Take a step back in time to 2000. The heyday of the action sports genre is in full swing, and countless iconic franchises along with their mimics and parodists were at the height of their power. From Tony Hawk to NFL Blitz, a title existed for any and every sport of interest. Standing tall above their contemporaries, however, was EA Sports’ BIG label.

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The BIG label and its classic, orange color splash logo adorned the cases of action sports games from snowboarding to basketball. During its time in the sun, BIG produced numerous classic titles that gamers still play today — but not just out of love.

Playing the classics is a necessity ever since the label went defunct in 2008. EA, along with their counterparts at 2K, publisher of the NBA 2K series, has since tried to recapture the magic of the BIG titles but to little acclaim; leaving gamers yearning for a new action sport emperor. Until that day comes, these classic BIG titles will have to quench our thirst.

8 NBA Street Vol. 2

NBA Street Vol. 2 screenshot showing a player passing in the ball on a street ball court. Magic Johnson stands on the far right of the screen

While the NBA 2K series is the only major basketball game on the market nowadays, the genre used to be riddled with both simulation and arcade options. A soundtrack filled with hip-hop royalty complements the 3-on-3 street-ball action to perfection accents the high-flying, rim-shaking tricks and dunks.

The stars of the 2003 NBA are present alongside NBA legends like Michael Jordan and Larry Bird. The game’s bread and butter lies in its Be A Legend mode, which allows you to create a player and take him from the bottom rungs of the street hoops ladder to the height of super stardom. In terms of extreme sports story modes, it stands above its counterparts.

7 NFL Street 1

Walter Payton celebrating as he runs in for a touchdown in NFL Street

The NFL Street series just might be the crown jewel of the EA Sports BIG era. Released in 2004, the highly regarded street football game features Ricky Williams, Shannon Sharpe, and Barry Sanders on the cover: a small taste of the star power that awaits when you start playing.

NFL Street eschews the classic simulation gameplay of Madden and its now defunct counterpart, NFL 2K, for hard-hitting, 7-on-7 football. Injuries, penalties, and helmets are out. Style points are in. If you accrue enough, you’ll be rewarded with a Gamebreaker, which essentially turns your offensive or defensive player into a superhero who can crush would-be tacklers and force fumbles at will.

If you yearn for the days of playing backyard football as a child, NFL Street’s pickup mode will bring back great memories. Just choose your desired seven players from a randomly selected pool and let the fireworks begin. Finally, NFL Challenge, the game’s equivalent to Madden’s franchise mode, sees you pick a team and carry them through numerous challenges against other teams while unlocking player attributes and cosmetic items.

6 SSX Tricky

Elise Riggs performing a trick in SSX Tricky in front of many fans in a large stadium. A massive mountain stands tall in the distance.

SSX is the series that started it all. The high-flying trick extravaganza was the first game to be released under the EA Sports Big label in 2000 and quickly turned the series into a phenomenon. Just one year later, the release of SSX Tricky took things up a couple of notches. The introduction of Uber Tricks, unlocked after filling the adrenaline bar with your regular bag of tricks, literally took things to new heights.

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These absurd tricks make the player feel superhuman as they race at dangerous speeds against friends and foes. Do yourself a favor by picking up SSX Tricky and challenging a few friends. You certainly won’t regret it.

5 Def Jam Vendetta

Manny and Joe Budden fighting in Def Jam Vendetta

Def Jam Vendetta sounds like the fever dream of a crazed wrestling fan whose delusions of grandeur know no bounds. Not that uniting hip-hop and wrestling sounds like a stretch, as rappers have long professed their love for professional wrestling in lyrics for decades. But to gather a group of the genre’s titans to wail on each other in an over-the-top action wrestling game? It sounds too good to be true.

Luckily for gamers, Def Jam Vendetta nails it. DMX, Ludacris, and Ghostface Killah are just a few of hip-hop’s greatest to appear as playable characters, as well as 12 other Def Jam artists. Broken bones, special powered-up moves, and a quest to go from zero to hero as an underground fighter accent this title that exudes all the energy you’d expect from an EA Sports Big game.

4 Freekstyle

A biker dressed in black, spiky protective gear preparing to jump off of a ramp in Freekstyle

Not content to leave the extreme sports action on the slopes, in 2002 EA Sports BIG released Freekstyle, a motocross racer. Of course, the emphasis here is on wild tricks and huge air as you compete as and against real-life motocross stars. Circuit mode will be familiar to fans of the BIG games. In this mode, you’ll race to unlock new bikes, riders, and courses.

In Countdown mode, you can look forward to racing against time and your friends as you perform tricks to earn a higher score than your opponent. If icy cold winter conditions just aren’t your thing, Freekstyle is a perfect alternative to the SSX games.

3 FIFA Street

A game between France and Brazil on a cement court covered in graffiti in FIFA Street. Brazil's gamebreaker is ready to be activated on the top left of the screen.

FIFA Street may not have reached the height of the cultural zeitgeist that was NFL and NBA Street, but the arcade soccer title still packed quite a punch... er, kick. Featuring legendary Brazilian soccer player Ronaldinho on the cover, FIFA Street knows its bread and butter is flair; and boy does it have a lot. The focus here is 3-on-3 gameplay on smaller, urban pitches.

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Gamebreakers exist here like in other Street games and will give your footballer a powerful shot that allows you to slow down time. In career mode, you’ll have the opportunity to build up a baller by earning skill bills. In addition, you’ll earn cash that can help you steal the best players from rival teams. While FIFA Street may not match the heights of its Street counterparts, it brings enough street football fun to be worth a try.

2 Sled Storm

A racer in 3rd place in Sled Storm on PS2. They are between two other racers and a speedometer indicates they're traveling 31 kph.

Think of Sled Storm as a sister to the SSX series. A remake of the 1999 game on PlayStation, Sled Storm was released in 2002 and expanded EA Sports BIG's repertoire of snowy, downhill racers. As the name suggests, players take control of snowmobiles, or sleds, in high-flying races designed to encourage death-defying tricks. The expected fare of single-player and split-screen races is present here and accompanied by Championship mode.

In Championship mode, you will race against five opponents on the game's seven courses as you look to unlock new sleds by way of stealing them from your opponents in a Rival Challenge. And for all the diehard SSX fans, you can expect to see a few of your favorite characters pop up as racers here.

1 Shox: Rally Reinvented

A driver in a sedan in Shox: Rally Reinvented. They have accumulated $2602 and are traveling 171 mph.

Not content just ruling the slopes and the blacktop, Shox: Rally Reinvented was the first and only arcade racer released under the EA Sports BIG label. 24 vehicles and three biomes were included in the game: Desert, Jungle, and the Arctic.

The over-the-top settings lent themselves to the action-packed gameplay. Each track is divided into three Shox Zones, which provide cash based on how quickly you reach each zone. If a player gets three Gold times in a row when they pass through, they can look forward to following the Shox Wave in front of them for even more cash.

Despite looking like a typical rally car arcade racer on the outside, it’s these little touches that make Shox feel unique. Of course, if you just want to bash your friends’ cars and perform unbelievable drifts, Shox offers split-screen races and capture-the-flag game modes.

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