Bad News Baseball

"Theres something odd about that rabbit umpire..."

This merry little game of Baseball isn’t what I’d call “Bad News” at all. In fact, Bad News Baseball is an extremely fun, detailed, and maybe even addictive depending on the type of person you are. The game starts off with the camera ascending the long steel pole holding the spotlights in place. It then pans down above the Baseball field so you can really get the full affect of being in the game. The panoramic view shows the full dew-covered grass field and the crowd roaring above. It really sets a positive mood that luckily lasts all through the game.

Gameplay

Next comes the main menu, and there is certainly no lack of things to do as you can see. The four modes you can choose from are the 1 player mode, the 2-player mode, 1 player all star mode, and 2 players all-star mode. I’d recommend taking a swing (no pun intended) at the 1 player mode before anything. You have an amazing 12 teams to choose from, but sadly, the players aren’t real players. Instead, they are made up players with names like ‘Steve’ and ‘Mark’, just to give the game a cartoon edge. Once you choose a team, you advance to player selection. This is where you choose the players that will be on the field when you play. Done? Well then we’re off to the game! Tension mounds as the pitcher winds up. He throws the ball, and its up to you to figure out when to hit the ball. Swing too early, and you’ll strike, swing too late…well, you’ll still strike. It’s all about the timing. Once you hit it, the fielders out there are fierce. Chances are that they’ll get you out before first base, but things can get interesting when your bases are loaded. Eventually, you will strike out, and the teams will switch positions.

You are in the field now. It is up to you to keep home base from being trampled upon by your opponents. You can control the direction of the ball after you pitch. If the computer hits the ball, you are pretty much doomed. They have a knack for hitting into the outfield, which really stinks because the ball just doesn’t stop rolling, and our little sprite fellows don’t move very fast, so if its hit to just the right place, they might get around all the bases before you get to the ball. That’s probably the worst part about this game, the fact that it takes a considerable amount of time to reach the ball because the players move so slowly. If you are anything like me, the ending score will be like 7-0 in the computers favor. Which sort of detracts from the fun factor, but at least this kiddy looking game has some challenge behind it.

In case you haven’t forgotten, there are still 3 different modes to play in this game. I wont spend as much time on them as I did with 1 player, but I’ll give you the ‘jist’ of it. 2-player mode is basically the same as 1 player mode except for the fact that two human players are playing. 2 player mode is certainly fun, but it doesn’t have the same replay value 1 player has. Next in line is the 1 player All-star game. In this game, you get the choice of 4 All-star teams that combine the best players from the division they are in. All-star is a lot harder than 1 player for the sole reason that ALL the players are good, not just one. You’ll find it much harder, so I suggest you just stick with 1 player until you are confident of your skills. 2 players All-star is basically the normal 2-player mode with the All-star teams instead of the normal ones.

As you can see, there is A LOT to do in this game. You wont be running out of things to do anytime soon.
8/10

Graphics

This NES, what do you expect? The graphics in Bad news Baseball are pretty good when it comes to sports games. When you are up to bat, there is a clear view of the pitcher, your teammates on the bases, and your position on the base. You can clearly see the ball when its heading towards you, and there is no slowdown or speed up, so you don’t have to guess when the ball will rush past you, you’ll know.

One thing that puzzles me is the fact that the umpire is a rabbit, that’s right, a waskly wabbit. You’ll be suspicious when you see two long ears sticking out from the umpire’s helmet, and if a play is called and the camera zooms in, you can definitely see that he’s a rabbit. That brings me to the point of players on the field. Now I’m sure everyone has played Pokémon some time in their life, because if you have, you’ll know what the players look like. Little squished people with fat little bodies, similar to the early Mario. There are about 3 frames of movement for each player which is sort of a draw back when you think of it, there’s the 2 running frames, and the catching frame. Which is sad really, because they could have done so much more with this game. As for cut-scenes, there are a few, like when you hit a home run, it shows the players name and it tells you they hit a homerun, for example, a guy named Fred would have “Fred homerun” under the shot of a player running gleefully between bases. You’ll see in these scenes that the players are actually animated in a Japanese anime style more so than a North American style. When you compare the pros and the cons in the graphics, you’ll notice that the graphics aren’t too bad, but they had room for a lot of improvement.
6/10

Sound

Temco used a lot of sound in Bad news Baseball. You can hear the baseball whiz past you after the pitcher throws it, and it’s a different noise depending on the type of throw he used. Another great thing is the wide use of voices. You can hear voices throughout the game saying various things from “OUT!” to “Ball!” Plus, there is no shortage of music in this game, the music plays almost constantly, blaring cute little tunes that are pleasant to the ears. Music really does a lot to set the mood in this game, and it does a good job at it too. Many people would say that sound doesn’t make or break a game, but in many cases it does, and in this case, it made the game a better, much more enjoyable experience.
9/10

Difficulty level – Moderate/Hard

Bad news Baseball wont be the hardest baseball game you’ll ever play, but it’s not easy by any stretch. I would say the hardest parts are trying to find good positioning when up to bat, and finding an effective method to getting the other team out. In many instances, the reason why the other team ends up winning is because you couldn’t get to the ball fast enough and they just ran all the bases.

Replay Value

Since there isn’t any career mode so to speak of, there isn’t much replay value to be had. But you will find yourself playing this for quite some time. Unlike many baseball games of the era, this game has a small bit of addiction; it will just pull you in, over and over. Hell, I’m not even a baseball fan and I’m addicted to this game.
8/10

Pros:
-Huge selection of teams
-Clear graphics
-Funny cut-scenes when you hit a homerun
-Great use of music and sounds

Cons
-The amount of time it takes to actually get to the ball
-The challenge of getting it into the field without them catching it

Overall

Bad news Baseball blends addictive gameplay with great audio and good graphics to present you with a wonderful experience, whether you are a baseball fan or not, you’ll enjoy playing this game. It’s probably pretty hard to come by these days, like many Nintendo games are, but if you find this somewhere, I suggest you buy it. It’ll probably only be like 3$ or something like that, but this game will pay for itself almost immediately.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 06/24/02, Updated 06/24/02