Super Baseball 2020

"Unique spin on a classic game"

In the history of baseball video games, this is one of the best ever, second only to Super Baseball Simulator 1.000. It take the standard game of baseball and changes the rules. And not just a couple rules, it changes a lot.

It takes place in the future (somehow I don't think in the year 2020 baseball will be like this yet). There are two leagues, each with 6 teams. The teams consist of varying numbers of men, women and robots (picture R2D2 crossed with a trash can).

Gameplay: 10/10
It's baseball, so the game itself is fairly straightforward. But, as I mentioned earlier, there is a twist. The field layout has been changed. The foul lines start at home plate and go up to first/third base where they make a 90 degree turn and continue to the wall (near where the dugouts should be). This is the only foul territory in the game (it's covered in red and labeled "Foul" so you can't miss it). Anything that lands outside of this red foul zone is a fair ball (duh). This includes the stands as well. The stands are covered with something so that the ball just bounces off and goes back to the field. There is a designated "Home Run Zone" above the wall in straightaway center field. The only way to hit a HR in this game is to hit a blast to dead center. Also there are two red "Stop" areas in left and right field. If the ball hits this spot, it stops on contact.
Another twist is the concept of money. Since this takes place in the future, the players have mechanical aspects to them. Therefore, you can use the money the team earns to buy powerups; a boost of strength for the batter, fielder, or pitcher. You earn money by making plays. Every out will earn some money for the defense and cost some for the offense. The bigger the play, the bigger the reward. While catching a popup may only earn you $800, you'll get $1000 if the player under the ball jumps to catch it.

Control: 8/10
Not too difficult. It's fairly easy to have a pitch curve over the corner of the plate, and the outfielders automatically move underneath fly balls so you don't have to tracking them down. The only thing remotely difficult is base running. If there are less than two outs, runners on base don't leave until the ball lands, which is a pain if hit a lot of line drive singles because they usually turn into force outs.

Sound: 8/10
The background music isn't anything special, but it's not bad either. The sound effects though are great. The clank of the ball bouncing off the stands, the sound of a runner sliding into a base, or the sound of a robot pitcher blowing out his arm.

Graphics: 8/10
The graphics for this game are good considering it's a SNES game. It's not the best the SNES ever did, but it's by far not the worst. There are a lot of details in some places (body armor, facial expressions), and not so much in others (the stands are just a solid gray with slight shading to indicate the fans in the seats).

Difficulty: 9/10
All the teams in this league seem to play at their own level (as opposed to other SNES baseball games where the team is as good as the player controlling it). Some are real easy to beat, others can give you problems. Then if you switch to a different team, the team you beat so easily will give you hard time. Also, if you think you are about to get out of a tough spot (i.e., bases loaded, but 2 out and the number 8 hitter up) the computer will use a power-up.

Replay: 10/10
When you've finished your season, you can easily just play another season as a different team. by the time you play as every team, you'll be able to ge back to the first team and start all over again.

Overall: 9/10
This game is fun and addictive. The interesting twists on classic baseball give this game a boost above most other baseball games for any system. As I said, it's second only to Super Baseball Simulator 1.000. So, if it's so great why only a 9/10? Well, there are a few issues I have with this game. First is that it uses the password system to store/retrieve season data. I can't stand keeping track of game passwords. It always seems that you can't find them when you need them, but when you don't you can't find a place to put it so it's not in the way. The second issue is that this game doesn't track any stats other than the team's record. Another one (although not as big) is that you only get to play a 15 game season. But still, the greatness of this game severely outweigh its flaws.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 05/19/04