Daily Diversion - Video Games

Tuesday, June 01 2004 @ 12:26 PM EDT

Contributed by: Pepper Moffatt

We had a fun conversation yesterday about video games. I thought I'd continue it by discussing five old school baseball video games. Feel free to discuss any game, past or present, baseball or non-baseball.

Home Run - Atari Video Computer System (Atari 2600) - 1978





Awful. Plays just as bad as the graphics look. Yes, there were seriously only three fielders in the game. Or as King Atariputs it:
    What was Atari thinking?! Judging by the label, this is supposed to be baseball, but I wouldn't blame you if you mistook it for something else. The graphics are, even for the late-70's, horrible. There's four white blocks that are your bases, some red and blue blocks put together that are your players, and a big green screen. That's it. The first thing I noticed was that there's no pitcher's mound, you pitch from second base. HUH? They could have made the field a little bigger and added a mound. You can control the ball in this one, I don't know if you consider that a good or bad thing, I for one don't like it. When you swing the bat it's pretty hilarious. It's funny when you compare this stuff to the advanced games of 1986-1990. Very bad, not even good for nostalgia.


More details about the game can be found at Atariage. This game looks even worse when you compare it to:

Major League Baseball - Intellivision - 1979





THIS is more like it. One of the best video games ever created, and the must have game for the Intellivision. Or as the former programmers put it:
    Developed at APh during 1979, Major League Baseball came out in 1980 and went on to become the best selling Intellivision cartridge, with 1,085,700 shipped as of June 4, 1983 (the last date for which figures are available). After Mattel Electronics went out of business, INTV Corp. changed the name of the cartridge to Big League Baseball rather than pay to renew the Major League Baseball trademark license. An M Network Atari 2600 version, called Super Challenge Baseball, was released.


The game was not without its flaws. For one thing, there were no fly balls, only groundballs. But for a game released in 1979, it was years ahead of its time. Intellivision had television and print advertisements where George Plimpton would show Atari's Home Run head-to-head against Intellivision's Major League Baseball. Major League Baseball sold a lot of systems for the Intellivision.

Baseball! - Odyssey 2 - 1978





Magnavox didn't sell many Odyssey 2 systems in Canada, so I imagine most of you won't have ever seen this one. Despite the oddly shaped field, this isn't at all a bad game. Unlike the Intellivision game, you can actually hit fly ball homeruns. This is one of the few sports titles done well on the Odyssey 2, and it's fondly remembered by most O^2 owners, including Earl Green:
    Why exactly do I like the Odyssey 2 baseball game? What the hell do I care for this stripped-down, ultra-simple, painfully two-dimensional version of baseball? Precisely because it is simple. Modern computer sports games are just too damned complex. Baseball! didn't force you to pick existing players based on their RBI or average score per game, nor did it make you struggle to make sense of a vaguely three-dimensional display trying to ape ESPN game coverage. All you did was swing at the ball and run for it. Or try to catch the ball and get those guys out, as many of them as possible, and quick. Baseball! only keeps track of four statistics for you: runs, outs, balls, innings. And best of all, your pixellated protagonists don't go on strike.


Realsports Baseball - Atari Video Computer System (Atari 2600) - 1982





The Plimpton ads were a major thorn in the side of Atari, so they needed to create a baseball game that could rival Major League Baseball. In my opinion, they failed. Quite badly. While this game has some interesting features missing in the Intellivision offering, but the control stinks. David Mrozek is no fan of the game either:
    Unfortunately, due to an apparent lack of play-testing, the game is chock-full of obvious flaws and bugs that spoil the action. The pitching portion is ruined by the fact that every pitch looks the same, straight over the plate. You never know if the pitch is a ball until you let it go or swing right through it! The hitting is weak; balls get hit to the same spots over and over. Atari's attempt at implementing fly balls, having the ball "ring", is ill-conceived. Runner control is surprisingly good - you can even lead off and steal. Intuitive fielding and throwing controls make it fun to toss the ball around. The only problem is that the ball often sails over your teammate's HEAD, forcing him to chase down the ball. The computer does this all the time and it looks absolutely ridiculous. The one-player mode is incredibly tough. Another annoyance is having to wait for all the players to enter/leave the field after every inning (yawn). This is a major disappointment.


AtariAge has more on the game, including screenshots and the instruction manual.

Super Action Baseball - Colecovision - 1983





For some reason this game generally gets poor reviews. I had this game as a kid, and I absolutely loved it. The control system was quite unusual, as described by WildCard:
    Colecovision's only baseball game and first of the Super Action series, Super Action baseball was specially designed to work with the Super Action controllers

    Batting is done with an angled view wherein you see your batter in the bottom-left of the screen and the pitcher at center-right. The top part of the screen is reserved for keeping an eye on the bases. As the ball approaches, your player attempts to hit the ball with his bat to send it flying. A successful hit will result in your player having to run around the bases. Running is done with the "wheel" on the top of the Super Action Controllers. Stealing is also possible.

    Fielding is simple, using the Super Action controllers, players have 4 buttons to correspond to each base. Thus the ball can be thrown at any of the bases instantly.


The Super Action controllers were quite unusual, as shown here. Once you got used to them, though, this game was a ton of fun, and was rivalled only by Major League Baseball on the Intellivision.

Conclusion



Atari couldn't make a baseball game to save it's life until Atari R.B.I. Baseball came out in the late 80's. The Intellivision game is the best of the remaining 3, though the Colecovision game is the best graphically if you ignore the strange palette they used.

What video games are you playing now, or wishing you hadn't given away 5 years go?

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