Bases Loaded (NES)

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Herschie1
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Joined: December 31st, 1969, 7:00 pm

Bases Loaded (NES)

Postby Herschie1 » February 18th, 2015, 5:26 pm

Hell yeah! Remember when MLB: The Show boasted about how you can take your game between the PS3/PS4 and the Vita? Well, guess what? Thanks to Virtual Console and the password system, I can transfer my Bases Loaded season between the Wii U and 3DS. Awesome!

Oh, but we're talking about the NES game, right? THE baseball game to have when I was in the first grade. Yep, that one. Oh, how this game is a joy to play! From the first time that I played it until now, I've enjoyed every minute of it. From the gameplay to the graphics, this game has baseball down right.

Graphically, the game looks like your pleasant peaceful sunny day in the middle of summer. Each team has their different uniforms, and you can even see the numbers on the back of the pitchers! Back in 1988, that was a big deal. The scoreboard is shown nicely, and really gives a complete picture of the game, as well as the lineups for each of the teams. 

The sound is fantastic too. My friends and I all wanted that "talking baseball" game when we first heard of this. All the talking really consists of is the umpire calling balls, strikes, and outs. Oh, and "play ball". There's also an easter egg where if you strike out with the bases loaded, before the umpire says "yer out", you hear "you bum!". Happened to me for the first time last night.

The music is also quite memorable. Often I'll put it on the background while I play The Show. Because, you know, having a life is overrated. Also cool is how the music changes when runners are in scoring position. I call this the "oh, crap" music, because usually it's the other team's runners on base. 

Oh, this was an awesome game. And it has stood the test of time. Whether my friends and I were having a glass of applejuice back then or a bottle of beer playing this game now, we enjoy it just as much. 

Tron1
Posts: 401
Joined: December 31st, 1969, 7:00 pm

Bases Loaded (NES)

Postby Tron1 » February 22nd, 2015, 1:27 am

I don't put a whole lot stock into music in video games, but even I appreciated the awesome tunes in Bases Loaded. For a very short time Bases Loaded was the best baseball on the NES, but once Baseball Stars came out in 1989 it remained the best.

Boston was my favorite team, what's was yours?

FinalLapTwinkie1
Posts: 175
Joined: December 31st, 1969, 7:00 pm

Bases Loaded (NES)

Postby FinalLapTwinkie1 » February 22nd, 2015, 4:44 am

Can't argue with either game. Both are fun and easy to jump right in and play.

Herschie
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Re: Bases Loaded (NES)

Postby Herschie » July 18th, 2018, 5:55 pm

Tron1 wrote:
Boston was my favorite team, what's was yours?


Boston as well. Norkus was an absolute beast. Back when I was a kid, I called him "Norkus Dorkus", which for some reason my neighbor got a kick out of.

Yesterday we had a real estate agent tour our townhouse that we're getting ready to sell. He mentioned how he worked for the Cubs in 2016, and we referenced the home run scene when talking about Clayton Kershaw's reaction to giving up that dinger to Rizzo during Game 6 of the NLCS.

Everybody loved Bases Loaded!

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Matchstick
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Re: Bases Loaded (NES)

Postby Matchstick » July 18th, 2018, 8:41 pm

Tron1 wrote:Boston was my favorite team, what's was yours?


Jersey. Paste all day, baby!!

When I would play this game with my buds, using New Jersey was almost like a cheat code. I remember that their pitches weren't the best, the in the hands of an actual second player, it didn't matter. Their batters, though - geez! As if Paste wasn't enough, Bay, who batted behind him, was almost just a good!

If we wanted a "fair" game, nobody was allowed to pick Jersey. Similar to Tecmo Bowl, nobody could pick the Raiders or the Niners. Although a buddy of mine who always played with Cleveland was a little *too* good at picking off passes...

Herschie
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Re: Bases Loaded (NES)

Postby Herschie » July 18th, 2018, 9:40 pm

Matchstick wrote:
Tron1 wrote:Boston was my favorite team, what's was yours?


If we wanted a "fair" game, nobody was allowed to pick Jersey. Similar to Tecmo Bowl, nobody could pick the Raiders or the Niners. Although a buddy of mine who always played with Cleveland was a little *too* good at picking off passes...


From what I understand, in most Tecmo Super Bowl tournaments, one player gets to choose the teams, and the other gets to choose which of those two teams they want. So the first person would be wise to choose two evenly matched teams. Otherwise, say you chose Patriots vs. Raiders, well, you're going to end up losing badly as the Pats, because odds are your opponent will choose Los Angeles. The league was much different back then, the Raiders went to the AFC Championship Game, while the Patriots had a sex-scandal ridden 1-15 season.

Imagine if Bases Loaded was endorsed by Major League Baseball!

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Matchstick
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Re: Bases Loaded (NES)

Postby Matchstick » July 19th, 2018, 12:19 am

Herschie wrote:Imagine if Bases Loaded was endorsed by Major League Baseball!


Indeed. I remember that's why a lot of people flocked to RBI Baseball back in the day.

I think The Critic more or less nailed it in his reviews of the series, that the original Bases Loaded was one of those games that "got it right" the first time. My neighbor growing up got The Second Season for Xmas one year, and let me have his copy of the original game once he did. Within a month or so, he wanted it back! He wound up letting me have The Second Season, instead, on the condition that I didn't tell his Mom (or mine) about it.

Oh, to be a kid again ^_^

I was happy to just have a baseball game for my NES, and liked both games about the same. As time went on, though, none of my friends would be caught dead playing any Bases Loaded title other than the original. Another buddy had RBI Baseball, so both games got equal play time when a group of us got together.

I tried in vain to get the fellas hooked on my favorite NES sports title, Blades of Steel, to no avail. Nobody wanted to touch Double Dribble or Jordan vs. Bird, either. It was either Loaded, RBI, or Tecmo Bowl (and eventually Super Bowl) which, looking back on it now, wasn't a bad way to go. At all.

Tron
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Re: Bases Loaded (NES)

Postby Tron » July 22nd, 2018, 5:25 pm

I remember Paste and Norkus like old friends of mine. Freida had better stats, but I think Norkus was better. Surprised that Jersey was considered the best. I’d take Boston all day

Herschie
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Re: Bases Loaded (NES)

Postby Herschie » February 16th, 2021, 2:08 am

I recently fired this up to compare this to Reggie Jackson Baseball on the Master System. You know both games really bring back that feeling of baseball in the late 80s. Of course I can't be the Cubs, and even worse I don't get a picture of Don Zimmer when I select my team or Whitey Herzog when I face St. Louis. Oh well.

But yeah, it's funny the memories this brings back. I actually played this in 1988, unlike Reggie Jackson Baseball, since my friend who had the Master System wasn't really into sports. And I can still smell my leather mitt I would use as my friends and I went outside and I would try to imitate some of these player's motions. Everyone thought I was weird and a few asked what the heck I was doing. Hey, the past wasn't all roses!

goldenband
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Re: Bases Loaded (NES)

Postby goldenband » February 16th, 2021, 3:24 pm

When playing against the CPU, Jersey is definitely the team of choice since you can throw pitches with Hall that the CPU can never hit, both before and after he gets fatigued. I recently played through a full 80-game season and the only time the CPU scored a run against me is if I spaced out and forgot to pitch properly and they hit a solo home run. :P I threw 70+ no-hitters out of 80 games.

That said I played as Boston as a kid, and kinda feel like I should go back and replay it someday with Boston instead. That's the problem with Bases Loaded in 1P mode, though -- it goes on much, much too long. There should've been a short season option, as 80 games is just too much to require (at least it's not 162...).

By the way I don't understand why Paste gets all the rep. In my playthrough, it was Bay that was an absolute beast. Even when I intentionally check-swung he still sometimes got home runs "by accident"! Practically everything he hits takes off like a rocket, and he was good for a home run in almost every game. Paste by contrast was just good, not spectacular.


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