Dusting off the PS3 and simply put.....WOW!!!! - Armor and Sword's Blog

Armor and Sword's Blog

Dusting off the PS3 and simply put.....WOW!!!!

Posted on July 29, 2020 at 08:41 AM.

I recently just moved into our new home. We had packed everything up months before our move to be ready and I had packed away my PS3 and my entire collection of PS3 games.

Fast forward to this past weekend. We finally set up the man cave. We unpacked our original NES, Atari 2600, original XBOX and the trusty PS3 (a new top loading one we picked up two years ago in fact after my old faithful 80G fatty met her demise after 10 years of service).

I decided to dust off some of my all time favorite sports games to start with.

What followed was amazement in how much I really enjoy these games.....in fact enjoy them far more than todays offerings (except for the MLB The Show series).

NBA 2K11 - Still holds up even 10 years later. Hands down my favorite basketball game ever. I still have my Miami Heat �Big 3� franchise going in Year 4 and we did threepeat with them. Also will do another Jordan mode run. The game simply is fun, easy to control compared to today�s 2K�s, and just has a great feel that was lost on the new consoles (I do like 2K18 but after playing 2K11 again.....that is my go to). I still have a few great classic rosters (84/85, 1995, 2002, 70�/80�/90�s fantasy roster, Be Jordan Mode rosters etc). So I have a bunch to play and make no mistake.....2K11 is back in my rotation again.

Fight Night 4 and FNC - Too bad we do not have boxing anymore. Well these games satisfy that itch quite well. I have 30 created legendary boxers as well on FN4 to set up massive tournaments myself in a few divisions (Heavyweights and middle weights are my thing). I even have Rocky, Apollo, Drago and Clubber Lang in the mix along with legends like Larry Holmes, Ernie Shavers, Hagler, Lenoard, Mayweather, Pryor and Arguielo to name a few.

All Pro Football 2K8 - Man what a difference in gameplay from Madden. Don�t get me wrong. i like Madden and have fun but this game plays a better game of football. Too bad it was limited to single seasons. But Fun times.

Madden 25 - I really really liked M25. While most rave and adore Madden 12 (I have that one too as well as Madden 10 and 11), I found the gameplay on 25 to be my favorite. I still have a 1993 roster that rocks and still have a....you guessed it a Year 4 Dolphins franchise going. I will dabble in this one for the 1993 roster alone.

College Hoops 2K8 - If you like 2K basketball games and crave a very deep college hoops game this is the one. Amazingly.....it is ridiculous priced these days. So good luck in that department. But the game itself is the jewel of college basketball simulations. Legacy mode is incredible deep (and can be a little too cumbersome at times with recruiting) but it still holds up if you want depth and a long term dynasty. Gameplay is showing it�s age...but I can look past it because of the extreme fun factor and amazing immersion 2K provides in it�s presentation.

NCAA 14 - We fired up a new Boise State Dynasty with 2019 rosters (a great roster community still exists out there for PS4 and 360). Hands down my favorite console football game of all time. The replay value is unlimited IMO. The last great EA football game. They have not come close to this since it�s demise with the lawsuit against the NCAA for player likeness. Ugh.....such a shame we lose out on college sports.

Top Spin 4 - This is my go to Tennis game. Tight controls, a solid roster. Lot�s of fun. A/O Tennis on the PS4 is actually quite good too......but it is missing something for me despite the amazing roster community. TP4 really satisfies my tennis itch.

NHL 11 and 13 - Fun. Simply put a lot of fun. I have tried and tried with NHL 16 and 19 (19 is good...have to give them props for expansion mode and a deeper scouting system with fog of war scouting). But gameplay is stale. Like old bread. Predictable AI and games feel exactly the same.

We will also revisit:

The Dead Space Trilogy for a non sports stroll down memory lane. I love this series!!!

It really shows how crappy sports games have been this gen (other than MLB The Show and Madden 16) when I can go back to the PS3 and really enjoy 10 year old or more titles.

If you are a solo offline franchise sports gamer......dust of your PS3 and start balling again!!!