Base Wars

Okay, I admit it, I really did play sports games on my Nintendo Entertainment System back in the day. RBI Baseball, 10 Yard Fight, Little League Baseball, Double Dribble, and a few others. But the choicest sports game was actually a fighting game in disguise, Base Wars.

Unlike other baseball games, Base Wars uses robots for players, robots that you can upgrade throughout a season as you earn more money. In the early game, you generally are using punches and stomps, but as your wins and income grow, your robots get equipped with lasers, swords, laser-swords (that's no typo, you actually get laser swords).

I remember playing this game when I would visit my dad's house as a kid. He had a Nintendo before my mom would let me have one at my own house, and he was more than willing to let me sit in the room all day and play it. Eventually my teams were so stacked that I wouldn't even engage in the baseball aspect of the game, I would instead just start a fight and destory the other robot. My pichers arm cannon was so strong that I would intentionally bean players and they would explode.

Fun little game.
Image sources: All images are mine. I created the gif on Giphy.