Sports, the athletic contest between competitors for fun, profit, and glory, are known for incredible matches between larger-than-life characters—sporting video game representations are no different. Early arcade machines and home consoles lacked the ability to properly simulate the intricacies of baseball, basketball, football, hockey, and soccer—the Atari 2600's Baseball is a prime example of a crippled sports game that looked nothing like the sport it tried to duplicate—but by the mid to late '80s, 8-bit personal computers and home video game consoles such as the Commodore 64 and NES helped push sports video games forward in terms of gameplay and graphics.

Sports games, despite the advancements, still suffered a significant problem: digital athletes who were more juiced than any real life player who testified during the Major League Baseball congressional hearings. Due to either programming oversights, hardware limitations, or developer fanboyism, several video game jocks over the year have managed to not only excel at superstar level, but damn near break the games in which they were featured by homering nearly every at bat, scoring a touchdown with virtually each possession, or KOing opponents at a moment's notice.

These 10 video game athletes who made this list are the best of the virtual best. I've limited my selections to individual players, although I could have easily included the likes of Baseball Stars' American Dreams or Tecmo Super Bowl's San Francisco 49ers, teams with multiple overpowered athletes that brutalize their opponents.

Recommended by Our Editors

007 First Light's Bond Is as Big a Character Shakeup as Daniel Craig's Version, and I Love It

From Late-Night Feedings to Late-Night Raids: How Fatherhood Redefined My Gaming Passion

Becoming a Dad Didn't End My Love for Video Games. It Reignited My Passion for Them

Do you have a favorite video game athlete that didn't make the cut? Grab your beer and a foam finger, and then sound off in the comments below.—Next: Number 10 >