GRAPHICS SOUND CONTROL FRUSTRATION FUN FACTOR OVERALL

NES Sports 1-6 Players, 2 Simultaneously Battery Backup There are a plethora of baseball titles on the NES, many of which are aimed toward a fantasy concept of some sort. Culture Brain made one such game when they made Baseball Simulator 1.000. No, there isn't an MLB/MLBPA license. No, the teams and players aren't based on real life. No, the game isn't realistic at all. If you're looking for a hardcore baseball sim, don't play this game. Its purpose is to provide endless fun for you and a group of friends, and it does just that. There are a few modes of play available: Exhibition, Season, Edit, and Watch. An exhibition game can be played between any two teams, and you can play a friend if you so desire. Seasons can vary in length from 5 to 165 games, and are comprised of 6 teams which the players decide upon to make up the "Original League" (or you can just use one of the preset leagues). A season can be played with one to six players, each controlling one team. The developers could have stopped there, but they didn't. Before starting your season, using the Edit mode allows you to adjust every statistic of your team to your liking, within certain limits. For example, you are given 250 fielding points to distribute among your players: you can't just jack everyone's stats up as high as you wish. Managing these statistics during team creation is key, as it will determine how well your team matches up against others. Aside from normal stats, you can also add "ultra powers" to your players. Each batter can have one ultra power, and each pitcher can have up to four. Some powers make the ball like a missle that will take out any fielder in its path, or make the ball zig zag so it's virtually uncatchable. Pitchers can make the ball stop right before it gets to the plate, or make the ball a fireball that breaks the batter's bat every time. Each team is alloted a certain amount of ultra points, and each power takes off a different amount. If you think you can use your ultra powers on every at bat or pitch, think again. If you do, you'll be out of power by the second or third inning. Again, managing your team is important. Your fielders have the ability to do ultra dives, ultra jumps, and ultra throws as well. These can be hard to time, but if done properly they can stop the opposition dead in their tracks. If, after dabbling with the ultra powers, you decide you don't want them, you can play your season without them (which is my preference). The game delivers solid fun either way. During a season, the game tracks stats in realtime. That is, if during the first game of the season one of your batters is 1 for 3 when he steps to the plate, his average will read .333 instead of being blank until the game is completed. The game does track stats, but not some vital ones. Statistics such as runs, strikeouts, and errors, to name a few, go untracked throughout the season. This is a minor gripe, since the game tracks just about everything else you need to know. One gripe about the season mode that I find to be major, however, is the fact that when you skip games between two computer teams it takes anywhere from 5 to 15 minutes to simulate them (I timed various games and got approximately that range). This can be annoying, especially since there can be four or more games between two of yours. That's almost at least half an hour of waiting for numbers to pop up on the scoreboard... not fun. Before I get off on too much of a rant, let's see some scores, shall we? Graphics: The graphics are hard to describe in this game. Everything seems to be colored a little thick, or chalky, or something to that effect. Too many greens and blacks are used, also. This may be a matter of personal preference, though. Other than that, the players are short and fat, but move quickly about the field. The batting animation has enough frames that you can actually tell you're hitting the ball (this is something even some Playstation games lack). All in all they get the job done, while not doing anything spectacular. Sound & Music: The music in the game is catchy and changes to fit the mood. If a pitcher is in a tight spot, urgent music plays. If there's a man in scoring position, upbeat fight music plays. The theme on the title screen and menus is well done, also. The only tune I can't stand is the one while games are being simulated; it's too short, and it sound terrible. The sound effects are so-so; the bat makes a metallic clang when it meets the ball, there's a muffled sound when the ball hits a fielder's mitt, and the umpires voice consists of various tones that resemble the words shown on the screen. Again, nothing spectacular. The music saved this score from being much lower. Gameplay: Where do I begin? The games are fast and fun to play, the computer offers good competition under certain circumstances, it's a blast with two or more players, and it has stat tracking through a season. The only bad part is waiting for the computer to simulate games, and it's VERY hard to get used to. Control is right on, and it's easy to pick up and play. Replay Value: I could play this game forever (or as long as the battery held up). The season mode never gets old, and it's always fun to try different combinations of ultra powers to pummel your friends with. Editing your teams makes for plenty of reasons to come back for repeated seasons. Not much else to say, really. Nostalgia Value: I can remember playing this game with my older cousins when I was about 7 or 8 years old, not knowing what I was really doing, and still having fun when they beat me. I can remember all nighters where we'd play a 30 game season in its entirety. Today when I play with those people it's the same feeling as it was 10 years ago, only now, I beat them *grin*. Realism: It's tough for me to rate this category. If you play without the ultra powers, the game could be passed off as a decent baseball sim. The powers make sense in respect to the game of baseball, and stat tracking is there as well. Also, the stats greatly affect your players' performances during a game. I guess I can't dock it too bad, since it's supposed to have an arcade feel to it. ......BOTTOM LINE: All in all, Baseball Simulator 1.000 is a game that almost anyone can enjoy. The zany ultra powers and stat-tracking keep the game fresh and give reasons to replay. And, it's better than Baseball Stars. -FlowingMindspin