Top 10 Imaginary Sports

10. Frolf
Game: Ribbit King
Format: GameCube, PS2
Developer: Bandai

Pickwick, Pan Pan, Sluggy and Snork. No, we’ve not made up some nonsense words; these delightful aliases are in fact characters in Ribbit King, the crazy golf-like game for the PS2 that is, itself, based on the fictional sport of Frolf – we kid you not. It’s fairly throwaway yet heart-meltingly charming fare, with frogs having to be catapulted into the end hole by hitting them with a mallet. Other than that, our aim to get Pickwick – our favourite anthropomorphic videogame basket and one of gaming’s cheapest characters – into the public eye has finally been fulfilled.

9. Pokéathlon
From: Pokémon HeartGold/SoulSilver
Format: DS
Developer: Game Freak

Rather a compilation of imaginary sports (from Block Smash and Ring Drop to Hurdle Dash and Relay Run), the Pokéathlon event as part of HeartGold and SoulSilver comes in as one of the best uses for your Pokémon traits, reinventing the gleeful pocket monsters as energy-drinking, muscle-pumping athletes and giving them varying strengths based on how they are perceived in-game.

8. Discs Of Tron
From: Discs Of Tron
Format: Arcade, XBLA
Developer: Midway Games (Arcade) Digital Eclipse (XBLA)

Although the first Tron arcade videogame had minigames itself, it was spin-off Discs Of Tron that used an original jai alai sequence from the 1982 film as the basis for a game. In keeping with the authentic, neon-glow and vector-based symmetry of the Tron world, Discs Of Tron’s reinterpretation of a binary sport was not only a brave attempt at a movie tie-in but an intelligent and capable twin-stick throw-’em-up too, and a stylish way to derezz an opponent.

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