"My defense has been paid off by the other team's manager. Augh."
Written: Oct 10 '02
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Product Rating:
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Pros: It may be able to hold mustard packets in the connector part..
Cons: ...Nope, it can't. :(
The Bottom Line: Baseball for the NES is awful, plain and simple. It is awful in 2002, and it was awful in 1985/86.
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| C_A's Full Review: Baseball for Nintendo |
Firstly, let me calm down all the people that love Baseball, the first baseball game for the Nintendo Entertainment System. I am not comparing this to games of today. I am comparing it to the way it was back then. If I were comparing this awful game to today’s standards, the overall score would be less than 0.0001.
Baseball was released for the NES somewhere around 1985 or 86 I am guessing. I am not sure what people exactly thought of the game back then, for I was only a year old. What I can guess, however, is that there were many disappointed people. Baseball is a pathetic excuse of a, uh, baseball game. Here’s the rundown.
Graphics (3)
The graphics in Baseball were standard for a mid-80’s NES game. In other words, they were average. There weren’t any major problems with the graphics. Of course the characters looked a little blocky, but they were pretty well designed. The field did not look all messed up, as I had expected before I played this nostalgic game. Of course, the title screen itself could’ve had some more thought put into it. “BASE {skip line} BALL”. They could have put more thought into it. Well, spelling out the letters with a bunch of baseballs was a nice idea, but it’s just covered by a blue border and that is it. Overall, the graphics were not bad, but they certainly were not good.
Sound (2)
Yet another game that is so limited on sound and music. For sounds we have the speeds of the pitches. If the pitch is fast, the sound is high. If the pitch is slow, the sound is low. Also, they have a dumb three-note sound effect for when an umpire makes a decision. The most annoying sound is easily the footsteps of the runner. It makes you not want to hit a home run. Here is an example of how your player runs after a home run: *BUDDA-BUDDA-BUDDA-BUDDA-BUDDA….{50 steps later}…BUDDA-BUDDA”
Augh.
There were a grand total of about three themes in this game, each lasting no more than 8 to 10 seconds. First, we have the opening theme, which seems to show up in a lot of games. I think I’ve heard it as the theme to Pro Wrestling and a brawling game who’s name escapes me at the moment.
The sound was about two points under average, really. If Super Mario Brothers could pull off some kickin’ tunes, why couldn’t this game?
Control (0.5)
The control for Baseball single-handedly brought this game down to a low score. You absolutely cannot control your defense. They move wherever the hell they want, whenever the hell they want. Once they finally decided to get off their lazy butts, they run like a 600-pound sumo and actually pick up the ball. Then they let you control the defender. Of course, all you can do is throw the ball to a base.
Pitching isn’t much more easy. Sometimes when I tell my pitcher to throw the ball he just sits there acting all high and mighty. Finally, after he’s done chugging his ginger ale he decides to lob the ball wherever he damn well pleases and the ball ends up getting hit over the fence quicker than he pitched it. Everything I have said in these sentences were true…..except for the ginger ale.
Gameplay (1.5)
At first when I tried out this game, I thought it would be at least halfway decent. Boy, was I wrong. First, you get to choose your team. I thought they could have at least given them names, but no, instead they are just single letters. “IN TONIGHT’S MATCHUP, WE HAVE THE B’S vs. THE Q’S!” No, they don’t say that in the game (due to lack of brains), but I still found that stupid. I think they just replaced the Japanese symbols with one American letter..
The game starts, and we have both teams ready to play. For my team we have the snotty pitcher, along with his brigand of rich snobs that play absolutely crappy defense, while on the other team we have players with ungodly strength. Needless to say I usually lost all my games by ten or more runs. For those of you who do not know the rules of baseball, then shame on you. Just play this game and you will get a basic idea. I just hope you will not think that the real sport of baseball sucks, too.
Double plays aren’t that hard to execute in this game. That is, if your damned shortstop actually decides he wants pick up the ball. At least my trusty catcher has not abandoned me. At least he tries to catch the ball when the batter pops the ball up in front of the plate.
I fear that the Nintendo guys did not take much more than ten minutes translating this game into English. As mentioned before, they replaced the Japanese symbols with a single English letter. Also, they did not even bother replacing the kilometers per hour system with the United States’ miles per hour. A lot of people that play this game even today still think that the people pitching in this game throw 160 mile an hour fastballs, although they are only 99 miles per hour (which is still pretty damn fast).
Batting was a bit of a problem for me. I usually only hit ground balls to the outfield, or crappy fly balls. I have probably hit a few home runs, but I have a horrid memory so I wouldn’t know. Of course, it is not hard to hit the ball, but it never goes anywhere. That is, unless you’re the computer.
I would have to say that overall the gameplay was bad. I blame the control factor, for this game could have been a lot more fun. They could have made the defense much more flexible, plus they could have made it so that every fastball I pitched did not go out of the park every damn time.
Replay (0)
If this is the only baseball game you have, you would want to play it a few more times before using your Mac Attack bat on yet another victim. I would not want to play this game. That is, unless you like headaches. The only way a Baseball cart should be played again is if you played it once, then sold it to someone else, which forces them to play it once. I guess that counts, doesn’t it?
Overall (1.5)
Please stop. No more. I cannot stand this pathetic game. I am very thankful that the NES has many more baseball games available to me, most for under a dollar. This game had normal graphics, reused sounds, and one of the worst control systems ever.
I still don’t like those arrogant players that are always on my team…I bet they are still plotting against me, hiding out in that little cart of theirs. Hrm, I wonder if an NES cart can last in a high-powered microwave for more than 30 minutes?
Recommended:
No
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Epinions.com ID:
C_A
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Member: Celestial Avenger
Reviews written: 15
Trusted by: 9 members
About Me:
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