Unsung Video Games MLB.com Forgot

Earlier this month, MLB.com put together a list of what it believes to be the top 10 baseball video games of all time. This list had the usual suspects like MVP Baseball 2005, Ken Griffey Jr. Baseball, R.B.I. Baseball (NES version) and Baseball Stars.

However, some other video games on MLB.com’s list raised some eyebrows — meaning mine. Base Wars wasn’t really mentioned over the years in terms of best baseball video games, but it made the list. Triple Play Baseball, a game I absolutely love, was deemed inferior to PS1’s MLB series (before it became The Show). Out of the Park Baseball is great for aspiring general managers, or at least those who want to be in their shoes, but putting that on the list is the equivalent of putting EA Sports’ NFL Head Coach game on the list of greatest football video games of all time.

So while this list is okay for its designed purpose of sparking discussion, I decided to contribute a list of my own. These aren’t necessarily the best baseball video games, but they’re unsung ones that deserve some recognition. Some are more fun than the ones on MLB.com’s list. Some are more detailed. However, all of them should be acknowledged.

Bases Loaded (1988)

While it’s not necessarily the best game in the series (Bases Loaded 2 is better), it deserves to be recognized for introducing America to one of the greatest virtual athletes ever. That’s right, I’m talking about Paste. Paste had the power, the batting average and OPS to match up with any of today’s players. He would have fit in perfectly in the steroid era and quite possibly would have been caught with PEDs himself. But other elements of the game make it worthy of recognition. It was one of the first video games to feature a camera angle behind the pitcher, it included brawls, and the umpire occasionally insulted your batting approach. 

Super Baseball 2020 (1991)

If you’re going to mention Base Wars, you have to mention Super Baseball 2020. A take on what many in the 20th century thought the 21st century would be like, the game played like a normal baseball game with a few caveats. Robots. Lots and lots of robots. The game also had human players, but they were dressed up in so much armor they might as well have been robots. You could make money via strikeouts, defensive plays, and grand slams. The game also included landmines in the outfield that would send a fielder flying up in the air, leaving him shaken for a bit once he came down. All hail Cyber Egg Stadium.

Sports Talk Baseball (1991)

You have to include the first baseball game to have “live play-by-play” right? While the broadcast might have its faults, the game was easy for casuals to pick up and play ,and since it had the MLB Players Association license, you could play as your favorite team (unless your favorite team includes Bobby Bonilla and a past-his-prime Willie Randolph…#LGM). The game had three stadiums you could play in and could easily draw you into a marathon day of play. Even the nine-inning games played quickly so you could get in as many games a possible. For all of that, it deserves inclusion on this list. 

World Series Baseball (1993)

This Sega Genesis exclusive had the players union license, the league license, real stadiums, and one of the greatest video game commercials of all time. As for the game itself, it chose to have a catcher’s-eye view of the action in lieu of the traditional behind-the-pitcher/above-the-catcher approach. The game also included the same play-by-play that could be found in Sports Talk Baseball. And while you wouldn’t be able to make trades until the next version of the game, you were able to play full seasons and have a pennant race. The downside to the game is that it’s really slow and sometimes boring (in that instance, it might be the perfect baseball video game), but for its attention to detail, it should be acknowledged.

All-Star Baseball 2004-’05

I’ve written about All-Star Baseball 2004 & 2005 for THT before, and I’m writing about it again. The attention to detail in these two games rivals — and sometimes supersedes — the much-lauded and more popular MVP franchise. 

The game had a mode in which you could pick players and play in a sandlot or a city park. It had expansion teams with pre-designed new stadiums. It had classic stadiums that even MLB The Show doesn’t have (shout out to Ebbets Field, Riverfront Stadium and Olympic Stadium). It had a mode that allowed you to alter moments in major league history. The stadiums were better detailed than MVP’s designs, and the fake Barry Bonds (Wes Mailman) was a worthy rival for MVP’s Jon Dowd. The game (and the franchise overall) was ahead of its time and MLB The Show is still playing catch-up to some of its ideas.

Quick mentions:

Two arcade baseball video games that need to be noted are Bottom of the Ninth and Relief Pitcher. Bottom of the Ninth was simply a fun game to pump quarters into, and good baseball arcade games are hard to find. It also had split-screen action where you could see the action of the field along with closeups of the actual play happening simultaneously.

As for the latter, it needs to be mentioned specifically because of its innovative game play. Long before the days when you could just make yourself a relief pitcher/closer in MLB The Show’s Road to the Show mode, Relief Pitcher presented scenarios in which your pitcher had to get out of jams. Yes, you could be a starting pitcher in the game, but you could also play a 12-game season in which the relief pitcher would come into a situation with two runners on base with one out, or bases loaded and no outs, and be expected to give up as few runs as possible. The concept was perfect for arcade play and kept up the excitement as you waited to play Punch Out! or something.

All of these video games contributed to the timeline of baseball video game history and left their marks on us in one way or another. Other “popular” games might get all of the shine, but let’s shed a little light over here as well.

References & Resources

• 10 Greatest Baseball Games Ever Made (MLB.com)
• World Series Baseball (Sega Genesis / Mega Drive) – Retro Video Game Commercial / Ad (YouTube.com)
• World Series baseball-sega genesis (YouTube.com)
• Best Baseball Video Games (Ranker.com)
• History of Baseball Video Games #10 – Bases Loaded (Giantbomb.com)
• NFL Head Coach (Playstation.com)
• Sports Talk Baseball (Genesis) Playthrough – NintendoComplete (Youtube.com)
• Bases Loaded (NES) Brawl (Youtube.com)
• Tribute to Paste, Star of Bases Loaded (Youtube.com)
• Super Baseball 2020 (Genesis) (Youtube.com)
• Bottom of the Ninth (Arcade) (Youtube.com)
• RELIEF PITCHER – 8 mile arcade stand-up cabinet video game (Youtube.com)
• Looking Back at “All-Star Baseball’s” Ballpark Prognostications (tht.fangraphs.com)