Lore from sports games is something that many gamers wouldn't expect. However, sports in real life are filled with lore. There is a story behind each penalty kick, home run, or touchdown. Happiness and sadness litter both the stands and the dressing room. There is so much emotion around sports that there are bound to be storylines.
With that in mind, it only seems natural for the video game counterparts of these sports to have a bit of that lore. While it isn't as deep as the agony and ecstasy that one might experience in real-world sport, there are still quite a few interesting stories to tell.
6 Need for Speed series
While the storyline in Need For Speed games might seem like a rejected script from the Fast and Furious series, it is still one of the few racing games out in the market that has any semblance of a plot. The story-specific titles such as Need For Speed: Heat and Payback, while a bit overdramatized, still base their foundation on street racing culture, which is filled with lore.
This isn't because of the drivers, but instead the cars themselves. A lot of them, such as the legendary Nissan Skyline, have an aura around them because of video games like the Need of Speed series. So while the game doesn't exactly have the best lore, it certainly helps build some of it for the culture itself.
5 Jet Set Radio series
The Jet Set Radio series isn't a traditional sports game, but inline skating is a sub sport of the larger roller skating scene. At its core, the series is an arcade-style action game where the objective is to skate around and tag graffiti.
However, the series is much deeper than that. While it may seem silly or even outrageous to some, there is a plot to all of this. There are gangs and large corporations that serve as the players' rivals. Each faction has its own backstory, as too do the playable characters.
4 Tony Hawk's Underground series
Story modes weren't a strong suit for Tony Hawk's games. While they did have a career mode, it didn't rely heavily on a narrative other than being a skater who does mundane tasks. That all changed with the start of the Underground series, however. The two games centered around a player-created skater and their journey with various famous pro-skaters as they travel the world in an international competition.
The story isn't particularly compelling when compared to traditional narratives found in video games, but it does give a good insight into the personalities of the pro skaters. There are also various gags and easter eggs throughout each level that provide some good world-building for the imagination.
3 FIFA's The Journey
Starting with FIFA 17, EA Sports introduced The Journey. It tells the story of Englishman Alex Hunter and his path to sporting glory. It isn't only about Hunter either, with his friends, and even some family members like his grandfather and half-sister also given the spotlight at times, providing more lore to the already established story.
Gamers have the option to shape the outcome of the story using the dialog tree, a feature that was inspired by another EA franchise, Mass Effect. The Journey lasted three installments until FIFA 20, where EA replaced the mode with VOLTA Football, where Hunter makes a cameo.
2 Football Manager series
The best lore at the end of the day is the one in the player's own head. The Football Manager series is a managerial sim where gamers take control of their favorite side or a random soccer team of choice. While the game may seem like a glorified Excel spreadsheet on the surface, those who are deeply invested in the sport will start developing lore in their head regarding the players and team they are managing.
Much like in real life, there is a story behind each player signing or relegation fight, and players are bound to develop a small head cannon regarding each small event during the game.
1 Captain Tsubasa: Rise of New Champions
Captain Tsubasa: Rise of New Champions is an arcade-style soccer game. Its source material, Capitan Tsubasa, is a long-running Manga stretching back to 1981. It revolves around Tsubasa Oozora and his journey throughout the sport. The first part of the game's story mode stays true to the Manga, so original fans will feel right at home with the series' lore.
The second part of the story mode is based around an upcoming youth World Cup. While there is an established plot, there are dialog choices to choose between while progressing. It doesn't really affect the outcome of the plot, but it does provide fans with more content from the Captain Tsubasa universe.