Growing up in the 80’s, sports and video games would go together like apple pie. My brothers and I were fortunate enough to be pretty good athletes and played the games at home as well. This article will cover the best of the best from the decade. It will cover all systems as well as arcades.   Rankings depend on realism, fun factor, replay value, graphics and sound.

10. Summer Games – Epyx – 1984

Summer Games, this was a classic. It had variety, excellent graphics for its day and was lots of fun to play. I particularly enjoyed the diving event, one would need to make the most moves in the air and try to straighten the diver up for minimal splash.  The judges always favored their home country diver, very realistic feature!

• Pole vault
• Platform diving
• Sprinting
• Gymnastics
• Freestyle swimming
• Skeet shooting
• Rowing

Epyx continued with this genre and created Summer Games II, Winter Games, World Games and California Games. These were all great games  worth playing again any day of the week!

9. Micro League Baseball -1984- Micro League Sports Association

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Looks as if the virtual download releases are picking up some steam after a dormant few weeks.  I can’t say that I played the arcade version of Tecmo Bowl, but the Nintendo version logged many hours of fun in my book throughout the 80’s. The arcade version is what it is, a version to that one can enjoy right away. Instant gratification for your 25 cent investment. There aren’t any plays to call. There aren’t any individual distinctions between players. There aren’t even any other teams to choose from, beyond the default two — you’re either playing as the Wildcats or the Bulldogs, and that’s it.
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