I've read that players would run out one whole quarter on a single play with Jackson before heading to the endzone. (Not that I researched this or anything like that). I can't rank Jackson on my list because I was barely over 1-year-old when Tecmo was released, but like Willie Mays or Joe Montana, even though I never saw him play, I recognize his greatness. Luckily, I've finally found the purpose of the Internet- YouTube videos of Virtual Bo!
Without further ado, the rankings:
1) Mike Vick, Madden 2004- The most dominant virtual athlete of my time, and it's not even close. On numerous occasions, Vick has caused me to contemplate whether or not to fire my controller through the TV screen when one of my buddies would pull a long touchdown run. My favorite play: The "Take a snap from shotgun, run backwards 20 yards, then fire an off-balance laser down the field for a 40-yard pass completion" play. Vick was the first Madden quarterback where you could take the snap, directly run to the sideline and then bolt 80 yards for a touchdown. Even if you didn't like Atlanta, you had to take Vick out for a couple of test runs just to see what he could do. As an added bonus, this was before the whole dogfighting scandal, so you didn't feel guilty while playing with him.
2) Jon Dowd, MVP Baseball 2005- You're probably thinking, "Wait, what?" "Who the heck is Jon Dowd?" Because Barry Bonds wasn't a member of the MLBPA, MVP Baseball needed to create a fictional counterpart for the San Francisco outfielder. That counterpart was Jon Dowd. In the game, Dowd was white, fat, batted right-handed, wore high socks, sported a goatee and had hair. An exact replica of Bonds himself! Putting his ridiculous physical features aside, Dowd boasted attributes of a 99 hit for power against right-handed pitchers and a 99 hit for contact against righties. You would have to have severe hand-eye coordination problems to not make contact when Dowd was at the plate. Whether a 637-foot long ball, or a season with 160 home runs, you'd think Bonds Dowd was on steroids or something.
3) Ken Griffey, Jr., Major League Baseball Featuring Ken Griffey, Jr.- When your name appears in the game's title, it's guaranteed your virtual self will be good. But Griffey was way more than good, smacking 600-foot home runs in this game with ease, and it didn't even matter when you swung the bat. You could swing as soon as the pitcher released the ball, or when the ball was inches away from the catcher's mitt, and somehow Junior would send a missile to center field. Also included in the game was a cheat code where Griffey would hit a home run each time at bat. (Again, not that I looked this up or anything). And not only did Griffey have the deft ability to hit balls five feet off the plate or pitches coming towards his head, but because he was on Seattle, he also didn't have to deal with Jamie Moyer's 46 mph changeup or Randy Johnson's 106 mph fastball. Sadly, Griffey's major league career went the opposite way of the video game industry: As the graphics of these games improved, his career hit a steady (and sad) decline as injuries mounted. So, what we're left with is the Nintendo 64 version of Junior.
4) Randy Moss, NFL 2K- There are few things in life more frightening than playing against the Vikings in NFL 2K, and seeing No. 84 streak down the sideline in one-on-one coverage. OK, maybe there are a lot of things more frightening than that, but still. Moss had the speed, and the ability to soar above three defenders and snag a pass out of the air. One-handed, a ball thrown behind him, a one-handed catch with the ball thrown behind him, Moss could catch everything. And I mean everything. My buddy Vo is famous for running an offense in football video games that goes something like this- 1st down: Deep Pass, 2nd down: Deeper Pass, 3rd down: Deepest Pass, 4th down: Punt, or Hail Mary. If he had Moss on his side in NFL 2K, those plays would actually work. Virtual Moss' greatness also made Minnesota one of the top video game teams with himself, a mobile, strong-armed quarterback (Daunte Culpepper), a very good running back (Robert Smith) and a possession receiver (Cris Carter). Like Vick having his own offense in Madden 2004, NFL 2K had the "Screw it, let's just throw it deep to Moss offense."
5) Reggie Bush, Madden 2007- 97 player speed. 98 agility. 98 acceleration. 99 juke moves. After reading that, you probably think I'm describing Barry Sanders. Actually, I was describing virtual Bush from Madden '07. Bush fell into the common trap of "overhyped rookie" who receives a higher rating based on his college accolades. Because of his career at USC, Bush had the rating handed over to him rather than earned, similar to how NFL rookies now have their contracts guaranteed before earning any of it. Bush's overall rating made him one of the best first-year players in Madden lore, and his blazing speed combined with shifty jukes made him unrealistically elusive. There's even some Zapruder-like footage of Bush in action on YouTube to prove my point. The only thing keeping Bush from reaching elite status in the '07 version was his 62 awareness rating. But, as we saw later on with the USC scandal, this rating of 62 was perhaps too high. Zing!
