Original Release: SNK, 1992, Neo Geo
Other Releases: NES (1992), Neo Geo CD (1994), Wii (2007), PC (2016), PS4 / Switch (2019)
Arcadey and fast-paced baseball with graphics that were cutting-edge for its time.
Baseball Stars 2 (Neo-Geo, SNK, 1992)
Where to Buy: Amazon / PlayAsia
Review by: C. M0use
B-b-baseball! Baaaseball! Stars Two! This is like the Blades of Steel/Tecmo Super Bowl of baseball; if you don’t mind a comparison to a game that came out after it, it’s actually more like the NFL Blitz of baseball.
It’s a Neo Geo game so right off you can expect that it will be arcade-style rather than a simulation. Don’t expect real MLB leagues or players here either. You pick from a selection of six fanciful teams such as the Tokyo Ninjas or the Napoli Angels.
It turns out this game would have been perfect for a Barry Bonds or Mark McGwire endorsement. Every team is composed of burly screaming steroid freaks with wedges of tobacco lodged in their mouths. Probably have quick-release ‘roids in the tabaccy.
You can play one-on-one against another person, or try to win 15 games in a row against the computer to win the pennant. In the original arcade version, you only had four minutes to play per quarter before you had to insert another one – I’ll assume they removed that from the Virtual Console release and other such modern digital downloadables, aside from being nonsensical it would also jam up the game because it would usually pop up right in the middle of a pitch or something.
The gameplay is pretty standard 2D baseball fare. If you’ve played any other baseball games of the 8- or 16-bit era you’ll jump right in. The only difference here is that you have a limited number of power-ups to give your guys Explosive Bat and other superhuman powers.
You’re supposed to be able to trigger fights somehow, but I’ve never figured out how. It’s a rare event for me to get on base as every hit of the ball seems to always be either a pop fly or an infield grounder.
Fielding is kind of a pain due to the perspective. Infield hits stay in the same screen that you pitch on, and it’s hard to quickly judge where they are going to land. Base hits to the outfield are a nightmare – the camera tracks along with the ball but gives you no indication of what player is currently closest or that you have control over. So often times you end up with the ball just sitting there on the ground, and runs scoring while you try to figure out who you are controlling and how to get them there to pick it up.
I think it would be more fun if it wasn’t originally designed to suck quarters out of your pocket. You can’t fault the graphics, and the game’s crazy testosterone imbalance presentation and style is fun, but the gameplay is just too shallow and it’s really hard to actually win a game. Probably a much better choice for two players than someone going solo.
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