Who are the top 10 sports video game characters of all time?

An EA Sports favorite college football the video game series won’t be coming to the streaming portal anytime soon.

“College Football 26” will return for the 2025 season and will be available this summer, EA Sports announced on January 16. EA Sports rebooted the popular video game series in the summer of 2024, marking the first time it has released a game since 2013.

After 2.8 million players purchased the game at launch, “College Football 25” became the best-selling video game of all time in the United States in November. Players love it Travis Hunter and Ashton Jeanty became instant fans’ favorites, due to their electric abilities in the game and on the field.

With so much excitement surrounding the game, it got us thinking – who are the greatest sports video game characters of all time? We’ve looked back at games over the past few decades and picked the most dominant athletes over that period.

Did your favorite player make the list? Let’s take a look:

The 10 Best Sports Video Game Characters of All Time

10. Ronaldinho, “FIFA 07”

Many FIFA legends over the years could represent EA Sports’ favorite soccer simulator on this list, but Ronaldinho’s superior offensive abilities push him to this spot. The Brazil the superstar was rated 90 or higher in finishing, short passing, dribbling, ball control, acceleration, sprint speed and reaction.

9. Sunday Tiger Woods, “Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2009”

Really, Sunday Tiger from any 2000s release would do. If your character was lucky enough to face the Sunday Tiger, you had to play a near-perfect round of golf to have a chance of beating him.

EA Sports even drew on Sunday Tiger’s godlike abilities using a fan video of a bug in “Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2008” where the eponymous character could walk on water and hit a lake chip, turning it into an amazing marketing campaign for the next edition of the game .

8. Michael Jordan, “NBA 2K11”

Some of the characters in these games have become overpowering superstars by accident. This Jordan release was anything but. The Chicago Bulls legend graced the cover of the iconic basketball game in 2010 and had several different modes centered around him, including one where players could compete in a “Jordan Challenge” that allowed them to simulate key moments from his career.

There were eight retro versions of Jordan from different seasons of his career, and all eight rated him an unstoppable 99. Jordan also starred in one of the most memorable sports video game opening sequences ever.

7. Peja Stojaković, “NBA Ballers”

If the cute NBA players who became great video game players had a patron saint, it would be Stojakovic in this 2004 street soccer simulator. Digital Version Sacramento Kings the swingman paved the way for a long line of NBA players in future basketball video games who, once you figured out their shot timing and favorite places to release them from behind the arc, were unstoppable.

6. Travis Hunter“EA College Football 25”

The first and only player to receive a 99 overall rating in one of the most anticipated games of the decade, Hunter is the EA College Football 25 cheat code. The Heisman winner scored 99 acceleration, 99 awareness, 99 spectacular catches, 99 play recognition, 97 rebounds, 97 change of direction, 97 catches, 95 speed, 95 juke moves, 95 zone coverage and 90 man. There’s probably never been a football video game character with multiple ratings in the 90s on both sides of the ball — fitting for his unprecedented two-way play last season. The Colorado the receiver/cornerback finished the year with 96 catches for 1,258 yards and 15 touchdowns, along with 36 total tackles, 11 pass deflections, a forced fumble and four interceptions.

5. “Jon Dowd” (Barry Bonds), “MVP Baseball 2005”

The folks at EA Sports had a problem. Barry Bonds, MLB’s consensus MVP at the time, withdrew from the MLB Players Association’s joint licensing agreement. Therefore, EA Sports could not use his name or likeness in “2005 Baseball MVP.” This was circumvented by the creation of the fictional “John Dowd”, a loose, left-handed batsman San Francisco Giants outfielder with known build and swing. And Dowd, much like the real-life Bonds at the time, was a cheat code, routinely depositing virtual baseballs into the digital McCoy Cove behind the right-field wall in San Francisco.

4. Mike Tyson, “Punch-Out”

Unlike the other names on this list, Tyson was not a playable character, but rather the final boss in this boxing game. Virtual Tyson is considered one of the toughest video game final bosses of all time thanks to his ability to, as the name suggests, knock players out with one punch.

3. Bo Jackson, “Tecmo Bowl”

The original unstoppable video game character, this version of Jackson is still considered THE GOAT for sports video game fans of a certain age. It’s easy to see why. Pixel Jackson was too fast and too strong for anyone else in the game to stop him, no matter what he did. And unlike the real Jackson, whose incredible two-sport professional career was cut short by injuries, this Jackson couldn’t get hurt.

“Tecmo Bowl” Bo Jackson lives on in the cultural zeitgeist, including appearances in the cult animated sitcom “Family Guy” and a Kia commercial starring the real-life Bo Jackson.

2. Pablo Sanchez, Backyard Sports

As for John Dowd, Sanchez is the only truly fictional character on this list, but he deserves to be here after a decade of Backyard Sports titles.

Sanchez is best known for his abilities in various Backyard Baseball publications. He was a true five-tool player, featuring as one of the best batsmen and fastest runners in almost every edition of the game. When millennials and even some older Gen Z players discuss their backyard sports memories, Sanchez is usually the first name that comes to mind.

1. Michael Vick, “Madden 2004”

The first true dual-threat quarterback of the modern Madden era, a current NFL analyst on FOX, was simply impossible to stop in the game that carried his character on the cover. He was too quick on the run and too accurate as a passer to be contained by even the best defensive game plan.

Nothing like Vick has been seen in Madden since – which is by design. Madden developer Clint Oldenburg revealed in a 2016 interview that several features included in subsequent editions of Madden, such as the popular “Hit Stick” and the much less popular and since discontinued “KB Vision”, were added specifically to counter Vick. It was as if the Frankensteins were trying to stop a monster of their own making.

In addition, Madden’s player rating system has been significantly changed so that no player is as dominant in as many different aspects as Vick was.

Unfortunately for the real-life Vic, that year the curse of the Madden blanket came trueafter missing most of the 2003 NFL season with a broken leg.

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