NES Challenge - Bases Loaded 3 in 1:40:00 [205/714]
2Great game! This take on baseball I feel was needed in the generic template we were seeing on the NES. Playing a perfect game with no errors in judgement vs just rolling up the score. I understand this was quite decisive at release as fans just wanted to play another season... that idea morphed into EA's bread and butter; look how many people complain about the lack of innovation now and just buying the same game with updated rosters. Just sayin'. Note that I had to stop recording and attempt to restart in the 4th inning toward the end. I was seeing dropped frames in OBS (around 18,000 with 20% frame loss) and I wasn't sure how damaging it was; it appears to be every other frame so gameplay was still fine, but I didn't want to risk 100% frame loss for a chunk of the game. I used the auto-configuration wizard in OBS and everything seems fine now.
The graphics and sound got a bit of an upgrade, but what stood out to me the most was the controls and gameplay in general. I loved not having to worry about playing that tic tac toe game of hitting the ball, but just getting a well timed swing in. Clearly the speedrunners know how to adjust position and swing height, but it was just nice focusing more on defense than offense. That said, there are some cheap ways the game can strike you down, with the three worst being: throws to unmanned base, errors, and picked off. Imagine getting to the 9th inning against that level 5 team and losing points over something out of your control. You can't always see what the AI is doing, so if your pitcher gets a grounder, throws to first and the first baseman isn't there, how is that on you as a player? The errors for a dropped flyball or fast grounder when you can't see your outfielders? The camera should have given you a few feet more of the field to view. Also it can happen if you are in left field, throw to first but the throw is off... you know, the thing you only hit A or Left A and the game determines if you miss the player. Finally the picked off play is absolute garbage when you have no chance to return to base. There can be a line drive right to first baseman's glove and the player is standing on it, so it is an out and an error because you didn't return, but literally couldn't even if you tried at contact. I with they would have allowed more freedom in the perfect play side if you could get a double play or you pick off the game.
I have to note the manual is wrong at some point here. A score of 90 or better is to place you against the level 5 team and a chance to win, but it appears you need 95 or better. This may be a misprint or a change from the Japanese version to US. I didn't look into it.
Regardless, this game was fun and is designed for you to improve as a player. I'm going to place this in the area of 250-350 in the collection for now.