In the real world, there are a number of sports that are enjoyed by various people around the world. In the world of Sport Story, ironically, there aren’t very many sports to choose from. This is less because people don’t play sports and more because PureStrike, the corporate overlord who controls almost everything, generally has the final say on what is and isn’t real sport.
Because of this, as well as other aggravating factors, some sports in Sports Story get less love than others. Even if it’s a sport you personally like to play, if there isn’t enough interest and infrastructure to support it, you won’t have many opportunities to play it. Conversely, PureStrike’s favorite sports get the lion’s share of the spotlight.
9/9 Baseball
Baseball may be one of the most popular pastimes in the real world, but in this world? Not so much. You can’t even play baseball until you’re well into the main campaign, and even then, it’s only in the form of little batting cages that open up in the mall.
According to an official in the batting cages, PureStrike does not recognize baseball as a real sport. Therefore, while they are allowed to operate batting cages on mall premises, they cannot legally sell baseball equipment or play actual games.
8/9 RC cars
RC car racing would probably rank pretty low in a global poll of what people consider sports, but in this wacky world there’s apparently at least a little more interest in RC cars than in baseball. How strange.
Although it only happens a few times during the game, you get the chance to take control of an RC car and race it around the track. There is even a league, albeit primarily aimed at children. Hey, that’s something, and it’s not like this is the first game where kids race against adults with tiny cars.
7/9 Volleyball
Much like RC cars, there are only a few instances in Sports Story where you can play volleyball. It is a bit limited because there is only one real beach in the game for playing volleyball, and you visit it at the very beginning.
However, the coach’s daughter, Calliope, plays volleyball and owns a PureStrike ball. So, if nothing else, volleyball at least has a bit more street cred than some of the other sports we could mention. Although, apparently, her ball has a bad habit of constantly deflating, so she doesn’t have much street cred.
6/9 Football
Football (or soccer, if you prefer) is supported by PureStrike, albeit minimally. Soccer goals are occasionally scored here and there, but there aren’t nearly enough people around to start a real game, nor is there a full field to play on.
Additionally, there are a handful of football enthusiasts scattered around the game, creating their own entertainment based on footy instead of official equipment and rules. There’s a guy at PureStrike Links, for example, who made a game of kicking balls through various torii gates set up along the river.
5/9 BMX
While PureStrike’s attitude towards BMX is not much more enthusiastic than towards volleyball or RC cars, the difference here is the enthusiasts. While exploring mine shafts or Britain, for example, your BMX bike is your primary means of travel along abandoned mine tracks.
There are even BMX bike lanes located on and around several PureStrike-labeled golf courses, although they are at varying levels of maintenance. The track in Pelican Waters, for example, is littered with puddles, gaps, and dropped crates, too many to seem like a deliberate design choice.
4/9 Cricket
Even if cricket isn’t exactly a worldwide sensation here in real life, the developers of Sports Story have made no effort to hide their Australian roots, so it features prominently in this game. More precisely, it is one of Britain’s favorite sports, whose local team regularly plays for Queen.
Unfortunately, you can’t actually play a whole game of cricket yourself, but you can take part in a few bites of batting cricket, throwing balls and bombs, and defending various wickets. Swinging the big club is the most fun part anyway.
3/9 Fishing
It may not be a ball and it’s a bit difficult to perform competitively, but fishing is one of the more prominent sports covered in Sports Story. In fact, it’s the backbone of the entire Pelican Waters arc. You have to undergo training to learn how to catch different types of fish, as well as get the right equipment for each.
Not only that, but once you enter the Briny Depths dungeon, your fishing ability under pressure becomes a valuable puzzle solving ability. You can even replace your accessory with a giant sticky hand, which is equal parts awesome and hilarious.
2/9 Tennis
Tennis is the second most developed sport in Sports Story, with its surprisingly long side arc following in the form of the Tennis Academy. Of all the sports in the game, it’s one of the few where you can actually play real matches against real opponents (as well as ghost-like opponents).
Taking up tennis side quests goes a long way toward developing your overall athletic skills, not to mention getting you some cash. Considering that Sports Story is heavily inspired by sports RPGs like Mario Golf and Mario Tennis, it’s only fitting that tennis gets top billing alongside the top sport.
1/9 Golf
Of course, the Sports story at its core is first and foremost a game of golf. Its predecessor, Golf Story, was a full golf game after all, and many of the game’s mechanics have been carried over to Sports Story. Heck, most of the mechanics of golf serve as the foundation for the mechanics of every other sport.
Golf is the primary sport around which the main part of the game’s story revolves. Golf equipment makes up the vast majority of your sporting equipment that you can equip. All level ups improve your golf stats. No matter what sport you play, golf is making a comeback. Golf is all the way.