Sports games generally age poorly. Players retire, uniforms change and above all, simulations become progressively more real and better looking over time. But there are a rare few champions whose legacies endure, however. And we’ve found five PlayStation 1 sports games that still have plenty to offer decades later.
ISS Pro Evolution/Pro Evolution Soccer (1999-2002)
Konami released four games in the west using the ISS Pro Evolution engine and each is still as playable as the last.
ISS Pro Evolution was a half-generation ahead of its predecessor International Superstar Pro ’98, which itself was the very best soccer game on PlayStation until Evolution took that mantle.
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The first title ISS Pro Evolution launched the Master League, the mode that propelled the series to its peak a half-a-decade later.
ISS Pro Evolution had a depth and skill ceiling that sports games (outside of racing games) often lacked. The game made you work for your goals, dribbling was demanding and rewarding in equal measures, passing was fluid.
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Above all, the ball felt almost real. How it interacted with the turf, how it popped off the players boot, how you could cock up and lose control at any moment, ISS Pro Evolution was emergent and free in a way that FIFA has literally never, ever been – even to this day.
While the AI and strategy sets of those four games are primitive by the standards of today, they still present enough challenge and flexibility to make them fun to play.
International Track & Field (1996)
Konami had a particularly purple patch on the pitches of PlayStation. Their Konami XXL series had provided hits like Goal Storm and NBA In the Zone. In 1996 they’d resurrect the International Track & Field moniker and use a polygonal 3D engine to bring it up to date.
The result was an addictive multiplayer experience that could result in fights and high-fives in equal measure.
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While the graphics were updated, the events refreshed and bolstered, and a very 90s announcer added, the gameplay remained mostly the same. Hammer two buttons alternately and time a third button press with some variations on this simple scheme.
And International Track & Field remains one of the best PlayStation 1 sports games for this immediacy and simplicity. While most games can be fun with friends, International Track & Field is the ultimate pick-up-and-play party game for the platform.
With a multi-tap and four controllers, International Track & Field is a ready-made gaming party. Just have a bucket of ice handy.
Everybody’s Golf 2 (1999)
Another arcade-styled sports experience, Everybody’s Golf 2 was one of the very best PlayStation 1 sports games and one that’s still a blast decades later.
Like International Track & Field, Everybody’s Golf 2 has an immediacy to its gameplay. In the mid-90s golf controls schemes were beginning to evolve away from the three-click systems of yore. However, Everybody’s Golf kept the simple system and packaged the golf differently to stand out from its competitors, and to keep the gameplay fresh.
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Within the confines of the three-click system, there was enough complexity to the ball physics and the enough variety in surface and wind conditions to give it remarkable depth for a thoroughly arcade experience. One that defines the ‘easy to pick up, difficult to master’ style that is especially at home in a sports game.
The visuals of Everybody’s Golf 2 hold up remarkably well. Colourful characters in a blue-sky aesthetic have stood the test of time while those that aimed for a realistic look have not.
Formula 1/Formula 1 ’97 (1996-1997)
Bizarre Creations shut their doors in 2011, leaving a legacy of incredible racing/driving experiences. Their first forays onto the tarmac are the stuff of legend.
Formula 1 released in autumn 1996 and featured every single track of the 1995 F1 calender, each rendered in a detail unheard of outside of arcades at the time. Tracks were recreated using surveyor’s laser-measured data with a realism in elevation that wasn’t matched until the next generation of console.
All 13 teams had a unique car model and every one of the 35 drivers who drove an F1 car during the 1995 season is here. There’s even an option to have the actual driver line-up for every race of the season, Nigel Mansell will pop in for two races and so on.
Despite a lack of compatibility with Dual Analog or DualShock controllers, the handling is predictable and precise. Formula 1‘s D-pad features probably the best digitally controlled handling of all time.
But for those of you who can’t go back to the D-pad, Formula 1 ’97 might be a better fit with its DualShock support. The follow-up is based on the same engine but runs in a higher resolution mode and adds a plethora of car setup options as well as weather conditions that change during sessions. Formula ’97 also irons out a few quality of life issues, offering more streamlined menus and a permanently on-screen lap counter.
Licensed racing games age better than most other sports titles, it must be said. They serve as a time capsule of an era with completely different car styles and handling, alien tracks and different rules, sometimes vastly so. For those old enough to remember, the right vintage racing game can let them relive a certain age in the history of their motorsport of choice.
Ready 2 Rumble (1999)
Boxing was in one of its peaks of popularity during the late 90s and publishers followed the money. At this time there were several quality boxing offerings on practically every platform. Holding the belts at the time were EA’s Knockout Kings and Ready 2 Rumble.
Like Everybody’s Golf 2, Ready 2 Rumble went for character and fun over realism but offered a great depth underneath its ease of entry. And like Everybody’s Golf 2, Ready 2 Rumble is still a wholly playable romp to this day while its more realistic counterpart is not.
The roster was filled with colourful boxers with a variety of styles and attributes that offered interesting match-ups. A RUMBLE power-up that rewarded measured aggression with glowing fists that deliver some extra damage.
Like any good PlayStation 1 sports title, there’s a heap of unlockable content that seemed to open up to keep you playing another weeks. Even though Ready 2 Rumble is an arcade brawler at heart, there’s a tough campaign mode. One which lets you play as any of the many characters in the game, unlockable or not.
Fighting in hotel function rooms for a crowd of six people at the beginning of the ladder is a nice touch in a game filled with smerk-worthy details. The training mini-games and in-game economy polish off the Championship Mode.
Honourable Mentions
Madden NFL 2000 was the beginning of a golden era for American Football games. Faced with competition on the digital gridiron, EA Sports gave Madden NFL 2000 one of the richest sets of modes and deepest well of content of any game of the fifth generation.
For superfans of the sport, there is a season of NFL captured in low-poly glory with an anorack-level of statistics to consume. But for everyone else, Madden NFL 2000‘s engine just isn’t as much fun as you remember despite being one of the most accomplisted PlayStation 1 sports games of its day.
Gran Turismo 2 was one of the best racing games of the platform in its day and is worth revisiting for the millions of gamers who 99%ed it decades ago. Like, Madden NFL 2000, Gran Turismo 2 offers remarkable depth, plenty of content and a sort of historical value for aficionados – but it not easy to play these days.
The graphics, while the height of realism in 1999, are hard to look at. The rubber-banding of the AI drivers is frustrating to return to after decades with fairer techniques to elicit challenge.
