Baseball 2099
PLAYERS: 1-2 simultaneous
PUBLISHER: Ultra
DEVELOPER: Konami
GENRE: Sports
RELEASE DATE: June 1991
To make the sport of baseball more interesting, Konami (under the guise of Ultra Games) decided to replace the mustachioed humans of real life with Super Hardcore Fighting Robots! As a matter of obviousness, robots are decidedly more powerful than humans. They can shred balls with a minor swing of the bat. They can run hundreds of mph, as long as their wheels are oiled properly. And, when robots from opposing teams disagree, they use guns instead of words and fisticuffs. In Base Wars, robots do all of the above, which should make for one amazing baseball game. Unfortunately, whoever is controlling the camera within the game is obviously a human who can’t keep up with the amazing power of the robot’s hits. When you hit a ball into left, right or center field, the camera has to scramble to catch up to it. If your team is playing the field, this can become a nightmare when you’re trying to look for the ball with a robot outfielder. Even if you’re batting, the computer seems to have trouble finding the ball.
One-player is tolerable, but be forewarned, the computer will make mind-boggling comebacks. I was ahead 8 to 2 in the 3rd inning (out of a five-inning game) and at the end of the 3rd, the computer had scored 8 points, bringing their score to 10. I mention this particular game because I was actually winning for awhile; prior games, the computer slaughtered me every time. Point being, as with most sports games, two-player is definitely the way to go for maximum enjoyment. If all you have is a six-pack of PBR, a Bright Eyes mixtape, and yourself, you might be saddened by Base Wars‘ poor camera and the computer’s cheapness… among other things.
B-
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2 replies on “#058 – Base Wars: Cyber Stadium Series”
I love this review if only for the PBR reference. That’s some good low-shelf beer!
Anyway, I played this game a bit myself and I just couldn’t get the timing down with pitching and batting. Perhaps my reflexes aren’t what they used to be and I need to practice more, but I got trounced by the computer right off the bat (pun…intended?).
I’m just glad sports games evolved so much over time and are now genuinely enjoyable.
Playing with friends was the worst, since you could control your pitch. However, when you play with friends you’re much more likely to arrange a battle on base, which is this game’s best feature (IMO)