Baseball (NES)

Baseball

Baseball was a very successful title in Japan and North America, two regions where the sport is highly popular. At the time, it was considered one of the best sports simulations available because of its accessibility and cute graphics. It remains a good introduction to the rules of this enjoyable sport.

The game allows you to pick between six teams. In Japan, they represented the full roster of the Central League, which hosts some of the most popular teams in the country. In the international version, those teams were replaced by the six most popular teams of the North-American league at the time of the game's release.

Baseball Review

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Review by Darren Calvert

Baseball Screenshot

Many older gamers may have fond memories of this game from playing it back in the days of the NES so it is understandable why Nintendo have put this up on the Virtual Console. Nostalgia aside, it wasn't a great game back then and it is certainly no better now.

The gameplay focuses on batting and pitching, with fielding the ball handled automatically. When a pop fly soars through the sky, it's hands off the controller – computer A.I. takes over, positioning the appropriate fielder to make the catch. Only after the ball is caught or picked up off the field does control return to the player, then able to throw to any of the four bases.

Baseball Screenshot

For an early NES game the poor graphics and sound can be forgiven. They do the job so no complaints there. The gameplay is the main problem with this game. The controls are pretty unresponsive and the gameplay plods along at a terribly slow pace.

Even if you're a massive fan of baseball, it's hard to see how much enjoyment you'd get out of this rather stunted representation of the sport. We advise that you stick to the baseball game on Wii Sports or wait for Tecmo Baseball on the NES which is a much better game all-round.

1/5

Average reader rating: 1.81 (21 ratings)

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Screenshots

Baseball Screenshot Baseball Screenshot Baseball Screenshot

Baseball (Video Clip)

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Have your say about Baseball

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1. Bass X0 United Kingdom 23 Feb 2007, 01:41 GMT

No reason for anyone to download this when they have Baseball with Wii Sports.

2. Manaman United Kingdom 25 Feb 2007, 17:00 GMT

lol Baseball.

Another one also found in Animal Crossing.

3. Badspeller United States 19 May 2007, 08:15 GMT

This game was bad even when it was new. I can appreciate Nintendo wanting it on the vc for sake of completeness, but there is no way this thing is worth 500 points. They should just make it free (along with a few others like it) just to demo how the VC works

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4. SKTTR Germany 12 Jun 2007, 03:41 GMT

It's on VC for the one's that loved it.
Baseball-Fans got Baseball.
And many people loved its slow paced simple gameplay and it's (now for most eyes invisible) charm back then.

For todays standards play Wii Sports Baseball instead and forget about this.
Nintendo's first attempt on an baseball game? I rate it: Too Retro! But I enjoyed some matches.. a few.. with my brother. It could grow if you have nothing else! 2 Stars

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5. Kevin United States 25 Jun 2007, 20:58 GMT

Possibly the worst baseball game you could play.

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6. Mendez United Kingdom 02 Jul 2007, 10:55 GMT

Wow, judging by the video that 1* rating was well and truly deserved! I'm just glad I've never had the mispleasure of playing it :P

7. Mark United States 25 Jul 2007, 06:15 GMT

I remember getting this game when I was real young. I was so disappointed that I had wasted my hard earned allowance money on it. What a sad day it was indeed. My brother liked it though. Only worth 100 points max on the VC.

8. superBBQ United Kingdom 12 Sep 2007, 21:25 GMT

Why did they use a pixely picture for even the box art. I played this once, my friend paid a whole 500 points...HA! It was good for laughing at the pathetic play but it really failed too much to warrant a rematch.

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9. sir.turds.alot United States 24 Oct 2007, 16:48 GMT

this game is awome! i have it on the origanal nes

10. Jason McIntosh United Kingdom 11 Nov 2007, 14:39 GMT

Aww, had lots of fun playing this with my older brother back when we didn't know any better.

I will always remember the one time I played with my dad and he got (rightfully) upset by how laughably slow the outfielders were as they lurched around to pick up deep grounders, turning real-world base hits into triples. He said something like "Aw, come on, they're running like they got chowder down their pants!"

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11. Beau Skunk United States 25 Nov 2007, 04:25 GMT

Boooooooooooring...
Normally I love old-school 8-bit Nintendo games like this, but this game is in no way entertaining. (Not even for it's day's standards.)

Purchase it if you want a cure for insomnia.

12. learn japanese ds Canada 07 Jan 2008, 22:03 GMT

Did anybody notice how nintendo released their old school counter parts to the Wii sports games?

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13. MasterMario United States 01 Mar 2008, 03:00 GMT

Believe it or not, I acually was excited of getting this game in Animal Crossing because I love baseball. I really hated this game because I didn't understand the controls in this game and the innings take forever to end. So don't get this game.

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14. slangman United Kingdom 04 Mar 2008, 13:36 GMT

Played this when it was unlocked on Animal Crossing, Kinda unremarkable, i only played for 5 mins then i just switched it off again due to the dullness of not batting.

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15. Karyyk United States 16 Mar 2008, 20:19 GMT

This one is still good fun if you played it as a kid. I used to play this for hours with my brothers and cousins, into the morning (at least until RBI Baseball came out).

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16. Mickeymac United States 24 Jul 2008, 06:40 GMT

I played this in animal crossing with my brother, we actually had fun. However, since I can play it in that whenever I want, I think I'll pass on Downloading it.

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17. LordJamak United States 10 Aug 2008, 02:51 GMT

Gee... a 500 point baseball game. We have Baseball or... um... Bases Loaded. What ever shall we do???

Okay hang on... we have Baseball and Soccer and Ice Hockey but no Pro Wrestling or 10 yard fight??? What the hell is going on here??

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18. carson United States 17 Aug 2008, 08:32 GMT

bring BASEBALL SIMULATOR 1000 to Wii VC. its the 2nd greatest Baseball game ever (right after MVP)

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