As we head into 2024, we decided to make a list of our top 5 best sports video game list for 2023. Between the latest annual titles and some interesting surprises, it was certainly difficult just to choose five. However, we felt these five games gave players the most control while offering great gameplay experiences. Without further ado, here's a list of our top five favorite Sports video games in 2023

Our Top 5 Best Sports Video Games of 2023, Ranked

5. AEW: Fight Forever

Platform: PC via Steam, Playstation 4, Playstation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and Nintendo Switch.

Yuke's return to Wrestling isn't perfect, but it's what the video game industry needs. Before AEW Fight Forever, the only real wrestling option was WWE 2K23. While AEW Fight Forever still lacks in certain areas, it holds a promising future as a series. The story mode, Road To Elite, offers tons of replay value and fun for single players. But if that's not enough, the new Beat The Elite DLC offers more PvE fun.

But what AEW does best is just allowing players to fight with their favorite AEW wrestlers. Want to play as Kenny Omega and absolutely destroy Jade Cargill? The world is your oyster. Plus, outside of the single player and multiplayer experience lies some fun mini-games to waste the time.

Overall, we put Fight Forever on this list because of what it could become. With more content on the way, we hope to see this game flourish into a series with more releases. The more competition WWE 2K has, the better both games become.

Overall, the initial reviews for AEW Fight Forever weren't pretty. However, it does seem community feedback is slowly improving the game over time.

4. F1 23

Platform: PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, and PC (via Steam and Epic Games Store)

F1 23 brought back the Braking Point Story mode from F1 21, offering a much better experience than F1 22. Overall, while F1 23 doesn't feel like the biggest leap in terms of improvement, it still offers a consistently fun F1 experience. Codemasters knows racing games like the back of their hand, and it was smart of EA Sports to have a decorated developer work on their latest racing title.

F1 23 also offered a new F1 World mode, which offered new content in conjunction with the 2023 FIA season. So if you were sick of seeing Max Verstappen dominate the schedule, then you could change history and control someone like Daniel Ricciardo for kicks.

Overall, F1 23 is the premier F1 simulation video game. With extensive settings and a variety of modes, its hard for our fellow gear heads to get tired of such a fantastic title. We only hope future F1 titles continue to impress.

F1 23 received solid reviews from critics and users alike. Overall, it provided another solid title for fans of the series. The return of Braking Point and the new F1 World Mode seemed to hit well with fans.

3. The Crew Motorfest

Platform: PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, and PC (via Epic Games Store and Ubisoft Store).

Ubisoft Ivory Tower's latest installment in The Crew series is definitely their best yet. With a new beautiful location in Hawaii, and activities to keep you active 24/7 Motorfest just offers so much. We love the variety of playlists and events for single player events, and the online racing feels just as fun. Despite being an online-only game, Motorfest provides more than enough content for their solo player base alone

What we loved about Motorfest, though, was the amount of control it gave the player. After a brief tutorial, you have the option to roam the entire island with cars, planes, boats, bikes and much more. Additionally, The Crew Motorfest contains several online activities to keep you competing for Legend Points, vehicles, and more.

It'll be tough for Ubisoft to top this title. Thankfully, they have plenty of time to start coming up with groundbreaking ideas. Overall, we gave Motorfest an 8.5/10. We loved how easy it was to pick up and play, and noted the beautiful scenery of O'ahu to keep players wowed for years.

2. Super Mega Baseball 4

Platform: PS5, PS4, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, and PC.

Super Mega Baseball 4 was the best Sports video game published by EA Sports this year. From an extensive Franchise mode, new shuttle draft feature, and addictive gameplay, SMB4 is just too fun to pass up on. If you want a video game that offers control, Super Mega Baseball 4 lets you do just about anything.

Want to change your player's name, team logo, team stadium, player chemistry type, or league setup? Super Mega Baseball 4 literally allows you to control almost every aspect about the game itself. Personally, when playing a sports game, this idea of control feels like the most important aspect.

In a sports video game, you should be able to do what you want. Unfortunately, many modern Sports titles, especially mainstream ones, seem to have forgotten this idea. Fortunately, Super Mega Baseball 4 offers a genuinely fun experience that puts the player first.

In our review, Super Mega Baseball 4 earned an 8.5/10. While MLB The Show 23 still offers the most authentic MLB experience, SMB4 offers an extremely fun and insanely competitive title to keep you occupied during the MLB offseasons.

1. NBA 2K24

Platform: PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC.

Microtransactions aside, NBA 2K24 offers the best sports video game experience of 2023. Earlier, we mentioned how control plays a big role, and it definitely applies here. What other Sports video game lets you start a Franchise from five different Eras of the sport itself? In NBA 2K24, you have the choice of playing in five separate Eras:

  • Magic Vs. Bird Era
  • Jordan Era
  • Kobe Era
  • LeBron Era
  • Modern Era

We recommend starting from any of the early Eras because you see how much the sport changes over time. You go from reading physical newspapers to early web 1.0 reports. From there, you head onto the Modern age of social media and more. MyNBA alone feels like its own game, which we could speak about for hours.

Additionally, MyCAREER still offers the best career mode experience in any sports video game right now. From post-game interviews to meetings with your agents and sponsors all makes for an authentic experience. Plus, we liked how this year's story finally made you a superstar coming out of college. The pressure of impressing right out the gate makes the experience all the more fun and realistic.

And we understand the problems of VC costing too much, and how difficult it became to upgrade your MyPLAYER over time. However, we also feel it makes sense that your MyPLAYER needs time to become a 99 OVR. We enjoy the game without buying additional VC because the beauty of the game is in the struggle. It's fun to play as a 70 OVR point guard fighting for a an All-Star or MVP award.

Overall, we love NBA 2K24. We understand the community's concerns for the future of the franchise, but we feel the game still offers the best virtual sports experience. Hopefully though, 2K does decide to address these issues so the community receives the NBA 2K game they deserve.

We ended up giving NBA 2K24 a 9.5/10 score. Overall, the title deserved it for its wide variety of content, fun gameplay, and updated visuals with ProPlay technology. If you're just getting int the NBA, you might want to check this game out.

That wraps up this list of our top five favorite sports video games of 2023. We hope you enjoyed reading this list, and saw some of your favorite titles make it. If you didn't there's always next year, and we're eager to see the upcoming titles to keep us balling out for years to come.

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