Baseball, released for the Famicom and NES, is perfect. Of course I don’t mean that it’s a perfectly realistic simulation of a real life ballgame, or that it’s impossible for any video game to be better than this one. Rather, it’s an accurate simulation of how some sort of omniscient being (that’s you, should you play this) might control a theoretically perfect game of baseball using a Famicom or NES controller.

Within the limited framework of a 4-way D-pad and 2 face buttons, you couldn’t have a greater level of control of the players’ actions without diminishing the genius intuition of the control scheme. When fielding or commanding the runners, the D-pad’s 4 Ds correspond to each of the four bases (with the exception of down corresponding to everyone when choosing runners, which elegantly takes advantage of the absence of a runner on home plate). If I didn’t know any better, I’d argue that the D-pad was designed with this very sport in mind. If I DID know any better, I’d argue that the sport ITSELF was designed with the foresight that an (at the time, theoretical) omniscient puppet master might only have a 4-directional input device at their disposal with which to puppeteer their possessed players. Even the use of the 2 buttons while at bat is similarly suited to the gameplay. The A button, labelled with the alphabet’s introductory character, corresponds to the primary actions of both teams during the batting: swinging the bat, and throwing a pitch. Meanwhile, the B button is used for the secondary actions: advancing a runner, and making the pitcher throw to one of the bases to get that runner out.

To elaborate on what I meant earlier by a “theoretically perfect game of baseball,” the gameplay relies upon the assumption that, whenever you’re not controlling them, every player is performing as perfectly as the laws of physics will allow. There are no errors (a baseball term which refers to a misplay), which relieves you of the hassle of manually controlling actions like catching and fielding. There is no such thing as HPB (hit by pitch, another baseball term), which provides the amusing assumption that the batter is actually Matrix-dodging the ball when it looks like they should be getting hit. There are also no freak accidents such as adverse weather or injuries. Essentially, the game of baseball you play here is always one in which the only mistakes made by its players come from a pitch being thrown too far left or right, or from the batter missing a swing.

Even the aesthetic elements could be described as perfect. Every character and object does its job of unmistakably resembling that which it represents and animating in a way which properly conveys its movement. The only possible exception is the titular ball itself, which I’d say technically still qualifies. It may not contain its signature red threads, but it’s quite rare that you’ll be able to make those out with the naked eye while it’s being used in a real life ballgame anyway.

I’d like to end the review here, but unfortunately it’s time to admit that this game does have a few of what you could consider “flaws.” There’s no rule in place for a Delay of Game, meaning that the pitcher can just stand there eyeing the batter for all eternity. More amusingly, this also means that the basemen and catcher will throw the ball to each other for as long as you’re able to hit the A button while alternating directions on the D-pad. There’s also the way that the crowd flashes rainbow colors every time someone hits a home run. Objectively, this clearly breaks the immersion of being an authentic baseball game, even if subjectively I’d call it an improvement since I would prefer if people in real life flashed bright colors when they witnessed something really cool.

So it may not be perfect, but I’ll salvage my thesis statement with this conclusion: the rating you give to Baseball is more of an assessment of baseball (the sport) than it is for Baseball (the video game). This game is such a blunt adaptation of a sport into a video game that the amount of entertainment you receive is at least the bare minimum enjoyment you possibly could get out of using a Famicom or NES controller to perform divine intervention on a baseball game with theoretically perfect players. As for me, I think baseball’s pretty cool, and that makes Baseball pretty cool too (though I am still riding off the hype of pulling off a grand slam against the Yomiuri Giants while controlling the Hanshin Tigers).

[Played on Retron 5 with the original cartridge]

Nintendo's Baseball is a rather basic interpretation of the sport.

There are no stats. There are no distinct players. There is no customization. There is no fielding control beyond what base you throw to. Pitching is as simple as choosing your throwing speed and your curve. Hitting is as simple as moving your batter and swinging (or pausing mid-swing to bunt). That's essentially everything provided here, so it makes sense that people through the modern lense view this as bare-bones.

Compared to many baseball games of the time, this is pretty outstanding. When viewed against Atari's home run and the offerings on Mattel's Intellevision and Epoch's Casette vision version, this is clearly far ahead. It may not be another level of complexity in comparison, but the game is certainly closer to the physical sport, especially on a visual level.

I think my only gameplay gripe is that of the fielding. I often felt like the ball would go straight through my players and that some would just stop trying to go for the ball even if they were closer than the outfielders. Don't even get me started on how slow they can be. Sure this is kind of a double-edged sword because it can really help you if you're the one batting, but then again I do wish I had some more sense of control in this.

At least I can say that everything else feels fine. I'm really not a big sports game guy, but I can appreciate how approachable this title is. It's just your basic no-nonsense baseball, and that can be kind of problematic in the sense that it's very easily overshadowed, but I can't say this is bad at all.

Sadly, I still don't know if I would call this good either. I appreciate what's here but I would never go out of my way to play this (at least alone). I guess part of that has to do with there being so many other Baseball titles on the NES to choose from, and so many better multiplayer games too. Despite those feelings I have, I can admire what's done here. Considering how cheap this title is, you really don't have a reason to not pick it up (unless you just really hate baseball). Even if you don't like it it's only about a fiver lost, and you should still have plenty of fun with a friend, even if this isn't exactly anything good in the modern day.