The ‘Greatest Sports Video Game’ Tournament Bracket

Over at The Score, they’ve constructed a 64-entry bracket of the best sports video games of all time. This figures to be tons of fun: the Score staff is going to determine the winners of the first two rounds internally, while the rest will be determined by public voting.

I cannot let the opportunity pass without speaking my piece, so:

- “NHL ‘94” and “NHLPA ‘93” seem likely to meet in the second round. “NHLPA ‘93” is clearly the correct choice. I hope they make the right call, because in terms of gameplay, it might be superior to any other game in the Power Pad division -- even “NBA Jam.”

- “Royal Rumble” basically beats the hell out of almost every other entry in the Virtual Boy division, including “Excitebike” (real talk: “Excitebike” sucks and is not nearly as fun as you recall it being). It’s better than the super fun but super gimmicky “Mike Tyson’s Punch-Out!!,” and most focused and accessible than “Gran Turismo.” Unfortunately for “Royal Rumble,” the Virtual Boy division figures to be won by “Mario Kart,” as it should be.

- The Power Glove division is SCARY. Between “Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater,” “Mario Tennis,” “RBI Baseball” and “Baseball Stars” ... personally, I find it impossible to choose. I was going to protest the exclusion of “Mario Superstar Baseball,” which is the best video game ever made, but given how difficult this arm of the bracket is, it might be just as well.

- I can’t really speak for the soccer category, but I will say that “Madden NFL 12” shouldn’t survive the second round. “NFL Blitz” has no equal in the video game football department.

- My personal Final Four consists of “NHLPA ‘93,” “Mario Kart,” “Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater” and “NFL Blitz.” “Mario Kart” and “Tony Hawk” reach the championship, where ... damn, I think “Mario Kart” has to take it.