After you flip on the game, you get to choose your players. Normal? Nope. Every single time you want to play a game you have to pick your players. No preset rosters. And it's not an easy process either. Hold A for two seconds to pick the player, and once you've got the infield, hold select for five seconds to go the outfielders, catcher, DH, pitchers, and so on. Ugh. Then, as an added bonus, you get to watch the computer do the same thing! Talk about quick action when you get an itch for the game. Wait—that'll never happen! This game sucks!

Now for the real fun.

Now, normally, I don't bitch about graphics or animation—after all, it's the NES! But this game makes me want to reconsider that. The pitcher either throws 20MPH, allowing you to swing four times before the ball arrives, or 100MPH, which will have you swinging after the catcher has thrown the ball back to the pitcher. The bat is also incredibly short and the speed at which you swing it is intolerable. After you swing and miss (which will be happening a lot, trust me) you'll hear this lovely sound. I think it's the umpire trying to say "Strike!"

Pretty bad so far, eh?

There's some pretty nasty bugs in the game. Sometimes fair balls are called foul, and vice versa. Also, if you ever throw and miss a base, there's a good chance the ball will roll to the outside fence. The problem is, sometimes it gets stuck! The ball disappears into the fence and you have to wait until all runners score to get back to the mound. Pretty shoddy coding, if you ask me.

Pretty bad so far, eh?

Sorry, I just had to get a close-up of the shoddy crowd graphics. I didn't know 40,000 fans could all wear the same thing on the same day. And they're all white, too, and have black hair. Odd. It's almost hypnotizing if you stare at it for a while. Give it a shot, and see if you end up all dizzy.

Here's the best part.

The animation. Oh my god, the animation. It's what made me want to piss my pants when if first played this game. Whenever you want to throw the ball, be it in the infield or out, you get this shitty throw. The ball will stay at a perfect level of two inches off the ground, moving in pulses of speed. Faster, slow, slow, fast again. And since it's a mere two inches off the ground, it will usually hit the ground and roll twenty-five feet to the basemen's glove.

Yep, there's actually sound in the game.

This time I won't be so picky. Sure, there's sound, and it's not great. Still, many other games do it better. There's no music. There's cheesy (and do I mean cheesy) but for the most part it's OK. Here's a sound clip of me getting a base hit, them throwing the ball into the infield, and the "roaring crowd."

Just in case you're even thinking about trying MLB, then you should immediately resort to this list and calm the craving. It's a list of the NES baseball games better than MLB. Yep, it's all of them—except the old Nintendo-made Baseball. That game's worse, if you can believe it.

Bases Loaded, Bases Loaded 2, Bases Loaded 3, Bases Loaded 4, Baseball Stars, Baseball Stars 2, Baseball Simulator 1.000, Dusty Diamond All-Star Softball, Bad News Baseball, Tecmo Baseball, Basewars, Bo Jackson Baseball, Little League Baseball, RBI Baseball, RBI Baseball 2, RBI Baseball 3, or Roger Clemens MVP Baseball. Please seek refuge with one of these cartridges. DO NOT SUCCUMB TO THE PRESSURES OF THIS EVIL GAME.

Well, that pretty much wraps things up. See you all next month with another shitty game I make fun of.

Back to the PaNESian Press.