Nerdicus NES Review #55 : Bad News Baseball

Title : Bad News Baseball

Publisher : Tecmo

Genre : Sports

Players : 1 / 2 Players

Release Date : 1990

Estimated Value (as of today's date) : $4-$5

Besides hockey, there aren't many sports games I enjoy playing. Football is alright, as long as I'm playing with someone else. Basketball I despise, probably because I just don't like basketball. Now when it comes to baseball, I'm really not that much of a fan when it comes to playing the games. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy the sport and I'm a huge New York Mets fan (you can make fun of me all you want). Baseball games just bore the hell out of me.

Nintendo released a number of baseball games for the NES, and the thing is, they were all pretty much the same. After all, how much different can you make each game besides improving on the graphics or solidifying the gameplay? You cant change the rules. It's baseball for crying out loud. 

Well, at least this game introduced Bunny Rabbits as umpires. Because kids LOVE Bunny Rabbits.

I have no idea where they were going with this, but anyway, here's BAD NEWS BASEBALL. Is that like a warning? Calling this game BAD NEWS?

You've got a few different modes to choose from. An either 1 or 2 player, round robin styled baseball season, a 1 or 2 player all star game mode where you play with the best players from all the teams, or you can just watch a game. You know, in case you can't find one on TV and its the off season.

Oh, and apparently you can activate a GIRLS ONLY mode for this game. You punch in some code, and the players and teams are replaced with girls. Go figure. What a way to attract girls to sport games...make em enter a cheat code.

As usual, you pick a fake sports team (since they never could afford the rights to use real teams), and you get the game underway. Of course, I went with good 'ol NY. But it looks like I'm the Yankees, dammit! You also get to pick the order and the positions...but save yourself the confusion and just leave it as is. Although you do need to switch out your starting pitchers after a few games because they actually DO get tired.

Alright, Boston. BRING IT ON!

First pitch of the game, I take a swing, pop the ball foul back to the catcher and he gets me out. What happens after that? My player falls to the ground unconscious.

I literally sat there staring at my screen wondering what the hell just happened. I just cracked up laughing. The game is traditional baseball, but with goofy cut scenes and sound effects to appeal to the younger audience. Surprisingly, it works.

As with any sport game, it takes a few tries to get used to the timing and how to control the players. You need to be insanely accurate with your swings to get a decent hint, and pitching can be quite a pain in the arse. The computer AI always seems to know exactly what to do, so you're always at a disadvantage. It's not like modern day sport games. 

I'm sure you remember the hell it was when you just MISS catching a ball, and it crawls out into the outfield. Of course your players move as slow as humanely possible so the AI just gets an in the park home run most of the time. Good deal there.

You know what though. I can't complain too much about this game. It's fun, it's got some nice stylized artwork, and the cut scenes are a riot. Grab a friend, invite them over and play some BAD NEWS BASEBALL. It's the kind of retro fun that made sport games fun back in the day.

Just don't play against the AI. They'll destroy you.

So just keep hitting homeruns lol.

Final Score (out of 5) :

Until next time. Keep on gaming!