The Sega Genesis is coming back and here are the top 10 sports games for you to play

It appears things from the 1990s just won’t stay dead.

The Sega Genesis is the latest in a long line of products that seem to be getting resurrected lately. There’s the original Nintendo Entertainment System that was recently released. And food like Crystal Pepsi and Surge are available to purchase and, if you dare, consume. Wendy’s announced it was bringing back its 1990s taco salad because people are apparently craving tortilla chips with lettuce again.

The truth is, companies have figured out that people are nostalgic and they are making the most of it. Folks who are around my mid-30-something age grew up with these products, and for many it is exciting to be able to play with them again, or show them to our kids.

Unlike the reborn NES that doesn’t allow you to blow the dust out of your old cartridges and play them, the soon-to-be-resurrected Sega will not only come with pre-loaded games on a memory card, but it will also have a cartridge slot for you to play your old games. Yes, you read that right.

If you’re like me, then your old games are long gone (thanks, mom!), but thankfully you can still find them in thrift stores and pawn shops and online.

For sports fans like me, this will be a chance to try your hand at some of those old games that used to feel so damn advanced when they first came out.

Here are the top 10, in no particular order, I suggest you snag and have ready to play when you buy your $138 Genesis next June:

1. Mutant League Football

What can I say other than this game really stands out when you compare it to other football games. It’s probably because there are times where you actually kill your opponent. Talk about changing the momentum of a game! This was an EA title and was designed using the Madden football games as a base, which made it feel that much more authentic despite it being a 7-on-7 game (this is probably why I coach 8-player high school football). You could be aliens or mutants or robots and more and you could do crazy things like throw a true “bomb” that would blow up when caught, or go kill the referee when there were bad calls (don’t get any ideas, Richard Sherman!).

2. Sports Talk Baseball

What set this game apart from the others, like the pretty awesome RBI Baseball, was the announcing. While that kind of play-by-play experience is just expected in this day and age, back in the early 90s, the release of Sports Talk Baseball and the commentary during game play was absolutely groundbreaking. This game didn’t keep stats as well as some might have hoped, but it was a small price to pay for the cutting-edge advancement in sports gameplay.

3. Bill Walsh College Football ‘95

You may notice that there are no Madden games on this list. While I did like the Madden franchise even back then, Bill Walsh College Football changed the football experience for me. Gone were the passing windows. You could run routes with your receivers that were not preset if you chose. This was the game that made 14-year-old me fall in love with college football and realize that it can be just as fun as the pros.

4. NBA Jam Tournament Edition

This game must have occupied me and my buddies for months and months. Real players. Fun announcing. Not complicated at all. When your shooter got hot, he was on fire! And those dunks? Craziness. I went with the Tournament Edition here because it had expanded rosters and the rookie team. But even the original version was awesome. BoomShakaLaka!

5. Side Pocket

Growing up I was always in awe of my dad’s ability to play pool. I mean, this guy could hit shots like no one I had ever seen. He ruled the bars in my early days, though he stepped back from playing (and bars) as I grew older and my little sister was brought into the world (and, thus, ruining my reign as the baby of the family and making me a middle child). To this day I’m not nearly the player he was, though I do enjoy the game, but on the Genesis with Side Pocket? Man, I was a legend. Fun game. And you could play multiplayer with your buds.

6. Super Baseball 2020

What needs to be said other than futuristic baseball? Robots playing the game? Leveling up your players? Explosions! No foul lines?!? It’s craziness in a baseball game and it was glorious.

7. Mutant League Hockey

Like the above-mentioned football version of Mutant League, the hockey version not only was violent and insane, but it was fun. There were more than 20 teams to pick from and the dead bodies of your foes (or the players your foes killed) would litter the ice until intermission. If you killed enough opponents, you could simply win by forfeit. But this game, much like the football version, was built on the same engine EA used for its NHL franchise, which means that the gameplay was awesome and the hockey was fun.

8. NHL ‘94

Speaking of EA’s professional hockey franchise — NHL ‘94 is the fan favorite among the Genesis releases. I hesitated when I tried to figure out which one of the editions to include, but a search around the internet discovered that, though this game doesn’t have a season mode and other features that the newer editions had, ‘94 is the favorite nearly across the board. Easy to play. Even more fun to play. Really, it set a standard for other entries in the series to follow.

9. Australian Rugby League

I know that this is a strange addition to this list, but I had no idea what rugby even was when I got this game as a gift. And then, suddenly, rugby was a reality in my world. And it was amazing. Game play is what you would expect, but EA did a solid job on this entry into the world of rugby video games. Heck, sometimes I think this is still better than some of the games being produced these days. If you like rugby, and you love 16-bit graphics, then you should hunt down a copy.

10. Jeopardy: Sports Edition

Sure, this game was released in 1994 and the questions would be from that time period or before, but what a fun way to test your sports knowledge. And there were more than a few hundred questions to be given in this particular game. This is where the true sports nerds were always able to rise to the top, sneering at their more athletic gamer counterparts. Brain over brawn, my friends. And brain over hand-eye coordination!

Well, there you have it folks. The top 10 games you should snag before your new Sega Genesis arrives.

Have any favorites I missed? How about some cool Japanese dodgeball game like Dodge Danpei? Maybe you think NBA Live deserves a spot? Let me know in the comments section and get the word out that those classic sports games on the Sega Genesis can still be enjoyed when the console is reborn in 2017.