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When you think about it, an RPG is๊ kind of like a sport. You le♍arn the rules of engagement, train your characters, and give them better and better equipment and skills as you level, sort of like how a real-life sports team needs to train and make money in order to come out on top of their league.
So while the concept of a sports RPG might seem strange at first glance, it's actually proof that these two great tastes can taste great together. Some games will use sports as a theme, while others will replace battles with a simulated sport; but all of these games show that sometimes, your best weapon is a golf club or a big, bouncy ball.
8 Golf Story 🍨
168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Golf Story was a surprise hit when it was released for the Switch in 2017, but look a little closer and its success actually makes a lot of sense. It's a pixelated 2D RPG about starting a new life as an athlete, and lets you slowly grow your skills and defy naysayers as you become a professional.
In other words, it's a classic underdog story. And with a surprising amount of depth in its golfing mechanics and plenty of goofy easter eggs, Golf Story is just about 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:as charming and cozy as they come.
7 ♒ Legend Of The River King
While Legend Of The River King was pitched as a 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Harvest Moon spin-off in the West, it's actually the first localized installment of a long-running Japanese series that hybridizes fishing gameplay and RPG storytelling. It's a delightful combination.
You play as a young boy who must catch a powerful river spirit in order to save your sister from a mysterious sickness; you'll travel across the world, helping out NPCs, catching rare fish, and occasionally getting into random battles against bears and spiders. You know, as you do.
6 Dodgeball Acad🌌emia
While some sports might lend themselves to the low-key pacing that many RPGs are known for, dodgeball... isn't one of them. It's hard to be chill when you're pelting opponents with balls. But 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Dodgeball Academia makes these se♊emingly disparate parts𒈔 work together.
It draws plenty of inspiration from shonen anime and manga, with lovable character tropes, a pumping and dramatic soundtrack, and over-the-top dialogue. This inspiration extends to the actual dodgeball too - when you power up during matches, the protagonist's hair bears a striking resemblance to a certain Saiyan.
5 🗹 ෴ Mario Tennis: Power Tour
While the best-known RPG from the developers at Camelot is the 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:dearly-missed Golden Sun, you shouldn't overlook their portable sports RPGs either. From the original 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Mario Golf and 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Mario Tennis games on the Game Boy Color to Mario Golf: Advan𒀰ce Tour on the Game Boy Advance, the studio is responsible for some of the best entries in this hybrid genre.
Mario Tennis: Power Tour is definitely one of the highlights of this mini-series. Like Dodgeball Academia, it's basically a sports anime as an RPG, but you can carry it with you in your pocket - what's not to love?
4 ꦜ 🌼 Captain Tsubasa 2: Super Striker
After you're done playing games inspired by sports anime, why not play a game that's actually based on a sports anime? As its name implies, Captain Tsubasa 2: Super Striker is actually the second game based on the 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Captain Tsubasa franchise - and unlike the first, which was localized as Tecmo Cup Soccer Game, this one is still a Japanese💟 exclusive.
Which is a shame, because Super Striker beats out its predecessor in every way: it features improved graphics, great music, and deeper, more strategic gameplay. If you can read Japanese, it's worth seeking out a copy.
3 ꦺ Inazuma Eleven 𒆙
If you need a soccer anime RPG and don't feel like searching out Captain Tsubasa, Inazuma Eleven is a delightfully goofy option. Developed by Level-5, Inazuma Eleven shares its DNA with the company's other games in the way that it fully commits to its concept.
It leans heavily on anime tropes, with plenty of messages about believing in yourself and opposing teams showing up for games on spaceships, but it also features flashy special moves to learn and an addictive Pokemon-style twist where you can recruit players for your team. In other words, it's not realistic at all.
2 Barkley, Shut Up And Jam: Gaiden 🌄
But Inazuma Eleven's got nothing on Barkley, Shut Up And Jam: Gaiden. A freeware sequel to both the, uh, 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:questionable Genesis basketball game Barkley Shut Up And Jam and the iconic 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Space Jam, BSUAJ:G casts you as the legendary Charles Barkley, who has been forbidden from playing basketball ever again after executing a dunk so powerful tha𝐆t it killed hundreds of people.
12 years later, someone has performed the same dunk, and Charles takes the blame; you have to survive countless turn-based battles as you try to clear your name. So it's less "RPG with sports mechanics" and more "RPG that uses sports as a jumping-off point for utter absurdity." But who doesn't love absurdity?
1 Pyre
All the other games on this list deal with real-world sports, like fishing, tennis, and... an illegal far-future version of basketball that can kill millions. Very normal. But what about a game that really goes all-out, inventing a fictional sport and then building an RPG around that? Well, that's Pyre in a nutshell.
Developed by Supergiant Games (and acting as 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:a bridge to their beloved Hades), Pyre is a 2D RPG that combines genre staples like leveli𓃲ng up and experience points with text-adventure storytelling and a battle system that is best described as Lord Of The Rings meets basketball. In short, it rocks.