Play Sports Illustrated for Kids : Football Online

Sports Illustrated for Kids: Football is one of those GBA games that somehow makes managing a team just as fun as playing the actual matches. You start by picking your team type (I always went for the balanced one), slapping on some custom colors, and naming them something ridiculous—my "Turbo Turtles" never let me down.

The arcade-style gameplay keeps things simple but surprisingly deep. Each player has Strength, Speed, and Agility stats that actually matter—like, if you boost a guy’s speed enough, he’ll literally leave smoke trails behind him when he sprints. It’s ridiculous in the best way. And yeah, the camera angles shift dynamically, which was pretty slick for a handheld game back then.

You can trade players, unlock weird bonus stadiums (one of them has this neon glow that makes no sense but looks awesome), and even tweak modifiers to mix things up. Oh, and it was the first GBA football game with multiplayer, so if you had a buddy with a copy, you could finally settle who had the better team. Mine, obviously.

It’s definitely aimed at kids, but there’s enough strategy here that it doesn’t feel dumbed down. Just don’t expect Madden-level realism—this is all about fast, silly fun.