Sports are massive all over the world and this sees popular examples such as soccer, football, basketball, hockey, baseball, wrestling and cricket enjoy a large following. It is not just watching the latest games that fans love to do, though — they also like to fill their spare time with sports-related activities.
While this could involve playing their favorite sport or catching up on the latest breaking news, many also enjoy playing games with a sports theme. One of the main reasons for this is the awesome gameplay features that developers include in their games. But what are some of the best examples to know about?
Sports-based online casino gameplay features
Online casinos are a major part of the whole gaming industry, and this is certainly true in those US states where iGaming is legal. Online casino games are also popular in many other parts of the world, with New Zealand being a case in point. There is no doubt that online casino games in New Zealand are popular with Kiwis and something they like to get involved with. This is clear to see when you consider that the online casino gaming market in New Zealand is expected to grow around 7% by 2027, and revenues in this segment of the country’s gaming market are set to hit over $1bn by the end of 2023.
As sports are so popular in most countries worldwide, it is no surprise to see sports-themed games being a popular choice on iGaming platforms. These kinds of games can include some truly innovative gameplay features to help them stand out.
Some sports slots online (like Big Bass Bonanza Megaways), for example, include Megaways gameplay mechanics. This feature uses random reel modification tech to generate multiple ways to win on each spin. Mind games are a growing trend in global iGaming, and there are some cool sports-themed games in this category that use innovative gameplay touches to wow players. This sees you turning over tiles in games like Penalty Champion to discover winning symbols — with the option to cash out or carry on when you do!
Online play for sports-themed video games
Although you might like to keep up with the latest cricket news or hottest WWE gossip in your spare time, playing sports-themed games is also fun. When it comes to games people love to try in this niche, video games are still hugely popular. Big franchises such as FIFA and the Madden series of football games are great examples. One innovative gameplay feature many of these games include is the ability to play online against other human players.
The FIFA Ultimate Team gameplay option is a good case in point and enables players to build up their dream team — before heading online to take on other human players. This type of innovative feature enables online-enabled sports titles to bring a more social feel to proceedings and delivers a more immersive experience.
Motion-sense gameplay in Wii Sports
2006 saw Nintendo release the ground-breaking Wii Sports title for their Wii console, and this included the truly astounding motion-sense gameplay feature. In essence, the Wii controller interprets players’ motions and translates them to the game itself.
This gave a much more involved and responsive experience, with people able to really feel like they were controlling what happened on screen. The success of the gameplay that Wii Sports offered led to a wave of other games with motion-sense tech being launched. It also saw Microsoft develop its own Kinect technology and Sony bring out Move tech to compete.
One-touch controls and combo moves
If we are talking about gameplay innovations for sports games, then one-touch controls are worth mentioning. This basically refers to the ability to perform in-game actions with the press of one button, for maximum effect.
Some sports games also enable players to press a button to perform an in-game action in advance, which can lead to some very fluid on-screen moments. Modern console controllers usually enable you to use the sticks rather than buttons to perform moves in sports games, and this brings another level to the gameplay.
You should also find that the gameplay in many modern sports games enables you to perform special combo moves to impress your friends with. This can often involve pressing a sequence of buttons or moving the game controller stick in a certain manner. The ball dribbling moves you can pull off in the NBA 2K series of games are a good example of this.
Sports-themed games are truly innovative
As the above shows, sports-based games really do include some fascinating gameplay features that make them stand out. This is important for this niche within gaming as a whole, as it means it is continually moving forward and always evolving. If you enjoy playing games based on the world’s top sports, keeping an eye on the latest innovations that developers pack into them is always interesting.