Bad News Baseball

"The greatest baseball game ever"

These days Baseball games have lost the following that they used to have. Football has undeniably taken over the sports industry in every way. Remember how Madden 2001 SAVED the Playstation 2? The following of Football games boggles the mind. Sometimes you have to ask yourself the question ''Why are people making more sports games since the best ones were way back when?'' I personally hate sports games and there are very few I like. I like Mutant League Football and Mutant League Hockey. I also like Tecmo Bowl (Hail the king of football games). But as of late people are only interested in viewing their favorite athletes rock on the big screen. But where is the fun? Sports games have lost what matters most. No, I dont care if it has awesome slam dunks, awesome tackles or slammin' graphics. The fact is, the games need GAMEPLAY. Now I have to admit NFL Blitz is one CRAZY game. It does deserve credit for the innovative nature of its gameplay. However, all other sports games have started to develop generic qualities and it becomes hard to discern one from another. What should we do? Take lesson from Bad News Baseball. Yup, it has no real teams and all the players look the same.... but the game is fun and has the best two player mode in Baseball history.

Gameplay:
The game pioneered the field view. While the batting system takes a little getting used to, the overall play style is unscathed by the little details. The game as a whole flows beautifully and I wouldn't be surprised if the newer baseball games took some ideas from this. Like I said, I hate sports games.... but this one is fantastic. The whole game just feels right. I'm not sure who made it, but I hope they made it big!

Gameplay: 10/10

Graphics:
Well, this game is for the NES. That is a downfall in itself. Overall the game looks fine even though all the players look the same. Oh, but the umpire is a bunny. Long live the bunny umpire! The game has a great isometric field view that is easy to navigate. You don't have to worry about graphical mishaps in this game. Nope, it's all fine in the end. The colors are also nice. Oh, and when you get a Home Run... depending on how many people you send to home..... it shows cool little scenes like your team mates falling out of their bleachers.

Graphics: 5/10

Sound:
Actually, this game has music not unlike Jikkyu Power Pro Baseball by Konami. Its the strange music that feels like it's mixed with applauding fans. It's kind of strange, but overall it's a good sounding game. I personally like the parts when you get a Home Run.

Sound: 7/10

Replay:
This game has great replay value especially if you have someone to play with. The game plays fast and is overall a wonderful game to buy.

Replay: 9/10

Overall this game rules and I would recommend it to anyone who just wants to have fun. Even if you don't like sports games, you will love this.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 07/15/01, Updated 07/15/01