excitebikewas one of the NES' highest-selling gamesand featured the simplistic yet addictive gameplay that the console’s sporting titles were known for.
3The Pro Evolution Soccer Series
The success of thePro Evolution Soccerseries, formerly known in NA as theWorld Soccer Winning Elevenseries, shows that a realistic sporting title can still be a commercial hit without licensing; asit’s the third highest-selling sports series in the world.
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Konami has managed to secure some licensing here and there, such as the UEFA Champions League for a handful of games, as well as having a handful of licensed teams in each entry. But generally speaking, the games use fake kits, logos, and team names. Some of the older entries in the series even used fake names that inadvertently added cryptic puzzle solving to the series, as players had to work out that Snake Derick was Steven Davis or that Naldarinho was Ronaldinho.
2Punch-Out!!
Despite originally releasing in 1987, the NES' adaption of the popular arcade seriesPunch-Out!!is still considered to be one of the best sports games ever made. Although most iterations of the game are unlicensed, a licensed version of the game released with Mike Tyson as the final opponent in the suitably titledMike Tyson’s Punch-Out!!.
The game is still as addictive today as when it first released and is available to play on the Nintendo Switch for online members with Mr. Dream as the final opponent.
1Mario’s Many Sporting Ventures
Nintendo has carved their own spot in the sporting genre with their main-man, Mario, and friends, kindly inviting their arch-enemies to games of tennis, golf, soccer, and more.
Nintendo has dabbled in official licensing with theirMario and Sonic at the Olympic Gamesseries which has featured Beijing 2008, London 2012, Rio 2016, and most recently Tokyo 2020. However, the majority of Mario’s sporting ventures have been unlicensed with the strength of Nintendo’s cast of characters being more than enough to appeal to sports fans worldwide.
NEXT:5 Best Retro Sports Games, According To Metacritic (& 5 Worst)
