CS.net Features
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Written by Scott Hemphill
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Sunday, 27 January 2008 |
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# 7 Baseball Stars
Nintendo 8 Bit NES
SNK
1989 Baseball Stars was one of those transcendant sports video games. Saying it was ahead of its time would be an understatement. In 1989 we got a glimpse of what we now would call "In season franchise building"... which has recently become a standard in both EA and 2K's games. You see, not only did Baseball Stars play a fun, fast paced game of baseball, but your team also made money that could be used to "buy" skills for various players. These skills included better pitches, better fielding rating, better bat power... you name it. The game was highly addictive and fast-paced. It was by no means a sim, but it did track stats and player progression like the simulations of today.
Despite its advanced "Season Sports RPG" approach, the game never took itself to seriously (a hallmark of Japanese sports games, not unlike the game MLB Power Pros today). Even the "teams" in Baseball Stars didn't have "serious" names. Who could forget the American Dreams, the Ninja BlackSox, Brave Warriors, Japan Robins, World Powers, Ghastly Ghouls, Lovely Ladies (an all-women's team), and SNK Crushers.
The actual "fast and fun" gameply of Baseball Stars would later go on to influence arcade-like experiences such as Nintendo's own Ken Griffey Jr. Baseball, but the underlying player development features and "player building" that Baseball Stars pioneered would obviously influence such future modes of play as franchises with training camps (that give player attributes a push), owner mode, and other sports rpg elements such as "Superstar Mode".
We have Baseball Stars to thank for pioneering the early phases of those modes. A true classic.
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Written by Scott Hemphill
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Sunday, 20 January 2008 |
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# 8 Dr. J & Larry Bird Go One on One Atari 7800/Commodore 64 Electronic Arts
C64-1984/Atari 7800- 1986 One of the first products from a newly founded Electronic Arts, designed by company creator Trip Hawkins and programmed by Eric Hammond. This was also the first computer game with celebrity endorsements. The concept was created by Hawkins based on his recollections of the 60's era "One on One" televised sports contests, sponsored by hair tonic Vitalis. In 1984 his game became a smash hit on the Commodore 64, and in 1986, the game was enhanced a bit and ported over to the Atari 7800 system. (The then "new" Atari that was backward compatable with the Atari 2600 games.) Many Atari 7800 owners remember it as "the only reason to own a 7800"... which says alot about "One on One"...but also alot about how bad the 7800 game support was. In the mid 1980s, nobody had heard of "Electronic Arts"- but their visionary founder Trip Hawkins had this idea about sports games where players had their real names and likenesses and had their real-life abilities. At the time, the technology wouldn't allow five on five basketball with that kind of lofty goal in mind, but EA's first foray into that "experimental" realm of "sim" sports video games was the excellent "One on One" basketball with Dr. J and Larry Bird. The game featured only those two players, but each player was modeled with their real-life abilities (or as close to their real-life abilities as early to mid 1980s technology would allow.) Their were programmed hot and cold spots for each of the respective palyers, shooting percentages, outside shooting ratings (which Bird excelled in) while Dr. J had a better drive to the basket and better dunking ability. The game was rich with basketaball fundamentals, and good defense is rewarded in the game. You couldn't just get in close and dunk, and body positioning on defense was key to everything, as well as boxing out for rebounds, etc. The game was simply remarkable, and in terms of two player matchups, it couldn't be beat. There were also other game modes like Horse, and their wore "loser gets ball" and "winner keeps ball" settings just like on the playground. You could even occasionally break the backboard, and a janitor would come out and sweep the glass away. In short, EA's first foray into simming actual athletes was a big success on multiple systems. Why is it influential?:
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Last Updated ( Monday, 21 January 2008 )
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Written by Scott Hemphill
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Sunday, 13 January 2008 |
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# 9 World Series Baseball
16 Bit Sega Genesis
Sega Sports 1994  Before World Series Baseball by Sega, baseball video games were essentially in a 2D "stone age". Some of you might remember the old "RBI Baseball" series by Tengen, as well as most 8 bit baseball games. Now, to be fair to 8 bit "Bases Loaded" for NES, it "almost" advanced the pitcher/batter duel into the modern age of "simulated 3D"...but all you had to do was follow the catcher's mitt to hit the location where the ball would arrive (since it was a "behind the pitcher view). Bases Loaded stopped short of the next "logical step" in simulated batting/pitching.
However, World Series Baseball by Sega took the "behind the catcher" batting view and directional hitting idea and made it into reality (or...virtual reality). WSB was an immensely playable licensed baseball game with the most remarkable 3D batting/directional hitting interface of its day. It influenced most future baseball games and their hitting (particularly EA's "MVP Baseball Series").
WSB also had several optional types of batting cursors that were varying in size to simulate the ability of a given hitter and their contact area. This gave extremely "sim" results that - until that day- were only possible by using mostly "stat driven" games such as Tony LaRussa Baseball.
Even today, I contend that my biggest gripe about 2K's MLB Baseball series is that it doesn't have directional/3D hitting- something introduced 14 years ago in World Series Baseball, which- unsurprisingly- is a core component of EA's MVP Series and Sony's "The Show" series. Its even present in the more cartoony "MLB Power Pros".
..But we have World Series Baseball to thank for that.
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Written by Scott Hemphill
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Wednesday, 09 January 2008 |
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Over the next ten weeks, we are going to feature a countdown of the top 10 most influential games of all time as judged by Consolesports.net. This week, we are kicking off with... #10 Tecmo Bowl
Tecmo Bowl
Nintendo Entertainment System
1987
Why is it influential? Well, that's simple. Before Tecmo Bowl, there were practically no licensed sports games of any kind featuring real athletes. More importantly, sports video games featured teams and players that had no ratings, varied skills and/or abilities. The step that Tecmo took may seem like a "baby step" by today's standards, but few sports game releases could set the trend that Tecmo did. It almost single handedly created the "sim" genre..or any hopes of even having such a thing. Sure, we look back at how arcadey it was 21 years later, but going from console sports teams that had no differences other than team colors...to Tecmo, which featured Dan Marino's quick release, Joe Montana's accuracy, Bo Jackson's legs, and Lawrence Taylor's rush.... and you can easily see why this game is simply legendary. This was the first must have for NFL fans who owned an 8 bit NES. And- it was one hell of a lot of fun. A true classic, but merely a stepping stone for Tecmo Inc, which eventually would shock the world of sports gaming 3 years after Tecmo Bowl was released... but that's another story.
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Last Updated ( Saturday, 12 January 2008 )
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