Nerdicus NES Review #92 : Bo Jackson Baseball

Title : Bo Jackson Baseball

Publisher : Data East

Genre : Baseball

Players : 1 / 2 Player

Release Date : 1990

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

It's been awhile since I've played a baseball game, and I can't say I'm necessarily looking forward to another one. They're all pretty much the same damn thing with just graphical differences. This time, we're greeted with the pro-football, pro-baseball all star BO JACKSON! We all know Bo Jackson. This guy was a legend. I mean he was named the best athlete of all time by ESPN. And he deserves it.

His baseball game though? Meh, not so much. He should have stuck to the real game.

I can't really tell you that any of this review is going to come as a surprise to you. As I said, there's nothing revolutionary in terms of NES baseball games. Hell, it's not even like it is today where you get the same game with a different roster. The rosters weren't even real back in the 8-bit era of sports gaming.

Here we go anyway.....

As with most sport games at the time, you can choose between playing a single exhibition game, or playing through a tournament style playoffs. One thing this game does allow you to do though is to choose how many innings you want to play. From five to nine. i guess this is good if you want to rush through, but I never liked changing the rules, so nine it is.

Once again, there's no licensing for this game so you'll be picking teams by city. New York represent (lets go Mets!). Before the game even starts though, you'll be greeted with some grand anthem singing!

Just look at her go!

In terms of game play, it does give you a wider range of options in terms of batting and pitching than some other baseball games, but they really don't come off as being effective. Maybe I was doing something wrong (which is hard to believe since it's just a baseball game), but nothing ever worked as intended. Still, at least it's interesting to see the options available.

The main problem with this game is that it just feels "off". It's hard to explain, but there's always a delay. From batting to fielding, there's a pause when it switches the camera which becomes really irritating. Even when you're controlling your players, it feels like it takes an extra second to throw the ball or run the bases.

It just didn't feel right, and it didn't play as fluid as some of the other baseball games out there. Even visually, there was a lot of jerky motions in the characters that just irritated me.

I don't know, there's not much to this. It's just another baseball game, with some really groovy tunes playing in the background. I think the one thing I did like about this game, were the voice overs. STRRIIIIIIIIIIKEEE and HE WAS SAFE BY A MILE to say the few were good for some laughs.

Other than that, meh.....play an exhibition game and you've got your fill.

Final Score (out of 5) :

Until next time. Keep on gaming!