Sports Game of the Year (Posted Dec 18, 2004)

2004 Sports Game of the Year

I'm a huge Sports Nut as anyone who has seen my console game selection can attest.  In fact the game I played most in 2004 was High Heat Baseball 2002, but I digress.  In 2004 there were many more Sport Games available than in 2003, with a strong focus on sport simulation games and of course a bit of Indie innovation in combining sports that you might not think of combining.  Wonder what I'm talking about?  Read ON!

NOTE:  Unfortunately we didn't get a chance to play On the Oche prior to our initial nominations.  After playing it we replaced Jam XM with this title as it was clearly superior.  You can still check out Jam XM at Alawar.com.

5th Place - On the Oche

So you are probably asking yourself, what the heck is an Oche?  Well let me tell you.  The Oche is the line that dart throwers step up to when they are ready to throw the darts.  They must stay behind the line or they are disqualified. 

So there is probably the first thing you didn't know about darts unless you are a darts fanatic (there must be some of those out there?)  Honestly darts really isn't my thing, but whether or not you like the game most people are going to like this extremely well done Darts simulation.  Included in the game are a host of game varieties and options, from playing through the World Cup of darts to timed games and multiplayer verses contests.  On the Oche tops that off with a lot of sound atmosphere (definitively British), different graphical boards, and customizable characters to choose from.  It may not be everyone's cup of tea, but it is certainly one of the more solidly created Sport games that have come out this year.

Our Review:
None available at this time (check back in the near future)

4th Place - The Goalkeeper

The idea behind the game is great. Most of us soccer-fans probably have two favorite positions – goalkeeper or striker. I myself have tried my hands at goaltending, only to find out that a guy measuring 5 feet and 6 inches probably isn’t cut out for that occupation. So naturally I jumped with joy when I realized that this game could fulfill my dreams of one day actually saving a ball.

There’s lots to do in a game like this one, and no game will be like the previous one, if you want to start over once you’ve completed it. After all, you’ve got six countries to work your way through, and a goaltending ranking of the world’s best goaltenders – and to further your career, you should try to work your way up to the top!

The Goalkeeper takes Soccer/Football to a different area than I believe I've ever heard of it going before.  This game really is a combination of simulation along with action and it comes off quite well, it is a game that most sport fans will find quite accessible.

Our Review:
"[I] Love the idea of having a career as a goaltender, and to follow just one character."

3rd Place - Universal Boxing Manager

A boxing manager game is not something that you see every day, in fact, I'm not sure that I've ever seen one at all before this. Perhaps that is some of the charm of Universal Boxing Manager, presenting to you a game type that you've never seen before.

Universal Boxing Manager puts you in place as a manager of one to three boxers, based on how old you make yourself when starting the game. The older you are, the more boxers you have under you when you start out the game. Your goal in the game is to try and make your boxers the best out there in their respective divisions.

Overall I was pretty impressed with UBM, I think it is quite a bit stronger in overall play value then the Soccer Manager games that Winterwolves had already released, and those were pretty good. There is a lot of play in this one, though the difficulty may keep you at bay for a little while trying to survive both budgeting and managing.

Our Review:
"Much like the American government, I found myself wanting the best of everything, and so I quickly went bankrupt each of the three times I played through to my demise."

2nd Place - Sportball Challenge

Just after we hit our deadline for the 2003 Game of the Year awards, Hip Soft released a little gem in Sportball Challenge.  In this game you actually play through 10 sports, or at least through variations on the basic game concept through 10 different sport- themed environments.  Sport games in independent gaming are few are far between. There are many possible reasons for that, starting with the fact that independent developers cannot license professional team names or players, and going right on into the fact that sport simulation games require fantastic physics engines and high-quality 3D art, which can be very difficult to duplicate on a limited budget.

Sportball Challenge, however, offers something that you won't find in the mainstream. This is a wonderful sport game that ignores all of the things it can't do, and focuses on doing what it can. What it can do is provide a great competitive challenge that will keep players playing again and again to try and become the best cyber-athlete that they can be.

Our Preview:
"Sport games are all about competition, and being able to compete with others online for the best score will keep you coming back to this game again and again."

2004 Sports Game of the Year - RocketBowl

One of the first games I played after starting Game Tunnel was BaseGolf.  It was a small un-assuming game that combined Baseball and Golf into a cool little experience that ended up as a 2003 IGF finalist.  I remember thinking at the time that it was little games like that one that really validated Game Tunnel. 

Now here we are two years later, and someone else has taken a shot at combining two different sports.  In this case the sports are Bowling and Mini-Golf.  RocketBowl compared to BaseGolf really shows how much the Indie game industry has changed in terms of graphics over the last couple of years.  BaseGolf did a fine job with its simple RBI Baseball-esque graphics, but certainly they are not quite as appealing as the glittering "lanes" that you'll find in RocketBowl.

I put the word "lanes" in quotes because the lanes in RockeBowl are really the thing that makes RocketBowl completely different than any other Bowling game that you have played.  In RocketBowl the playing field is wide open with all the pins from the 10 frames being set out in different areas of the same large playing area.  The lanes are also not your typical straight affairs.  There are hills, valleys, bridges and a whole set of different obstacles in this game provide a quite different challenge than you'll ever find at Moe's Bowling Palace.  With the super waxed lanes, you can roll your ball and let it go on for several minutes as it hits the farthest corners of the course.  Of course just watching your ball roll isn't all that exciting, and the designers have helped to take care of that concern by allowing you to buy better balls with your course winnings, that give you the ability to fire boosts that will change the direction of your ball.

With a fantastically done retro 50s theme, complete with some great music, RocketBowl is a game that shows off how Indie gaming takes basic ideas and makes them a lot more interesting.  For that work we are proud to award RocketBowl the 2004 Indie Sport Game of the Year award.

Our Review:
None available at this time (check back in the near future)