National Football League

Tecmo Bo, 'Jon Dowd,' Vick: Ranking the top 10 sports video game characters

Updated Jun. 15, 2023 8:29 p.m. ET

Patrick Mahomes might be the NFL’s best player, but in Madden 24, he literally becomes Superman.

A new Mahomes move in the game, one that emulates his incredible diving pass from Super Bowl LV, defies natural law, allowing the Kansas City Chiefs quarterback to fire off 45-yard passes with pinpoint accuracy while diving in the opposite direction.

But the game hasn't been publicly released and Mahomes has a long way to go if he wants to be considered among the elite sports video game characters ever.

Here’s a list of the top 10 iconic stars throughout the years in sports video games.

10. Ronaldinho, FIFA 07

Plenty of FIFA legends through the years could represent EA Sports’ beloved soccer simulator on this list, but Ronaldinho’s dominant offensive abilities propel him into this spot. The Brazil superstar had a rating of 90 or better in finishing, short passing, dribbling, ball control, acceleration, sprint speed and reaction.

9. Sunday Tiger Woods, Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2009

Really, Sunday Tiger from any 2000s edition would suffice. If your character was lucky enough to make the cut and face Sunday Tiger, you had to play a virtually perfect round of golf to stand a chance of beating him.

EA Sports even leaned into Sunday Tiger’s God-like abilities by using a fan video of a glitch in Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2008 where the namesake character could walk on water and hit a chip shot from a lake, turning it into an incredible marketing campaign for the next edition of the game.

8. Jeremy Roenick, NHL 94

It was Roenick, not Wayne Gretzky, whose all-around skill made him a cheat code in this early 1990s hockey game. Roenick was physical, agile and lethally accurate with his long-range shots. Of course, Roenick’s character in this game made a memorable cameo appearance in the classic film "Swingers."

7. Michael Jordan, NBA 2K11

Some of the characters in these games became overpowered superstars by accident. This edition of Jordan was anything but. The Chicago Bulls legend graced the cover of the 2010 release of the iconic basketball simulator and starred in several different modes centered around him, including one where players could compete in a "Jordan Challenge" that let them simulate key moments from his career.

There were eight retro versions of Jordan in the game from different seasons of his career, and all eight of them had him rated at an unstoppable 99 overall. Jordan also starred in one of the most memorable sports video game opening sequences ever.

6. Peja Stojakovic, NBA Ballers

If sweet-shooting NBA players who became video game juggernauts had a patron saint, it would be Stojakovic in this 2004 streetball simulator. The digital version of the Sacramento Kings swingman paved the way for a long line of NBA players in future basketball video games who, once you figured out their shot timing and favorite places to let it fly from beyond the arc, could not be contained.

5. "Jon Dowd" (Barry Bonds), MVP Baseball 2005

The folks at EA Sports had a problem. Barry Bonds, MLB’s consensus best player at the time, had pulled out of the MLB Players Association’s common licensing agreement. Thus, EA Sports could not use his name or likeness in MVP Baseball 2005. They circumvented this by creating the fictional "Jon Dowd," a slugging, left-handed-hitting San Francisco Giants outfielder with a familiar build and swing. And Dowd, much like the real-life Bonds at the time, was a cheat code, routinely depositing virtual baseballs into a digital McCovey Cove beyond the right-field wall in San Francisco.

4. Mike Tyson, Mike Tyson Punch-Out

Unlike the other names on this list, Tyson was not a playable character but instead was the final boss in this boxing game. The virtual Tyson is considered one of the most difficult video-game final bosses of all time thanks to his ability to, like the name of the game suggests, knock players out with a single punch.

3. Bo Jackson, Tecmo Super Bowl

The original unstoppable video game character, this version of Jackson is still considered the G.O.A.T. for sports video game fans of a certain age. It’s easy to see why. The pixelated Jackson was too fast and too strong for just about anyone else in the game to stop him, no matter what they did. And unlike the real-life Jackson, whose incredible two-sport professional career was cut short due to injuries, this Jackson could not get hurt.

Tecmo Bowl Bo Jackson lives on in the cultural zeitgeist, including an appearance in the iconic animated sitcom Family Guy and a Kia commercial starring the actual Bo Jackson.

2. Pablo Sanchez, Backyard Sports

With respect to Jon Dowd, Sanchez is the only truly fictional character on this list, but he deserves to be here after a decade of dominance across a litany of Backyard Sports titles.

Sanchez is best known for his abilities in various Backyard Baseball editions, where he was a true five-tool player, representing one of the best hitters and fastest runners in just about every edition of the game. When Millenials and even some older Gen Z gamers discuss their Backyard Sports memories, Sanchez is usually the first name they think of.

1. Michael Vick, Madden 04

The first true dual-threat quarterback of the modern Madden era, the current NFL on FOX analyst was simply impossible to stop in the game that bore his image on the cover. He was too fast when he took off running and too accurate a passer to be contained by even the best defensive game plan.

Nothing like Vick has been seen in Madden since then — which is by design. Madden developer Clint Oldenburg revealed in a 2016 interview that several features added in subsequent Madden editions, such as the popular "Hit Stick" and much less popular and since-discontinued "QB Vision," were added specifically to counteract Vick. It was as though they were Frankenstein trying to stop a monster of their own creation.

Additionally, the Madden player ratings system has been changed significantly so that no player is overwhelmingly dominant at so many different facets like Vick was.

Unfortunately for the real-life Vick, the Madden cover curse came to fruition that year, as he missed most of the 2003 NFL season due to a broken leg.