There was a time when you could stroll into any second-hand game store, car boot sale, or charity shop and find a bunch of old cartridge-based sports games practically being given away. Nowadays, this isn’t quite the case – you’ll likely need to visit a specialist store, and even then, prices are edging into the £5-£10 ballpark. Accolade Sports Collection presents a solution to the gradually increasing price of obscure sports games, bundling five together – four from the Mega Drive (well, technically the Genesis) and one originally for MS-DOS.
We don’t see sports compendiums often – even Evercade carts use them as filler, or omit them entirely – and this is due to a couple of reasons. Firstly, licenses expire and often there’s no inexpensive or easy way for publishers to renew them. Secondly, there’s the belief that sports games see a jump in quality every console generation. The further you go back, the more dated and basic they will be. Arcade-like sports games often get a pass (NBA Jam will forever remain a classic) but even highly rated sports sims can be difficult to go back to.

Accolade Sports Collection takes us back to 1990 for the MS-DOS’ Hardball II, originally released on two floppy disks. Somewhat unsurprisingly, it’s difficult to get into while also lacking the polish and presentational touches found in later releases, including 1991’s Hardball on Genesis – which is present here. There’s little in the way of music and speech, inactive players aren’t animated when standing idle, it’s lacking this collection’s rewind tool, batting is tricky – yet the CPU manages to hit the ball on most attempts – and it doesn’t seem possible to switch players when fielding. The controls have been mapped intuitively to the controller though (presumably this was intended to be played with a keyboard) and it does have features not always found in console sports games, such as a team editor. It’s also neat that QUByte took the time to bring an old MS-DOS game to consoles, as that’s something we don’t often see.
The Genesis’ Hardball is the superior game, being more detailed visually and instantly accessible, allowing you to get into a game with just a few button presses. There’s a time-consuming World Series to play through, a batting cage practise mode, and a few options such as cork bats. Batting is easier, but when fielding the location of off-screen characters isn’t shown, leading to some confusion and dead time. The whole thing benefits greatly from a faster pace, although be warned – playing through a match can take a good thirty minutes, and those final innings can drag, especially if you’re behind by some margin. The rewind tool can be used here, making it possible to hit the ball on almost every swing by adjusting timing and the batter’s position.

Then we have 1992’s Winter Challenge and 1993’s Summer Challenge, each being multi-sports compendiums featuring identical presentation. These two aren’t bad at all, although the frame rate is quite choppy. Numerous events use faux flat-shaded 3D courses with third-person views, such as kayaking and cycling, all of which see the screen split into two with a map on the left. I expected plenty of button bashing and joypad wiggling, but at the most, you’re going to be bashing the A button to build up speed, and only for a few seconds at a time. A tournament doesn’t take long to play through as most events only last a few minutes. Summer Games is the better of the two offering more variety (along with an unintentionally amusing equestrian event with a crudely animated horse) although both are reasonably entertaining. Going for gold and trying to beat tournament records gives something to focus on.
This leaves us with Hoops Shut Up And Jam – originally known as Barkley Shut Up And Jam, now with Charles Barkley’s face altered. This isn’t the first time we’ve seen this version; it also showed up on an early Evercade cart. 2-on-2 street basketball is the order of the day, meaning the occasional shove goes unnoticed. Rather than teams, players are chosen playground style from a selection of bare-chested posers with names such as Wildman, Spike, and Funky D, each with their own stats. The pace is fast while the controls are responsive and intuitive. Sadly, this doesn’t prevent it from essentially being a poor man’s NBA Jam, suffering from stilted animation and some strange ball behaviour, such as passing from one side of the court to the other in the blink of an eye. I did however appreciate that your AI buddy is more than dependable, able to close score gaps and bag a few three-pointers.

The presentation here is similar to previous QUByte retro re-releases. While there are no box or promotional material scans it does have digital manuals with screenshots to explain finer points, the option to remap controls, plus a choice of screen sizes and filters. The front end is colourful and appealing, while the achievements are quite challenging to unlock, helping to extend replay value. Serious sports fans may find solace in trying to beat the various World Series modes present, finding that newfound ability to rewind makes things more forgiving than they were back in 1991. Robust emulation also means there’s no foul play here.
I can’t shake the fact though that this is an odd proposition. Baseball is an acquired taste, and it’s doubtful many gamers outside the US will be nostalgic for Hardball and its sequel. This leaves just two similar sports compendiums that hold up reasonably well, and a barely above average NBA Jam wannabe. The price of these games is starting to increase (Summer Challenge commonly sells for £15+ on eBay) so I can see why QUByte chose to bring them back – and it’s also good that Atari has been proactive with the Accolade back catalogue, re-releasing and licensing games barely a year after the acquisition – but none of these are hidden gems. I certainly wouldn’t buy this expecting to find a new favourite. If by chance you spent your youth trying to beat Hardball’s lengthy World Series mode, then by all means jump in. This package is for you, almost exclusively.
Accolade Sports Collection (QUByte Classics) is out now on all formats. Published by QUByte.