There’s no way to sugar coat this one – 2009 was not a good year for sports games; at least not the kind we play in India. While MLB 09: The Show, NHL 10, Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10 and the NBA games from EA and 2K were all great, no one cares for those games in these parts. So for us, the picture wasn’t quite as rosy.
The nominees this year in the IVG poll for Best Sports Game included NBA Live 10 and Pro Evolution Soccer 2010, which not more than a handful of IVG members would have played, so they never really stood a chance in the poll. Fight Night Round 4, while a fairly good follow-up to the brilliant FNR3, again didn’t find too many takers around here. So it was a two way battle between Ashes Cricket 2009 and FIFA 10.
FIFA 10, to no ones surprise, clearly won the IVG poll with more than half the votes. Why wouldn’t it! It was the follow up to FIFA 09, which was an excellent game already. In addition, it added a bunch of new features such as 360-degree player movement, custom set-pieces, and the Virtual Pro. Sure it came with a host of bugs as well, but nevermind that. It’s FIFA, and it’s IVG’s Best Sports Game of 2009.
Giving further credence to the fact that 2009 was a bad year for sports games is our staff pick – Ashes Cricket 2009. While it was a tiny step forward for cricket games, it still remains light years behind international sports game standards. But it’s cricket after all, and this is India, so Ashes Cricket 2009 is the IVG staff pick for Best Sports Game of 2009.
IVG Staff Pick: Ashes Cricket 2009
