7 Best Outdoor Sports Video Games
Video games have the power to take you back in time to some of the best moments of your childhood. Staying at home has become the new norm and video games could, once again, act as a gateway to enjoyment, away from boredom. The one thing we want, more than ever, is being able to get out of the house and engage in cool outdoor activities! Since that’s not always possible, here’s a list of 7 adventure video games you could enjoy in the comfort of your home!
Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2
One of the most iconic video games ever, the Tony Hawk video games series made practicing skateboarding to a mainstream and global level. The first game was published in September 1999 by American giants – Activision and the rest is history. Today, after two decades, Activision adds yet another classic to the list of the 24 game series: Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1+2.
Even though it’s been 20 years, the latest game on the list has managed to captivate gamers all over the world – becoming the fastest ever Tony Hawk video game to sell 1 million copies worldwide!
For those of you who don’t know, the critically acclaimed video game puts the player in place of a professional skateboarder from a third-person point of view. The goal of the game? Perform tricks and combinations in an effort to increase the player’s score. We can see that Tony Hawk has kept a close eye on the production of the game, with players being able to do the ollie, nollie, shuvit, frontside 180, backside 180, and many other tricks.
There are a few iconic elements that gamers have come to expect from Tony Hawk Pro Skater video games, such as a certain type of music, maps, levels, and moves. This game checks those boxes and offers much more!
The game is available on Microsoft Windows, Xbox and PlayStation, so sit back and cruise on your skateboard as you perform cool tricks for the ultimate street cred.
Abzû – a game about Freediving and the ocean depths
The next game on our list of outdoor sports video games is a game that you’ve probably heard of before – Abzû. The game was released quite recently in 2016, which means the graphics are spectacular, to say the least. Abzû was published by 505 Games and can be enjoyed on the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and Microsoft Windows.
Abzû is an almost therapeutic video game where players go freediving. Players don’t really have a concrete objective other than to explore the mysterious depths of the ocean. The game begins abruptly with you waking up in the middle of the ocean, and allows you to unlock new areas and interact with marine animals using solar chimes and even hitch a ride on their bodies. Each area holds hidden collectibles for the diver to find and potentially unravel the secrets behind the forces harming the local environment.
The world depicted in the video game can be compared to an abstract painting and can arouse a newfound love for going scuba diving and going snorkeling in the hearts of the players.
Snowboarding and Skiing with SSX
How can we talk about extreme sports video games without mentioning EA Sports? EA Sports is essentially the sports division of the Canadian video game creator and publisher, Electronic Arts and SSX is one of its finest creations. Going Snowboarding and practicing skiing are seasonal activities but with SSX, you can enjoy the awesome experience in your living room!
You represent team SSX in the game and the objective of the game is to beat Griff, your rival. How do you beat him? Well, you have to conquer 9 descents, spread all across the world, with 9 different characters. The story mode offers gamers a villain in the form of Griff, adding a bit of character to the game. If you don’t wish to compete, you can simply select the cruise mode, allowing you to glide freely on snow without a set objective.
What’s more is that the tracks are scattered with speed boosters, bonuses, and challenging obstacles – making the game super dynamic. You could enjoy the latest version of SSX 3 on GameCube, PlayStation 2, Xbox, Game Boy Advance, and Gizmondo.
Kelly Slater’s Pro Surfer
Kelly Slater’s Pro Surfer and Tony Hawk’s Pro skater are similar adventure video games, in the sense that they are both endorsed by legends of their respective sports and they both have the same publisher – Activision. In fact, Kelly Slater makes a cameo appearance in the 2001 video game Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3, as an unlockable character.
For all the non-surfers reading this, Kelly Slater is a surfer from the United States of America and has won 11 world surfing championships, still considered the greatest of all time. The video game simply followed suit by becoming the best surfing video game in the world. It can be difficult to move close to the sea in order to practice surfing, especially when there’s a global pandemic on our heads – making this game a must-have game for all surfing fans. The video game stands the test of time as one of the best surfing video games out there to an extent where people are kind enough to overlook the mediocre graphics.
KSPS is not just about the technical aspect of the extreme sport of surfing but it also includes an interesting storyline. Your mission, if you choose to accept it, is to embark on a journey to find the perfect wave, bit like a surf connoisseur. Kelly Slater’s Pro Surfer is available on Game Boy Advance, GameCube, PlayStation 2, Xbox, and Microsoft Windows.
Tomb Raider
British company Core Design gave us one of the most badass video game characters of all time in the form of Lara Croft. A pioneer in the action-adventure genre, Tomb Raider first released in October 1996 and has gone on to stack up 19 versions of the series over the period of 22 years. The latest version of the game is Shadow of the Tomb Raider.
You are Lara Croft in the game and your mission is to find an account of a World War II-era Japanese military expedition to the island that sought a way to harness the power of the storms as a weapon. As a result, Lara decided to explore an ancient tomb on the coast, where she finds the remains of a high-ranking samurai who had committed seppuku (suicide ritual committed by samurais).
The graphics of the latest version of Tomb Raider make the game very realistic, making you feel every thrilling move Lara makes. The beauty of an action-adventure video game like Tomb Raider is that it’s dynamic in the sense that your character tries a bunch of various activities, such as going rock climbing, doing free-running, learning survival training, and even a bit of scuba diving!
Mario Kart
We’ve all played Mario Kart at some point in our lives or have at least heard of the video game, which is a spin-off from its trademark Super Mario series. The game is characterized by bright colors, confusing maps, unique characters, goofy weapons, and super fun vehicles like go-karts, quad bikes, and motorcycles!
So where did it all begin? The Super Nintendo Entertainment released Super Mario Kart in 1992, achieving mammoth commercial success. One of the longest-lasting video games out there can be enjoyed through various consoles and mediums. Six games on home consoles, three on portable handheld consoles, four arcade games, and one for mobile phones, the Mario Kart series includes a total of fourteen games.
Mario Kart’s basic and user-friendly format does not demand samurai-like focus like most video games, making it very easy to play and universally accepted. Let’s put it this way: Mario Kart is the kind of video game you’d play with friends or family on a Sunday afternoon.
The Legend of Zelda
The last game on our list of top 7 adventure video games is The Legend of Zelda. Created by game designers Shigeru Miyamoto and Takashi Tezuka, LOZ was developed and published by Nintendo in 1986! The video game series which consists of 27 adventure video games, collectively selling 54 million copies worldwide, is exclusively available on Nintendo gaming consoles.
You control the protagonist of the video game – Link (picture above), an elf-like being who is given the task of rescuing Princess Zelda from Hyrule and Ganon (the antagonists) by solving a series of puzzles and engaging in action-based adventures in the beautiful kingdom of Zelda. The game’s 3D graphics give the player a third-person perspective, which enhances the gamer’s experience.
What makes the Legend of Zelda a global success is the storytelling and dynamic gameplay. As the gamer, you are constantly on the edge of your seat, fighting bad guys and getting closer to saving the day by rescuing Princess Zelda. In order to do that, Link must pass a series of tests, which need him to go scuba diving, paragliding, free-running, and even snowboarding!
If you’re the kind of person who’d feel guilty about wasting valuable energy on video games, you’d be happy to know that the franchise holds a Guinness World Record for the first game with a battery-powered save feature and the longest-running action-adventure series.
Let’s say you rip through all of the video games above and still have spare time, we can recommend some of the best free diving movies, or how about the best dog sledding movies ever made? Happy confinement!