"A good baseball sim is ofterlooked by the horrible team creation mode"

Baseball stars 2 was released in 1992 by a company called Romstar. First mistake. This caught my attention when I played the game for the first time. I remembered SNK making Baseball Stars I and doing a darn good job. In the end, it all boils down to this equation: Baseball Stars (SNK) - All the creativity aspects = Baseball Stars 2 (Romstar)

Graphics: The graphics are done very well, although they are the same as baseball stars I. Each team has 2 colors, but some of the choices seem odd. Also, 4 baseball fields are available for play. The only difference between them are the colors of the field. But let's face it, who has ever been to a dome stadium with a blue field? Interesting choice Romstar...

Audio: In tradition of Baseball Stars I, the music is well done. The music now shifts between the top and bottom of the innings which is nice. The only music to make a comeback is the music playing when a runner is in scoring position. Sound effects are what you would expect from a baseball game. Someone yelling Out! or Strike! or things like that would have been nice, but you'll have to settle for bleeps and noises like that.

Team Creation Mode: This is where Romstar blew it. Instead of you picking your own team and naming it, you get 6 premade teams with premade names. Now, onto the players. The players have premade names as well. The worst part is when you hire a new guy, his name will stay as Star/Vet/Rook and then a number. The premade names are interesting, and here are some of the funnier ones: House, Shack, Church, Prior, Atlas, Bomber, BoBo, Stoner, Chew, Leach, Roman, Olaf, Dodo, Doctor, Agent, Noel, Bozo, the list goes on.

Gameplay: Onto the baseball! The game plays very well and is easy to control. Let's face it, the NES has had it's share of bad baseball games...Bases Loaded I-IV, Tecmo Baseball, Bo Jacksons, the list goes on. Baseball stars II may as well be the best baseball sim on NES. There is a wider selection of teams then Baseball Stars I, but nowhere as creative. In BBS1, you had the Lovely Ladies and The Ghastly Monsters. Here your stuck with teams like The Denver Dragons and The Chicago Fireballs. Ladies, how I do miss you

Replay Value: Building a team is still fun, so I guess you can get replay value. Me? I can't. My team seems to get erased a lot, and I do hold in reset when I turn it off. Weak battery...sigh

Well, it's an overall good game, but it has it's flaws. If you can get your hands on this rare gem, do so. Mine came off Ebay with box for 18 bucks. But if you faced with a choice between this and BBS1, take the original.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 12/28/01, Updated 12/28/01