Baseball Game review

Ok, let’s get one thing straight right away: even though I am from Sweden, I know what baseball is. Baseball Game by Global Net Value is not really a baseball game. It is more a batting and pitching game/simulator. There is no fielding; there are only two players on the pitch, the pitcher and the batter. To me, a baseball game has to contain fielding, stat development and season play. Just pitching and batting isn’t really fun in my opinion. I do enjoy home run derbies, but you can’t choose not to pitch in Baseball Game. This removes even the simple fun of batting like crazy.

You have two sets of controls to choose from: tilt and touch. I say this right away, tilt doesn’t work. Pitching by tilt is ok, as you shake to throw. Even though you can’t really aim, the pitch still goes within the aiming reticule. The batting with tilt, on the other hand, does not work. Shaking your phone while trying to see a tiny white ball is impossible. The touch controls work way better with just tapping where you want to hit. Pitches have to be set up with the kind of throw and aim before you swipe to throw.

It all resembles the Wii Sports baseball game.  On the Wii, it worked well, especially played against a mate. In Baseball Game, it only becomes tedious. I really hope the developers add season and all other parts you expect out of a baseball game. As it plays now, it is more of a tech demo for pitching and batting than a true baseball game.

Presentation & Graphics

The stadium and pitch looks good and it runs smoothly. The pitcher and batter looks good by themselves but feels a bit like cardboard cut-outs against the background. It is also really hard to tell whether the batter hits the ball or not, you will only know by the game telling you where the ball went.(strike, ball, foul ball, single, double, home run) Animations are ok. Boring menu and the only thing you can change are the uniforms.

Sound

No music just sounds of pitching/batting and the odd cheer from the crowd. You can play your own iPod music and keep the sound effects.

Gameplay

When played with touch controls it can be quite fun batting while I still find the pitching a bit tedious. Not much to do in the game and it feels a bit random whether you do a good hit or not.

Gamelife

No statistics, no season play, no high score leader board, no achievements, no unlockables.

Game Rating

Not worth the price of $3.99 as it plays now. Simply missing too much to be considered a baseball game. As as it doesn’t track any statistics it isn’t really good as a pitching/batting simulation either.

Baseball Game $3.99