Here Are the Ingredients That Create an Arcade Sports Classic

When looking ahead to the summer release schedule, I said there was more than usual to get excited about since we were getting some new releases along with the usual veterans of the scene.

And the one game that has the most to gain from nailing its launch is NBA The Run. Launching on June 9, NBA The Run has the chance to try and live up to past legends like NBA Street Vol. 2 (The Run team is made up of some developers from that team), NFL Blitz, or even games just a tier below that like The Bigs 2.

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But arcade sports games are not like regular sports games. You have to approach them a different way, and different things make them classic in a way that doesn’t always 1-for-1 apply to a “normal” sports game like NBA 2K or Madden.

Even when arcade sports game were more part of the landscape, they were never as numerous in number as “normal” sports games. Midway and EA BIG certainly had a full lineup, but it wasn’t like there were 5+ arcade games for every sport like there was at one time for simulation titles (here’s your reminder that nine NBA games came out in 1999).

I can’t say why that is for sure, but I would say in part it’s because it’s harder to create a memorable arcade sports game. You are not just appealing to a certain base of players who are already fans of the sport, you’re trying to go beyond them and find people who maybe otherwise would not play a sports game.

It’s not easy to try and get non-sports people into sports games. There is a wall that you have to breakthrough, and that’s why I believe it’s important to analyze why certain games have stood the test of time.

So that’s the plan for today’s newsletter. I’m going to look back at four of my favorite arcade sports games and pick out — above all else — what made them legendary. All of them share some of the traits I’ll talk about, but each one had at least one piece of the puzzle that made them iconic.

But Before I Get To That…

I do want put some expectations on NBA The Run for those who haven’t yet played it or watched much footage. I can’t say I’ve looked too hard to see what others are saying about it because I tend to not want to spoil my own feelings before a game is out. However, it’s impossible to totally avoid it because the developers have been so forthcoming about listening to feedback from the beta.

Things like shoving being too OP, feeling like there is not enough feedback when shooting, and the general movement of the players have all been cited as concerns. In addition, there is a lack of a “true” offline career mode of any sort to build your own player.

This is a game where they’re planning to continue to add to it after launch, so it’s online-focused for now, but the lack of a real “build” with your own created player does feel like the biggest feature miss for now.

As for gameplay feedback, I think it’s fair to say the previously mentioned points are all areas that need improvement, and in general, I felt the game was a little stiff. But I also think people who have been playing only NBA 2K for years on end are going to need to get used to playing something that isn’t that game.

I would bet some of the feedback being given to Play by Play (the developer of The Run) essentially boils down to “this doesn’t play like what I’m used to” even if it’s not being said that way, and I would hope they don’t fall into the trap of trying to go too far in the direction of trying to mimic another game.

They’re closer than not to finding the right sort of gameplay (it’s definitely going more for the Street feel than the Jam feel), they just need to nail down the pace (speed up the game a bit more), and then add a little more clear feedback to stuff like shooting and dunking so you know why your shot release was good or why you didn’t try to dunk the ball when momentum said you probably should have.

Right now, the best things working for it are you’re in and out of games in five minutes or less — you never have enough time to really get mad if you’re getting owned — and the random rule sets that hit right before the game help to make people play differently (dunks are worth more points this game, and so on).

The random rules probably need to be tweaked so you don’t favor one side over the other too much (dunking is much easier if you come in with two athletic bigs over two guards, for example), but I really think it’s a smart way to keep things fresh.

Ultimately, I don’t expect this game to be right there among the GOATs at launch because it’s a small team making a smaller game that has a singular focus. A lot of our favorite arcade sports games from more modern times (The Bigs 2, NBA Street 2, NFL Street 2) all had that career mode part to the equation. This is more old-school NBA Jam where its one focus is head-to-head play at launch. Without that extra layer, I think the shelf life with this game for some folks will be limited.

I’m optimistic about the gameplay and whatever is actually there at launch because even if the team is small, they seem very open to feedback, there’s no loot boxes, and it’s a new studio that clearly wants to make its mark. I think they want to make more titles moving forward since it doesn’t seem like 2K is going to swoop in and try and take this franchise like what happened with NBA Playgrounds, so they’re on their own here.

With that said, let’s jump into the wayback machine and get to four arcade classics and what any arcade sports game can take from them. We’ll start with NBA Street 2 because, well, that’s the game some of these developers had a hand in making all the way back in 2003.

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