Sports video games operate in a little bit of a weird place right now. Each sport usually has one signature franchise series, which dominates the sphere. And while there are always interesting indie titles to discover and we can sometimes get surprised with the release of an unexpected blockbuster, there is still the sense that nobody can challenge the status quo.
Thankfully, if you are a fan of retro games, you have decades of gaming history to choose from the best sports video games. Below, we wanted to highlight a few of those, looking at one of the best NFL/football games from each of the last five decades. The list is clearly unscientific, but you won’t go wrong in playing any of these iconic titles from the past and present.
1980s – Tecmo Bowl (1987)
Could there be any other choice from the 1980s? Tecmo Bowl was not the first American football video game, but it was arguably the first to make the sport feel genuinely exciting on a home console. The game is a bit chaotic, while players such as Bo Jackson became almost mythical because of their exaggerated abilities. Later games offered far more depth, but Tecmo Bowl set the early standard. A classic, revered retro classic.
1990s – NFL Blitz (1997)
NFL Blitz is the decade’s most memorable NFL game. Midway Games decided to strip football down to seven-a-side action, remove most penalties, and encourage players to deliver outrageous tackles. It was basically a mash-up of a fighting game and a sports game, but Midway basically caught lightning in a bottle. Its influence – even outside of sports games – was enormous.
2000s – ESPN NFL 2K5 (2004)
For many fans, ESPN NFL 2K5 is not merely the best football game of the 2000s; it is the best NFL-branded game ever made. It took realism to new heights, with detailed statistics and data useful enough to use for NFL betting strategies. It had all the big thrills of a modern game, including a franchise mode. It might sound painful to hear it right now, but it also only cost $19.99 when released.
2010s – Madden NFL 16 (2015)
The 2010s were a difficult decade from which to select a truly dominant NFL game, because we were firmly in the era where Madden won out as the ‘only’ major NFL game franchise. The series had mixed success in the 2010s, but Madden NFL 16 is probably the pick of the decade. It did not reinvent the series by any stretch, but it did put a lot more effort into the gameplay and controls, making it feel more realistic and tactical.
2020s – Madden NFL 26 (2025)
The decade is not over, but Madden NFL 26 is currently the strongest choice. It is basically a return to form for the series after several poorly received editions in the 2020s. It made big changes to the franchise mode, as well as several other tweaks to improve gameplay. There is sometimes a sense of diminishing returns for annually released sports games – you can only do so much to make it feel new every year – but with Madden 26, there is a sense that they have concentrated on trying to make it better rather than new. It seems to have worked.
