Nerdicus NES Review : #66 & #67 Baseball Stars 1 + 2

Title :  Baseball Stars

Publisher : SNK

Genre : Sports - Baseball

Players : 1 / 2 Player

Release Date : 1989

Estimated Value (as of today's date) : $3-$5

Title :  Baseball Stars 2

Publisher : Romstar

Genre : Sports - Baseball

Players : 1 / 2 Player

Release Date : 1992

Estimated Value (as of today's date) : $3-$5

We move on to our next epic Baseball game series for the NES, BASEBALL STARS! But I'll tell ya one thing, these two games are probably the best baseball games you're going to find on the NES besides the BASES LOADED series. 

I'm not sure why, but I think it's because the game play is actually the most fluid you can find in an NES baseball game. It doesn't seem as choppy as some of the others. It's also got the traditional league play, versus play, and team creation, but then you also have player creation. This is something I love in all sports games, especially the recent NHL games that have introduced career mode. It helps me fulfill my dream of being a professional hockey player lol.

Baseball Stars 1 and 2 are almost identical besides the minimal graphical tweaks they introduce in the second one. Publishers were switched from SNK to ROMSTAR but everything else remains the same. This was probably the reason why the second one just wasn't as popular as the first as you were just getting a rehashed game with a different title. 

I mean you do have some new cutscenes, new music, a little bit better pitch and hit control than the first one, but it's VERY minimal. For some reason though Baseball Stars 2 decided to be sexist and exclude all female players. Go figure. Arses...

While it's a shame that they are so similar, it's no different than sport games nowadays. Each Madden game we play is the same as last years with the exception of roster changes. The game play changes are so minimal, I don't even understand why people pay full price for new sport games. But hey, that's just me.

In this case it's good for me, since my review for both games is pretty much the same.

Here's a quick snapshot of the visual comparison between 1 + 2

Baseball Stars 1 :

Baseball Stars 2 :

Heh, not much of a difference, right? But whatever, focusing on the actual game play you've got one of the smoothest Baseball games on the NES. And it must be a miracle because fielding is actually done pretty well on these games. Fielding was probably the hardest thing to get right, but they did a decent job.

But, much like every other baseball game for the NES, that's just what these two games are, another bunch of baseball games. Just a bit above average.

COLLECTIVE Final Score for both games (out of 5) :

Until next time. Keep on gaming!