Baseball Stars Grade: A+
- Agent K
In 1989 the NES reached its baseball zenith with the release of Baseball
Stars. No baseball game before it could touch it and it was many years
later before a game came close again. In fact, Baseball Stars II was not
nearly as good; see NES Archives for my review of the disappointing se-
quel.
Baseball Stars’ main strengths are twofold. First, it is simply an excellent
baseball game. Pitching is diverse – changeups, fastballs, and curves a
plenty. Hitting is fun but at times maddening while fielding is silky smooth.
Once you figure out where all the fielders are and who moves where there
are no hiccups. In fact, you can dive, jump, and even climb the outfield wall
to bring back home runs. I’ve only pulled off this feat twice in nearly 20
years but they are among my fondest NES moments.
The second strength is what separates this baseball game from all others.
You can create your own team, name your players, and then spend the
money you earn playing games to improve your players. Each hitter has 6
stats and each pitcher has 12 that can be improved. This includes stats
like hitting, running, fielding, prestige and even luck. That’s right in Base-
ball Stars you make your own luck. When you first create a team they will
be a pathetic bunch of losers but stick with it for a few months and you will have a team that couldn’t lose if you tried.
If you’re not up for creating your own team there are 8 default teams that come with the game. Some of the teams available are the
Ninjas, Lovely Ladies, Monsters and American Dreams. These teams
cannot be altered and vary widely in ability with the American Dreams
being the most talented of the bunch. In fact, this squad features players
like Pete, Babe, Hank, and Willie. In case you couldn’t figure it out this
refers to players like Pete Rose, Babe Ruth, Hank Aaron, and Willie Mays.
With the exception of these players there are no actual major league
squads present. This is the one disappointment in an otherwise amazing
game.
In Baseball Stars you can start up a league with up to 6 teams and 25
games and play a season with full stat tracking. The stat tracking can
come in very handy you’re your home-made team and wondering where to
apply your training dollars. Unfortunately, as mentioned earlier, you will
probably lose every game with your custom crew so check out our tips and
tricks for information on how to improve your lowly squad.
Another cool feature is signing free agents to your team. Once you’ve
created your team you can go out and add some players. At the begin-
ning you will only be able to afford rookies but if you are like Agent J you
can save up a million dollars and sign a superstar. You can also sign
women or men, side arm pitchers, lefties or righties and even guys with
mustaches. Nothing beats having Rollie Fingers on your pitching staff.
Positives:
Baseball Stars has endless positives. It has excellent graphics for starters. Great gameplay including the ability to dive, leap, and
even climb the wall to bring back home run balls. However most important is the ability to create your own players and improve them.
Nothing beats that RPG feeling in a sports game.
Glaring Negatives:
Okay while I only have endless adulation for Baseball Stars there is one major problem: no real players and teams. This really does-
n’t matter once you built up a team you enjoy playing with. However if you haven’t made or don’t want to make a team, you can’t just
fire up your NES and play with a familiar team like the Cubs. You are instead stuck with made-up teams, like the Lovely Ladies,
where you have to go through the trouble of figuring out their play style.
Graphics and Sound: Great
It probably the best graphics for a NES baseball game. The sprites are large and colors are bright. It is easy to track the ball. All the
screens are well proportioned.
Gameplay and Controls: Excellent
The controls are flawless. Pitching is loads of fun as you can move the ball around, twisting hitters into pretzels (yes that is a 1970’s
(Continued on page 27)
26 | Video Game Trader Magazine | July 2008 | www.VideoGameTrader.com
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