The Best Football Games, Ranked

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Football is probably America’s most popular sport. If you’re a fan and a gamer, you know the joy of winning a Super Bowl with your favorite Madden team. Or you can smash rival team quarterbacks with a huge defensive player. It’s just plain fun.

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Related: Best Baseball Video Games

However, not all football games directly simulate real sports. These games are some of the best, but there are also arcade versions that have left their mark on his style of football. Over the years, soccer fans have been offered many great ways to virtually experience the soccer field.

gamer video of the day

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8 tecmo super bowl

Two teams will face off at the line of scrimmage at the Tecmo Super Bowl.

Tecmo Super Bowl is the first sports video game to be licensed by both the NFL and NFLPA. This allowed him to use real players, real teams, and other NFL assets of his own.

Released for the Nintendo Entertainment System in December 1991, its success prompted several sequel attempts.

Of course, the graphics and features don’t hold up to the modern world, but at the time it was released, it was the best soccer game ever made. ESPN even called the game the greatest sports game of all time, and its impact is huge.

7 NFL street

Two teams face off at the line of scrimmage on NFL Street.

The Madden Series has been a popular football series for decades. NFL Street came out in his 2004 with a fresh and welcome change to the standard football simulation formula offering highly radical and aggressive 7v7 gameplay.

Earn style points by running up walls, making great catches, and taunting other teams. Those points filled his meter, which is basically the game-breaker equivalent of Mario superstars on his NFL streets.

Two sequels were made based on the success of this new style of football.

Mutants spike the ball after scoring a touchdown in the Mutant Football League.

Mutant Football League was released on Windows in 2017 and soon after on consoles in early 2018. It contains the basic premise of American football and NFL rules, but is incredibly violent and full of monsters.

Related: Ranked: The Best Soccer Video Games of All Time

That’s about as much as you can get from typical Madden gameplay, but with massive mutants on the field. You have to avoid buzzsaws and mines, you can bribe the referee, plant bombs in the ball, and even use chainsaws as part of your offensive strategy.

It’s silly, but a lot of fun.

Five Madden 2005

A Detroit Lions punter waits for the punt snap at Madden 2005.

Madden 2005 was released on PS2, Xbox and Gamecube, but was also the last Madden game made for the original PlayStation. He was also the first Madden to take advantage of Xbox Live.

It was a real game changer, and not just because it appeared in the most modern gaming systems of the time. The cover athlete was Hall of Fame defensive player Ray Lewis, known for his hard hitting, and Madden 2005 was the perfect iteration to introduce the hitstick.

This was a new approach to creating hits with a different visual and more impact. Since then, it has become one of the series’ most important features.

Four Madden 2004

Michael Vick was tackled by a New England Patriots player at Madden 2004.

Ask anyone who played Madden in the 2000s about Madden 2004. They’ll tell you all about the athlete on the cover, Michael Vick, and how hurt he was.

This version of Vic is considered the greatest Madden player of all time, with an incredibly high stat of 95 Speed.

Related: N64 Football Games, Ranked

In addition to adding the devastating Michael Vick, Madden 2004 comes with a new Owner Mode. He can manage the soccer franchise of his choice and complete operational tasks ranging from pricing hot dogs to hiring his coaching staff.

3 NFL Blitz 2000

At the NFL Blitz 2000, a Detroit Lions player was blown away after being tackled by a Green Bay Packers player.

NFL Blitz 2000 was a 1999 arcade title, but was quickly ported to consoles. This was Game 3 of his NFL Blitz series and one of his most epic football games of all time.

It had mostly normal football rules, but with a faster, more aggressive twist to the gameplay. Celebrate excessively, block passes, or hit after the whistle without worrying about penalties.

Since it was developed by Midway, there were cheat codes that allowed you to play as various Midway characters, such as Raiden from Mortal Kombat. Imagine catching a touchdown as Raiden.

The Ohio State quarterback is ready to call for the snap of the ball at NCAA Football 14.

NCAA Football 14 is the final installment of the NCAA Football Series. No further versions were produced due to legal issues with player likenesses.

A continuously played and updated roster is constantly being created by enthusiastic fans who want to keep playing college football. The game was controversial, but as the final game of NCAA football, it became one of the most acclaimed football games in the world.

There are dozens of colleges you can manage, and you can create your players to progress your college football career. You can even create your own school and see if you have what it takes to win a national championship.

1 ESPN NFL 2K5

Michael Vick throws a pass downfield at ESPN NFL 2K5.

The last NFL 2K game with an official NFL license was ESPN NFL 2K5. Featuring voices and likenesses of real-life ESPN personalities, we made every game look like it was live on the network.

Some find this unmatched in terms of gameplay, as you can create teams, control existing teams in franchise mode, and even play in first person. The addition of first-person mode, which shows the field from behind the player’s facemask, was groundbreaking.

Next: The most realistic sports game

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