Ever since I was a child I’ve always been an avid gamer. It started out on the Atari 2600, and then I moved on to Nintendo and so on and so on. One of the greatest gaming experiences of my life has been the era of the Sega Genesis. I’m really not sure why it was. It could have been my age, the games, the fun factor, or what have you. Either way it was a blast playing this system. Even back then, my favorite games were sports titles. Here is my list of favorite sports titles on the Sega Genesis. Don't forget to stop by our forums and share your thoughts.
 | Coach K College Basketball: As Dicky V would say, this game is AWESOME BABY with a capital A! Easily my favorite college hoops title to date. And to think EA Sports actually made this game. I don’t think they’ve made a decent college basketball game since then. Coach K ran off of the NBA Live engine, which wasn’t a bad thing back then. One of the best features in the game was the ability to shatter the backboard on monster dunks. Look at this sweet vid of Corliss Williamson in his Arkansas days shattering the backboard |
 | NBA Jam: Back when Arcades were popular, NBA Jam used to eat up my quarters. When I found out this game was coming out on the Genesis, it was a “must buy”. I had friends come over and we’d play this for hours on end. At one points my parents were so tired of hearing “Boom-shak-a-laka” and “HE’S ON FIRE!” that they had me move my Sega to the basement. Of course my favorite team was Da Bulls with Scottie Pippen and Ho Grant. I still don’t think an arcade style basketball game has surpassed the fun factor this game had. |
 | Mutant League Football: One of the great Arcade style football games ever made. And once again another EA title. We sometimes forget how long they’ve been in business and just how great their titles truly were. Back in ’93 this was my favorite football game next to Madden. I’m sure you all remember teams like the Midway Monsters (Chicago Bears) and Deathskin Razors (Oakland Raiders). Or those great players like Bones Jackson and Scary Ice. I loved how this game had little features like bribing the referee, then the opposing team kills him. Unless another Mutant League Football game is released, no other game will come close to this over the top football gameplay. |
 | NBA Live 96: I consider this the best version of NBA Live to date. My best friend and I played this game religiously. This was the period of time when Da Bulls were winning titles, we admired Jordan and Pippen, needless to say hoops was heavy on our minds. When NBA Live came out that year there were no rookies in the game. He and sat there and created every rookie from that class. EA helped us out quite a bit by basically created the player for you. All you had to do was input their name and all their correct info would pop up. We might have been the only guys in history, other than Jazz fans, to create Greg Ostertag. |
 | Lakers vs. Celtics: My first love as far as NBA basketball went. This game had me at hello. Lakers vs. Celtics was the first game I played on Genesis leaving my Nintendo. When I first saw this game I thought, “wow this looks like T.V.” Hey what did you expect? You are going from 8 bit Nintendo to 16 bit Genesis. Now that might seem like small potatoes, but back then it was huge. This game had stuff that today’s games still don’t have. It also laid the ground work for things we see in today’s games. 2K and EA touted the player signature moves, but lets not forget this was already implemented back when this game was around. How could we forget about Tom Chambers “double pump dunk”? Or Barkley’s “Gorilla Dunk” from the free throw line. And of course MJ’s “Up and Under” layup. We also had a half time show that showed highlights from other games. Sure it was always the same highlights, but the point was they actually had this stuff. These companies need to go back to their roots and take some of their old ideas. If this vid doesn’t get you hyped to play virtual basketball, then nothing will. |
 | College Football USA ‘96-This was an amazing college football game. And it paved the way for the NCAA Football series. The game featured 108 Division I-A teams and the four major bowls (Rose, Orange, Fiesta, and Sugar). One cool feature about this game was the ability to have a tournament at the end of the season instead of bowl games. My buddy, Nate, and I were talking about this game earlier. We were reminiscing about his little brother calling a play where you would put Keyshawn Johnson in the slot and he'd catch the ball every time. He'd end the game with 500 yards receiving. Unfortunately, back then there were no patches that could fix these flaws in the game. |
Honorable Mentions: Madden ‘92-My first Mandden game. No real NFL teams, no problem. I know you all remember the passing windows? Joe Montana Football- Love the commentary. I'd take this over the radio announcer in Madden any day. Bill Walsh College Football-The college football game I played for years until College Football came out.
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