I really haven’t felt this unqualified to put together a top ten countdown since I did Sonic the Hedgehog, which, thinking about it, actually came from a very similar position! The thing is, until early 2023, I had as much interest in baseball as I do in cricket, golf and rugby. Zero! I honestly didn’t know the first thing about it and cared even less. Which, at the very least, means this particular top ten countdown should be a fairly unique one, but before we jump in, let me quickly bring you up to speed… Back at the start of 2022, I reviewed Game Boy: The Box Art Collection from Bitmap Books, where I highlighted a game covered in there – Nigel Mansell’s World Championship Racing – as something I’d like to get into in more detail. I eventually got to playing it for a subsequently planned deep-dive about a year later, but then really didn’t click with it enough to want to spend that much time with it, so I decided to cover something else that had interested me in the book instead, a compilation called Namco Gallery Vol. 2. This included Game Boy versions of Galaxian, Dig Dug and The Tower of Druaga, which I thought would be interesting to discover, as well as something I’d never heard of, Famista 4, which it turned out was part of the huge Pro Baseball: Family Stadium series…

Now, three old arcade favourites all in Japanese is one thing, but if I was going to do any kind of justice to Famista 4, then at the very least I was going to have to get some idea of what this baseball thing was all about because the game itself certainly wasn’t going to give me any hints! That led me to the first baseball for idiots video I came across on YouTube, and about fifteen minutes later, I not only had a grasp of the basics, but my life had literally been changed forever! I was totally hooked by what I was seeing, and obviously went straight down a YouTube rabbit hole, and then realised one of the satellite TV sports channels I subscribe to was not only showing live games from the US, but they seemed to be on all night pretty much every night too… Which I also quickly realised was for the best because you can skip the relentless ad breaks when you’re forced to record them! Anyway, I was soon watching them all, and the daily highlight reels for every single game on YouTube, and in parallel was learning more about the rules, and the teams and the history, all to the point of healthy obsession! And within two months, I was sat watching my first live MLB game, and there’s been more since, and I’ve now been lucky enough to live through entire seasons, and as I write can barely contain my excitement for the next! Oh yeah, I should mention that in parallel, I also crammed in the entire history of baseball video games too, maybe skipping a few iterations but generally I’ve now played the lot on pretty much everything, right up to the present day! And, as any regular readers of my Weekly Spotlight features will attest, I’ve played many of them a lot too! Which brings us nicely to my list of ten favourites, pulled from over forty years of dozens if not hundreds of games. And while they might not have the clout of some such lists, given my limited time with them, as I said, I think they come from a pretty unique place, so I hope you enjoy reading about them all the same!

10. Super Batter Up (SNES)

We’ll begin with a game I came across by chance, gave it a go and really clicked with, and not only because Pac-Man helps you celebrate a home run! That said, there’s not really much else to make this Namco release (known as Super Famista in Japan) stand out, except it plays a solid game of console baseball from 1992! It’s got player names licensed but not teams, although all twenty-six from the 1991 season are represented as their home cities, and once you’re in a game that doesn’t make much difference anyway. Which reminds me, one other neat touch is that if one of those is Toronto or Montreal, you get the players standing in line for a burst the Canadian national anthem rather than the American one at the start of each game. Apart from some very nice music, it’s pretty functional from there, with a choice of solo and two player single games or a season, which all play out in one of three distinct stadium types. There’s lot of texture on the field and detail in the crowds, which also translates to the players and their kits, whether in close up batting and pitching views or the wider fielding view, where there’s also some nice animated flourishes. Non-player AI is mostly good, although they do occasionally make questionable running decisions, while what you’re controlling is intuitive and familiar if you’ve played any decent baseball game before. It might be a case of not doing a whole lot but what it does it does really well, and a lot better than most.

9. RBI Baseball 2 (Atari ST)

It took me a while longer than I hoped to get to this, after I spent ages waiting for a boxed copy on eBay, but good things come to those who wait, and 1990’s R.B.I. Baseball 2 on the Atari ST is really good! Familiar as well, after the deep-dive I’d done on its predecessor, R.B.I. Baseball on the NES, which was actually the first baseball game I properly spent time with. This does everything you want from a 16-bit sequel too, with real polish, big and bold on-field presentation and some really great touches like the little cheerleaders, the desperate sliding animations and the wacky illuminated scoreboard cartoons recapping the latest key plays. Plenty of speech as well, although any kind of crowd noise is missing while the ball’s in play, which is a bit weird. Like the last game, and more of those to follow, gameplay follows the regular formula, but unlike those, whether you’re batting, pitching or fielding, it all feels very much at home on a one-button joystick too! The overall game flow is relatively fast-paced but otherwise authentic, although unfortunately, fast-paced isn’t really true of the batting animation, but you do quickly adapt and acclimatise to it. Everything is licensed, so proper team and player management is there should you want it, or it’s easy just to get into some games… You can even just watch the computer play out a game, which I still always find surprisingly enjoyable to have on in the background whenever it’s on offer in one of these games!

8. Baseball. (Game Boy)

Like the ST game just now, I’d been after a copy of this for my original Game Boy at the right price on eBay for about a year when I finally came up trumps! I always liked the look of it though, albeit probably because it was one of the few titles actually available at launch back in 1989, but not having a clue about the sport at the time and even less money, no chance! That said, it has got Mario and Luigi in it, and a player called Yoshi if you pick Japan Mode rather than USA Mode at the start, although it predates that Yoshi by a few months so maybe not! Anyway player names, interface changes and musical differences aside, both offer a predictably simple, arcade-like take on the game, with two fictional teams to play with (two-player via a Game Link cable if you have one and a friend), albeit with plenty of stats behind each one to get into if you wish. It plays pretty much the same as the old 1983 NES Baseball if you know that, except you can control the fielders here, assuming you choose to, or the computer will still do it for you if you prefer. Graphically, it’s full of Nintendo personality, with big sprites and a surprising amount of character, given the tiny monochrome screen, and the music is great! It can run a little slow and jerky in the field but gameplay on the whole is smooth and easy to handle, and for whatever else it lacks, it’s got more than enough fun to make up for it! 

7. Bottom of the 9th ‘99 (PlayStation)

No doubt not for the only time, some might question my inclusion of this third game in the series from Konami… There’s no MLB license, the players aren’t the best-looking or best-moving, commentary is a bit flat, the crowds are literally flat, and game modes are functional at best, but this really was love at first sight for me, and what the hell, you don’t want to read a reverse-order list of the last ten years of MLB The Show here, do you? Okay, it’s missing a few things you could find elsewhere in 1998 but the batting-pitching interface absolutely nails it, with its nuanced, cat and mouse system of trying to out-guess your opponent also providing plenty of scope for more control than you’d typically get at the time whichever side of the innings you’re on, and something that you’d certainly see the influence of for a long time to follow. It just feels great to play with, and is supported by straightforward but fast-paced fielding mechanics, and that goes for the rest of the package too. And like we saw earlier, while it’s missing team names and logos, it does once again have the MLB Players Association license, so you’ve got around seven-hundred rostered players, and each with their own stats that are also going to affect things like accuracy at bat or stamina on the mound, right down to variations by pitch type. What is there just all adds up to loads of fun in its own way, and I reckon it still looks and sounds fine too – nostalgically PS1 in all respects, which is more than you can say for how some of its competition has held up!

6. Street Sports Baseball (Commodore 64)

While we’re on the subject of questionable inclusions… I was always on my best friend’s Commodore 64 at the time but I only came across Street Sports Baseball when I got The C64 Collection 1 on Evercade for Christmas 2022, then totally ignored for over a year while my new-found love of the game caught up! It’s one I haven’t stopped going back to since though, especially playing handheld. This was originally from 1987, and was part of the Street Sports series by Epyx, where you took the regular game out of the stadium and onto the streets, with gangs of teenagers using dustbin lids for home plates, jumpers for goal posts and so on. It’s very C64 in its presentation but full of character and atmosphere, with plenty of depth to the classic kids taking turns team selection from a choice of local oiks (or just take your chances with a random selection), and just the right amount of automation to support a single joystick button plus directional controls. It does take a bit of getting used to all the same, but once it clicks it’s a great, simple time for one player and I’m sure really comes alive with two, especially when you’re trying to beat each other to the best players at the start! Thank goodness for Evercade’s save states though, because a single game can go on for ages, but however you’re playing, just keep an eye out for the piles of rubbish on the floor when you’re deep in the field!

5. Bases Loaded (NES)

I did come across Jaleco’s Bases Loaded for the NES from 1987 when I was making my way through every baseball game ever back in 2023, but the problem with that kind of insanity is that unless something grabs you instantly, you tend to pass it by. Which I did! Paying for a game is a powerful thing though, and I did that too when it also came to Evercade on the Jaleco Collection 1 cartridge. All the same, while I did soon start to have some fun, batting in particular is far more nuanced than you’d typically get from a game back then, with realistic depth to positioning and directional play on top of the timing demanded by an equally nuanced pitching system, and that means a lot more than dabbling to get even vaguely consistent and competitive on either end of an inning! Fielding is more straightforward, although working out who’s going to be where and when also takes some practice, as you wait for them to scroll into view with the ball after a hit. It ultimately works fine though, and some thrilling plays soon feel perfectly intuitive! Before the ball gets in the air, presentation is TV style, with a cool perspective view from behind the pitcher, whether that’s you or you’re at bat, which I guess also doesn’t help with swinging at the ball but anyway, it looks good and I’m sure was ahead of its time! There’s a bit of sampled speech to back that up too but sound is mostly cheery beeps and blips and plenty of simple chiptune melodies, and it’s all very pleasant, albeit in a primitive way. You can play a single game, one or two player (on the big Evercade VS console under the TV in this case), or a twelve team season – once again named after US cities rather than any licensed teams – which might not sound like much but makes for some fantastically-poised games once you know what you’re doing.

4. High Heat Major League Baseball 2003 (PlayStation 2)

As you’ll see by the end of our journey here, my own journey has taken me all the way from the primitive but impressively authentic Real Sports Baseball on the Atari 2600 to the just-like-TV looks of MLB The Show 24. I think somewhere in the middle is what I like best though, with close to realistic gameplay and fully-featured presentation but still very much a video game. And that’s exactly where High Heat Major League Baseball 2003 from 2002 on PlayStation 2 comes in! It’s perhaps not the most glamorous of baseball games, should such a thing exist, and might not have the most content either (although it does have some cool modes) but it’s fully licensed and it just plays a really well-paced, well-balanced and enjoyable game! The graphics are also more accurate and functional than mind-blowing but they do the job well, with some really nice animation too, and similar for the audio, although the in-game commentary is impressively ambitious and mostly spot-on! Pitching, fielding and at-bat controls are where this comes into its own though, familiar and intuitive but also with plenty of ambition to push the genre forward, and make for some really smooth plays from the outset. It’s not blockbuster at all but if you want a proper game of baseball without too much fuss then this is the one! By the way, sorry for the weird pic of the back of the inlay I just pulled out of the box here – I couldn’t get it to emulate without glitching for a proper screenshot, and my attempt at getting one from the TV with my iPhone was even worse. Good old back of the box though!

3. Hardball (Atari 8-Bit)

Although it took me almost forty years to actually get my hands on it, the original Commodore 64 version of Hardball from 1986 was the first baseball game that ever jumped out at me – one of those where a screenshot in something like Computer & Video Games magazine alone could sell you on a game, whether you were interested in the subject matter or not! Happened all over again a year later too, albeit in the cinema this time, when this appeared in The Princess Bride, but it would take the eventual arrival of The 400 Mini – exactly coinciding with my new-found love of baseball back in 2023 – for me to discover this 1987 Atari 8-bit release. Also plays great on the recent Atari 50: The First Console War DLC it came with on Nintendo Switch (pictured here) and elsewhere! Anyway, it’s another early example of the TV-style presentation we’re familiar with today, with an over-the-shoulder view from the pitcher that neatly changes perspective depending on whether the batter is left- or right-handed, then switching the camera to a split fielding view as required. There’s intuitive but thorough pitching and batting control, while fielding and also coaching are enjoyably simple, and although there’s just two made-up teams to play with, and playing solo you’ll soon be winning games more often than not, it’s well-paced with a nice blend of arcade and simulation, and is a lot of fun all the same. And if the sound is ambitious but functional at best, the big, detailed, realistically animated graphics more than take the strain, and are way above and beyond expectations on any 8-bit system of the time. And if this was the only baseball game I’d owned since, I’d still be happy! 

2. MLB Slugfest 2003 ( GameCube)

Of all the games here, this is undoubtedly the one I’ve now played the most, hence it also getting the featured picture at the top of the page! It was originally released in 2002, and was the first of four annual releases in the series from Midway, featuring licensed leagues, teams and players, plus authentic stadiums and proper baseball action, although exaggerating elements of it with a more arcade feel and applying a “street-style” urban aesthetic, including whacky but rarely unwelcome commentary and some very lads-mag of the time female enhancement, shall we say! The whole thing is a weird mix that just works though, with gameplay veering from mostly realistic to occasionally (and intentionally) outrageous, with turbo-powered throws and pitches, blistering hits, acrobatic diving catches and general violence by jacked-up representations of real players from the time. It’s never too over the top for long though, resulting in well-paced and well-balanced but unpredictable games that always feel fair no matter the outcome. The controls took a bit of getting used to, particularly fielding, which involves a few button presses you need to be able to string together without thinking to be effective, but within a few games of my first proper season it was genuinely all I wanted to play! Awesome presentation overall too, especially the (relatively) pixel-perfect renditions of the stadiums, often set against a dramatic sunset, or in the pouring rain, or just effectively floodlit, and the players are detailed, with decent animation and lifelike individual mannerisms, and the all-important scoreboard is easy to read alongside the current plays available to you whether you’re batting or pitching. Maybe not for the purist but for everyone else this is a great way to play!

1. Baseball Stars 2 (NeoGeo)

And if that wasn’t for the purist… If you ever wanted to convince someone that baseball doesn’t move at a snail’s pace for three hours, and isn’t more about rules and stats than action, then this SNK arcade game from 1992 might be just for you! I’m not sure it ever made any great inroads into the arcades here in the UK at the time but it was included on the SNK Arcade Classics Vol. 1 compilation for PlayStation Portable (or PSP) in 2008, which still wasn’t really the norm even as late as that – a lot of what we’ve just seen and even more of what I’ve discovered over the past couple of years simply never got a PAL release. Probably a good reason for that though, as I doubt I was the only Englishman to have never even loaded up Baseball Stars 2 – it was a baseball game, so why would we? Like this countdown, some of us got there in the end though, and here we are at the business end with a very arcade take on the sport from 1992, which is actually the sequel to a NES game from 1989. Despite my rubbish photo, in all my travels I’m not sure I’ve seen a more visually appealing baseball game than this – it’s gorgeous, full of vibrant cartoon detail, madcap animation and comedic pop-outs for key plays, with music and sound effects (including a ton of over-excited speech) to match. It’s loads of fun too, with fast and frantic one or two player gameplay, a choice of twelve exotic teams playing across two leagues, Exciting (beginner) and Fighting (expert) modes, and various team set-ups, power-ups, button mashing for speed, finesse plays and other very non-simulation and generally non-baseball stuff! But having read the rest of this list you’d probably expect nothing less by now!

I hope you found it interesting all the same but before we part company, I’ve got a handful of honourable mentions to share, starting with the game at number one’s indirect predecessor, Super Baseball 2020 from 1991 which offers similar gameplay, presentation and humour but in a sci-fi setting, and it really works! Next we’ll go with a portable take on that NES game that came before it, Baseball Stars for the NeoGeo Pocket Color, which offers a no-frills but vibrant and very enjoyable game to pass the time very quickly on the go. Then, in no particular order except the one I thought of them in, Mario Superstar Baseball on the GameCube is another wild and fun-focussed good time that could really use a modern follow-up! Pete Rose Baseball on the Atari 2600 has outrageous presentation for the time, as alluded to when we looked at Hardball earlier. And while that’s from right at the start of baseball video games, I should mention Famista 4 again where it started for me – it’s fantastic, and knowing what’s going on really compensates for not being able to understand a word of it! Staying handheld, World Series Baseball ‘95 on the Game Gear is fast-paced and fun, while World Series baseball ‘98 on the Saturn might have been in with a shout here had I played it a bit more than I’ve been able to until now. I did play lots of the aforementioned R.B.I. on the NES though, and if that’s where I learnt to play, then Baseball on there is where R.B.I. learnt to play, and despite its limitations, you won’t not have a good time with it even today, as you can see I’ve had in my little video clip above. And that’s where we’ll leave it for now but once again, I hope you’ve enjoyed this uniquely positioned set of games from someone uniquely unqualified to share them with you!

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