When players think of sports games, it’s not surprising to think about video games that accurately depict a majority of the mechanics of the source material. It’s this quality that made the likes of NBA 2K, Football Manager, and even Madden NFL hallmark franchises in the field of sports. However, some sports games did grace the gaming halls with rather weird and unusual mechanics.
Before the likes of Rocket League surprised the gaming scene with its combination of rocket-powered cars and soccer, some games had already tried introducing rather weird mechanics to popular sports titles. However, which of these games have players probably already forgotten?
8 Husky Express Dog Sled Racing (2009)
Platforms: PC
While dog sled racing isn’t “flashy” and “forgotten” in the eyes of the sports enthusiast, having an MMO entirely dedicated to raising dogs for the purpose of being the best there is in the craft certainly hits “unusual” territory. Unlike other sports games where players head straight to racing mechanics, Husky Express Dog Sled Racing has players create an anime sled racer in an open world around the northern hemisphere. To make a living, players need to adopt and raise dogs, which would then operate sleds that help players traverse the town and compete in races.
This in turn transforms Husky Express Dog Sled Racing into a three-part MMO. Aside from the racing proper, it is also a pet simulator where players have to feed their pets and acquire pets that have certain traits - such as smelling quality products, and those that can jump past crevices and cliffs. Moreover, players must find resources and craft ways to survive in the cold, as their characters can freeze to death. While the game hasn’t had an English server, this Korean MMO was a breath of fresh air for fans looking for a more casual MMO experience away from more intense RPGs at the time.
7 FreeStyle 2: Street Basketball (2014)
Platforms: PC
Although FreeStyle 2: Street Racing is nowhere near “old” territory, it’s certainly within the niche category of sports games due to its focus. Whereas fans already have the NBA 2K series to meet their sports needs, FreeStyle 2: Street Basketball focuses on street-level basketball, with fewer rules and more focus on style. At its core, FreeStyle 2 still follows conventional basketball gameplay.
However, the game’s introduction of Skills, Masteries, and Cards also adds another layer of progression and personalization to players. As characters improve with each match, players can purchase Skills to acquire new basketball moves and Mastery to add specific parameters to techniques. That way, players not only gain proficiencies towards a particular “role” (i.e., Point Guard), but players create characters that precisely move the way they want to.
6 Rusty’s Real Deal Baseball (2014)
Platforms: Nintendo 3DS
Baseball games aren’t entirely new in sports video games, but when a dog dad sells what “appears” to be real-deal baseball games at a discounted price to help his failing business survive, this is where Rusty’s Real Deal Baseball comes in. Released as a free-to-play title on the Nintendo 3DS, Rusty’s Real Deal Baseball is built as a mini-game gallery set in Rusty Slugger’s Sports Shack.
What makes Real Deal Baseball fun are its unique spins on the baseball video game concept, with each mini-game getting progressively difficult while introducing new gimmicks. Moreover, while players can purchase the rest of Rusty’s mini-games using real-life money, coupons and discounts earned via mini-games already unlocked in the game will help players buy them at a lower price. It’s this element of real-life haggling for rather entertaining baseball mini-games that makes Real Deal Baseball tread the fine line between ordinary and surreal.
5 Jam City Rollergirls (2011)
Platforms: Wii
While roller derby is an intense contact sport that involves the otherwise-chill hobby of roller skating with rules where teams circle around a track and a designated jammer earns points by lapping teammates of the opposing team. The Wii attempts to add a kart element to this via Jam City Rollergirls, where the sport takes a slightly more violent spin courtesy of wilder tracks and many power-ups.
At its core, the game now takes place in various stages where players can do tricks, acquire stars, and get multiple power-ups to help them dominate the position of top jammer in a match. Acquire enough stars and players can activate a super boost that can easily help them reclaim the top spot or leave everyone in the dust. And for players with a flair for extra wildness, players can use various techniques to cut off enemies.
4 Chaos League (2004)
Platforms: PC
Players who think of fantasy football already have Warhammer Fantasy’s Blood Bowl, with 2023’s Blood Bowl 3 promising a brutal take on the turn-based football parody. However, when it comes to adaptations, fans who want a more comedic take on the fantasy football concept might want to consider Chaos League. Released in 2004, this game is a rugby-type sports where teams made up of orcs, elves, dwarves, and even undead compete for supremacy. The comedy appeal of the game is centered around satire and expert commentary, as well as advertisements for fictional products.
While most rules of Chaos League adapts that of originally football, new mechanics do add a layer of intensity to the player’s experience. For one, Chaos League highly encourages injuries, knockdowns, and even deaths. Various activities can prevail in the game to dominate the match, such as downed players and intervening audiences, bribing (and even assaulting!) referees for broken rules, as well as drugging players so they can’t participate in games. This rather raw and violent take on the idea of fantasy football with the addition of magic and the occasional dismemberment makes Chaos League a pretty unusual but fun game.
3 Skateball (1989)
Platforms: Amstrad CPC, Amstrad GX4000, Atari ST, Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum
Gamers who want a more straightforward version of a violent sport might want to grab Skateball, a 1989 game that combines soccer and ice skating with a dash of brutality. The game has two (2) teams, with a court made of ice with a steel wall and a ball becoming the center of the play.
However, where the game shines is its simplicity. For instance, the game is riddled with lethal obstacles such as holes and explosives. Moreover, the match ends when players either score five (5) goals or kill all the opposing team’s players.
2 Bill Laimbeer’s Combat Basketball (1990)
Platforms: Super NES
The 1990s remain a rather weird time for futuristic sports with a dash of violence, and Bill Laimbeer’s Combat Basketball takes things to the next level. The game is a parody video game centered around Bill Laimbeer, who is now a coach but sed to play for NBA’s Detroit Pistons back when the team was known for aggressive playstyles. Taking place in 2031, Bill Laimbeer’s Combat Basketball centers around a style of basketball in the future where fouls don’t exist and weapons are allowed.
Compared to other basketball games at the time, Combat Basketball takes place with an unconventional overhead court view. Players can now tackle each other on the court without fouls, with destructive items such as weapons and bombs appearing around the field for players to use. While reviewers criticize the game’s rather clunky controls and visuals, fans looking for an entertaining celebrity-themed video game might want to give this a shot.
1 Speedball 2: Brutal Deluxe (1990)
Platforms: Acorn Archimedes, Atari Jaguar, Atari ST, Amiga, Amiga CD32, PC, Commodore 64, Sega Mega Drive, Sega Master System, Game Boy and Game Boy Advance
When the first Speedball League fails due to corruption and violence, the sport is moved underground. And in Speedball 2: Brutal Deluxe, the player-controlled team named Brutal Deluxe becomes the focus of a new star of “Speedball 2,” a recreation of the original sport made to garner better public opinion. And the consensus of both their cyberpunk version of Earth and game critics in the real world are generally the same: it’s brutal sporty fun.
Despite its age as a game released in the 1990s, Speedball 2 remains a cohesive yet rather weird take on a sport. Its ruleset takes elements of ice hockey and handball plus the occasional violence, with opposing teams of nine (9) players each duke it out to send a ball to the opposite team’s goal. Unlike other sports games, coins periodically appear around the map that players can exchange for power-ups, and they’re encouraged to hit opponents to lower their HP and, eventually, their stamina to slow them down. This rather straightforward approach of “hurt ‘em if there’s no one goaling” makes Speedball 2 quite an enjoyable experience.