These 5 Arcadey Sports Games Really Need a Comeback

Sega Soccer Slam

Before we even get started talking about the games, let’s just acknowledge the elephant in the room: Yes, the images in this post are all over the place. Turns out it’s difficult to get lovely photos of particularly old game series, who’d have thunk! Anyway, let’s get onto what you’re actually here for.

Sega Soccer Slam was an absolute *chef’s kiss* — as the kids say nowadays — of an arcade soccer title that released on the GameCube, PS2, and Xbox back in 2002.

With an intuitive control scheme that made pulling off fancy skills, punches, and super-powered shots a cinch, and a cast of eccentric characters that represented their team’s feel beautifully, it had the foundations for greatness.

Toss in the fact that the game had a single-player mode, as well as local multiplayer for up to four players and it was an easy way to burn through a weekend indoors.

Alas, Sega Soccer Slam never got a sequel, nor did it ever get any kind of fancy remaster treatment for more recent consoles. And what a waste. Right now, there’s no true arcade soccer game… that doesn’t involve rocket-powered cars anyway.

With Sega Soccer Slam’s unique cast of characters and after 17 years off, there’s plenty of room for expanding this into a fully-fledged, modern arcade soccer experience. Give us more teams, improved visuals, and a lengthier career mode and we’re all in.

Oh, and online and couch multiplayer. But that’s a given.

NBA Street/ Jam

We’re aware at this point that our list is looking pretty soccer-based, and that’s probably because it’s the best sport to arcadify (it’s a new word I made, deal with it) with a video game (fight me).

Even so, it’s impossible to ignore the likes of NBA Street and NBA Jam for offering some of the most compelling arcadey sports action that’s ever graced our screens.

Regardless of whether you were more of a fan of Street or Jam, I think we can all agree that the simplicity of their control schemes and the outrageous dunks and leg-breaking skills you could pull off made these titles what they were.

And yet even taking into account NBA Street Homecourt’s 2007 release on 360 and PS3, we’ve been without a new entry for far, far too long.

Sadly, EA Sports retired the “BIG” label of NBA Street’s developer back in 2008, changing it to Freestyle, before seemingly shuttering the developer for good a couple of years later.

Whether or not the publisher would hand over the rights to another developer under its umbrella remains to be seen, but one thing’s for sure, we need a better arcade basketball game than NBA Playgrounds 2.

Super Mario Strikers / Mario Strikers Charged

Mario last donned his soccer boots with a bunch of the rest of the cast from the Mushroom Kingdom in Super Mario Strikers and Mario Strikers Charged back on the GameCube and Wii in 2005 and 2007 respectively, and sadly, Nintendo has never deemed it worthwhile returning to.

The unique mechanic here was that you’d need to charge up the ball before having an attempt at goal, otherwise you’d likely end up fluffing a shot that rolled along the ground toward the keeper, rather than bursting out the back of the net.

Toss in the usual Mushroom Kingdom item culprits of red shells, chain chomps, mushrooms, banana skins and more, and you’ve got a recipe for chaos.

Having been 12 years since we last got a taste of the Mushroom Kindgom’s take on soccer, there are once again a ton of ways Nintendo could spruce it up for 2019 on the Switch.

Amiibo functionality, online multiplayer modes, less-easily-abused sidekick powers (if you know you know), an even bigger cast of captains and sidekicks to choose from, there’s plenty to pick from.

While the upcoming Mario and Sonic Olympics title will include soccer as one of its sports, it’ll never be quite the same as a dedicated Mario arcade soccer experience. Here’s hoping Nintendo looks to the series for its next round of exclusives for the Switch soon.

SSX

There was seemingly a time where EA just loved their extreme sports and arcade games. Not only were they dropping basketball hotness like NBA Street, they also had the SSX series under its belt. The whole premise of SSX was essentially over-the-top.

Crazy courses, ridiculous gravity-defying tricks, and a great sense of speed all came together to make a compelling adrenaline-pumping experience. Sadly, the last time we saw anything of the series was back in 2012 when the seeming reboot of the series with the title SSX came to PS3 and Xbox 360.

Considering Ubisoft’s hopped into the snow sports arena with Steep back in 2016, it’s surprising that EA didn’t deem it worthwhile to reboot the series to try and compete with an open world, fleshed-out, modern take on the SSX series.

Perhaps it’s coming sometime in the near future. Or perhaps it just didn’t have enough ways to cram microtransactions into it… We’re kidding!

Skate

Oh, goddammit EA! How many games do you have to have on this list until you’ll realize you’ve got some pretty awesome teams capable of delivering stellar arcade sports games?!

Skate’s one game where the fanbase hasn’t been so quiet about wanting a sequel though. However, despite what seems like a new tease for Skate 4 every year, we’re still waiting.

Skate 3 came out way back in 2010, complete with a lengthy single-player career to take on, free roam online with friends, and an open world to explore at your leisure. You could customize your board and character, and thanks to the intuitive analog stick-based control system, pull off a gnarly kickflip with a flick of your right stick.

Unfortunately, with the studio behind the Skate series, EA Black Box, now shut down, things aren’t looking so promising for the return of the skating king (quiet Tony, you had your turn!).