Computer sports game

The joke goes like this: Q: What’s our Sports Game of the Year? A: I dunno, what number Madden are they up to? But not this year, thanks to a bunch of games that elevated their respective sports in impressive ways. Sure, it’s hard to think of a text-based game like Title Bout raising the bar, but you just try it and see. No other game capture its sport more faithfully than Winning Eleven 7. And Tony Hawk, well, it was just great, crazy fun.

But this year, Tiger burns brightest—it’s a golf game that even nongolfers will love. Don’t worry, golf-sim enthusiasts will find plenty here, but for the rest of us, there’s a surprisingly accessible game driven by great character development, challenges against both fictional foes and real-life legends of the game, and a seemingly endless series of goals to drive you to play just one more round. If that’s not a winner, we don’t know what is.

Nominees

Title Bout Championship Boxing

World Soccer Winning Eleven 7

Tony Hawk’s Underground 2

PUBLISHER: EA SPORTS DEVELOPER: ELECTRONIC ARTS

Copyright ?? 2005 Ziff Davis Media Inc. All Rights Reserved. Originally appearing in Computer Gaming World.