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things along at all either; you have to sit through the whole process every
time. That isn’t the only slow area of the game either. Remember before
when I said Jaleco put a lot of realism into the game? This includes hav-
ing to watch every strikeout victim walk back to the dugout, watching an
extra-long homerun celebration on the scoreboard after every homer,
waiting for the catcher to throw the ball back to the pitcher after every pitch
and sitting through tons of foul balls.
Another problem with the game is the fielding. For as good as the pitching
and hitting are; the fielding is just as bad. The game goes to a bird’s eye
view for fielding, which means the players are small and slow. Fielding is
so tough that the computer auto-fields for you although you can usually
move the players a little faster yourself. Because the fielders are so small
the ball will bounce right over your head if you aren’t careful. To make up
for the slowness of the fielding all the players have rocket arms. It is al-
most always a mistake to try for an extra base or a steal. Triple plays are
possible even on grounders while double plays are automatic.
In addition to how long each game is, the only season option is to play out an entire year! The strange thing, though, is that as soon
as you hit 80 wins the season ends and you are given one of the worst celebration screens I’ve ever witnessed for a game that takes
so many hours to complete.
Graphics and Sound: Nice
The graphics are top notch in every area except fielding. The pitchers are graphically among the finest out of all 21 baseball games
on the NES. The batters are tall and the stadium looks great for an early baseball title. The umpires have very clear voices, which
comes as a big surprise to me while the music is catchy but way too repetitive for how long it takes to finish a game.
Gameplay and Controls: Ok
The controls are great for hitting and pitching but the fielding is very tough to master. I like that you have deep benches but it is very
annoying that you can’t make any changes before the game begins. Plus, you have no idea what position each of your pinch hitters
play and if you pinch-hit an infielder for an outfielder you will have to replace him after the inning ends.
Features: Password
You are in for a long season and will definitely need your password. Luckily they aren’t very long and are hard to mess up.
Fun?: Somewhat
There are a lot of fun parts to Bases Loaded but it is way too slow and doesn’t have actual Major League players. When it was one of
four baseball games on the system it was great but paled to the competing titles that were released throughout the NES's life.
Challenge: Not hard to win one, tough to win 80
You have to have to have a lot of determination to win the 80 games
required to be considered a Bases Loaded champion.
Replay: Not much
There are just too many better games on the system that take half as
much time to play.
2 Player: Of Course
Instead of watching the uncut version of Lord of the Rings you could play
a double header with a friend.
Online Manual?: Yes
Check out
NintendoAge.com for all NES manuals.
Bottom Line: Too slow to be considered a good
game
Bases Loaded may have been fun in 1988 but it pales in comparison to Baseball Stars 1 &2, the R.B.I. Baseball series, Baseball
Simulator 1.000 and many others. It doesn’t have real players and the gameplay is frustratingly slow. I guarantee that you will have
more fun playing some of these other baseball games over the Bases Loaded series.
25 | Video Game Trader Magazine | July 2008 |
www.VideoGameTrader.com
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