Football and video games: there was a time when those two things seemed to not go together, but the NFL found a way to cash in on video games back in the day with instant classics like NFL Blitz, NFL 2K5, and Tecmo Bowl, to name a few. Then, the NFL signed a licensing agreement with Electronic Arts Sports back in 2005, and there have been no other NFL video games outside of the Madden NFL franchise.
Some early NFL video games didn’t need fancy graphics or online play for memorable gameplay. However, some NFL games tried to win favor with fancy graphics but ended up being game flops due to poor gameplay, glitches, lack of innovation, and sometimes lack of creativity. Here at TPS, we’re going to look back at which NFL video games were the worst of all time and which NFL video games were the best.
Here are the 5 Worst and 5 of the best NFL video games of all time.
Which NFL video games were the best, and which ones were duds?
Worst: All-Pro Football 2K8
Although All-Pro Football 2K8 doesn’t have NFL teams in it, due to EA Sports having a licensing agreement with the NFL, Hall of Famers John Elway, Jerry Rice, and Barry Sanders are on the cover. This was 2K’s attempt at trying to get back to producing football games. However, people originally panned the game due to the licensing restrictions, especially with no franchise mode, which was a letdown for sports video game fans.
EA took the fun of franchise mode (which allows the player to add football players to their favorite team) away from other football video games.
Best: NFL Blitz 1997
Click on ‘Follow Us’ and get notified of the most viral NFL stories via Google! Follow Us
Often regarded as one of the best non-Madden games of all time, NFL Blitz 97 captures the spirit of classic arcade games and perfectly implements it in a fun package. The gameplay didn’t matter if it felt unrealistic; the plays were very easy to run, and intense action was present throughout the experience.
The gameplay was also fast-paced for its time and contained many other hidden goodies. If anyone hasn’t played NFL Blitz from 1997, please give it a try.
Worst: Madden NFL 23
Madden NFL 23’s cover may have paid homage to the late John Madden, but most of the game was not great. The gameplay had a lack of innovation, with fans saying it was a re-skinned version of Madden NFL 22, unbalanced gameplay, with fans saying defenses were overpowered, unmemorable music and commentary, and unrealistic AI hurt the game.
It would take a couple of years for EA Sports to show some improvements with Madden NFL 25 (which will be released in 2024).
Best: Madden NFL 04
Arguably the best Madden game in the series, Madden 04 was a blast to play when it was first released in 2003. Madden 04 allowed players to take the owner’s seat and relocate the team of their choosing, set concession stand pricing, hire their coaching staff, and allow players to build a new stadium.
The minicamp mode is fun to play with as well, creating your own plays, and the gameplay was fun with the gameplay control feature, even if it wasn’t realistic like most of the more recent Madden NFL games. If anyone ever gets bored of the current Madden NFL games, give Madden NFL 04 a try and take a wild trip back down memory lane.
Worst: ESPN NFL Primetime 2002
Back in the early 2000s, before EA Sports had the license agreement to produce only NFL games, other video game companies were free to create their own NFL video games. Konami attempted to create a video game franchise with ESPN NFL Primetime 2002 featuring Edgerrin James on the cover and Chris Berman’s “He Can Go All the Way” in the background. Unfortunately, the game was panned by critics and fans alike.
The controls were bad and flawed AI, with the passing game being random at times. The visuals weren’t the best, but the cutscenes were nice, the ESPN music was well-aligned, and the menus made players feel like they were controlling ESPN’s NFL programs, which was the game’s silver lining.
Best: Tecmo Super Bowl
Originally released in 1991 for the Nintendo Entertainment System and re-released in 1996 for the original Sony PlayStation, Tecmo Super Bowl may not have the fancy graphics or advanced AI like the modern Madden NFL games, but it remains an all-time classic and staple among sports video game enthusiasts.
The game is easy to play and shows all 11 players per team on the field, rather than the nine players per team the predecessor game had. Playing through a full season, including the playoffs, the Super Bowl, and the Pro Bowl, and choosing from eight different play-calls, which wasn’t much, but the arcade-style gameplay made it all the more enjoyable.
Tecmo Super Bowl’s legacy paved the way for future football games, which we all came to know and love, and it established the fanbases for those games. Heck, Kia released a commercial back in 2017 featuring Bo Jackson and Brian Bosworth inspired by this video. This game is that iconic, please play it, if you haven’t already.
Worst: NFL QB Club 2000
Acclaim Studios released the NFL Quarterback Club video game series from the 1990s until the early 2000s. NFL QB Club 2000 was panned by critics and fans alike. The Dreamcast version has a 28.63 percent ranking on Gameranking.com because of the graphics, the implemented catch button, dropped frames, mediocre sound, and poor controls.
These issues annoyed people and made them want to pick up Madden NFL 2000 or NFL 2K, which were released around the same time.
Best: NFL Street
Originally released by EA Sports BIG Label, NFL Street was all of the fun of the Madden series with streamlined rules, gravity-defying evades, seven-on-seven football, which was different and unique for its time, and there were no field goals in the game, players had the option to throw the ball or run it in the goal line.
When players ran the ball in, they would get one extra point. However, when players scored an extra passing play, they would get two points. Turnovers were frequent in the game, but the game was action-packed, fast-paced, and all about players juking, spinning, tackling, and scoring their way to victory.
One of the best features of the game was the game-breaker meter, which made teams nearly invincible. The game-breaker meter was powered up through style points. NFL Street paved the way for FIFA Street and is still enjoyed by video game fans to this day.
Worst: NFL Tour
Released in 2008, EA Sports BIG Label hoped the NFL Tour got players to relive the glory the NFL Street series once had. However, the game was heavily underdeveloped and inorganic and could not create a squad of players, seeing player progression and on-field tricks weren’t included.
In the end, it was a completely boring and shallow game, which had almost nothing to do, and it should’ve been an arcade game as opposed to a major video game released for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.
Best: ESPN NFL 2K5
Arguably the greatest sports video game of all time, ESPN NFL 2K5, thanks to its realistic gameplay, in-depth franchise mode, and ESPN-style presentation throughout the game, including a SportsCenter broadcast in the game. ESPN NFL 2K5 was also the last NFL game released by Sega, as EA Sports earned the licensing rights to all NFL video games.
Despite that, the reputation of ESPN NFL 2K5 has only gotten much better, while the newer Madden games have been mediocre and need some improvements at best. The game was released for $19.99 at the time, which is $33.77 in today’s money. At that price, football and video game fans purchased themselves icons for a very affordable price.
On top of that, the graphics were much better than Madden NFL 05 at the time. The legacy of NFL 2K5 forever lives on, with fans trying to update the rosters online, and the gameplay still holds up to this day.
