Bases Loaded (video game)

Bases Loaded

Bases Loaded box cover
Developer(s) Jaleco
Tose (NES version)
Publisher(s) Jaleco[1]
Designer(s) Nobukazu Ota (NES version)
Programmer(s) Tetsuji Tanaka (NES version)
Composer(s) Kouji Murata, Akihito Hayashi (NES version)
Platform(s) Arcade, NES, Game Boy, Virtual Console
Release date(s)

Arcade
1987
NES

  • JP June 26, 1987
  • NA July 1988

Game Boy

  • NA July 1990

Virtual Console
Wii

  • JP April 7, 2008
  • NA April 12, 2008

Nintendo 3DS

  • JP May 15, 2013
  • NA July 10, 2014

Wii U

  • NA July 10, 2014
  • JP October 22, 2014
Genre(s) Sports: Baseball
Mode(s) Single-player, Multiplayer

Bases Loaded, known in Japan as Moero!! Pro Yakyuu (燃えろ!!プロ野球 lit. "Burn!! Pro Baseball"), is a baseball video game by Jaleco that was originally released in Japan for the arcades. A version for the Nintendo Entertainment System was released in 1987 in Japan and in 1988 in North America, and a Game Boy port was released in July of 1990. A mobile phone version exists as well. For the Virtual Console, Bases Loaded was released on April 7, 2008 in Japan and on April 12, 2008 in North America for the Wii, at the cost of 500 Wii Points and on May 15, 2013 in Japan and on July 10, 2014 in North America for Nintendo 3DS. The Wii U version in North America (which later released in Japan on October 22, 2014) was also released at the same time as the Nintendo 3DS version. A port by Mebius and Clarice Games for the PlayStation 4 has been announced for a Q4 2015 release in Japan.[2]

The game is the first installment of the Bases Loaded series, followed by seven sequels across three generations of consoles. There are three more video games in the Bases Loaded NES series, Bases Loaded II: Second Season, Bases Loaded 3 and Bases Loaded 4. There was also a Game Boy version of Bases Loaded. The series continued onto the SNES platform with Super Bases Loaded, Super Bases Loaded 2, and Super Bases Loaded 3. The final entry to the series was Bases Loaded '96: Double Header, released for the Sega Saturn and PlayStation.

Bases Loaded is also the first in a series of eight sports Famicom games known in Japan as "Moero!!". This series is all generic sports games. Three of the games were localized in the Western Markets as Bases Loaded, Bases Loaded II: Second Season and Bases Loaded 3, while the basketball game was localized as Hoops, the tennis game as Racket Attack and the soccer game as Goal!. Two titles went unreleased in North America and in the PAL regions.

Gameplay

The game allows the player to control one of 12 teams in either a single game or a full season. For single games, there is also a two-player option.

Bases Loaded featured a unique television-style depiction of the pitcher-batter matchup, as well as strong play control and a relatively high degree of realism, which made it one of the most popular baseball games of the early NES.

One unique feature of the game is that the pitcher can provoke a batter to charge the mound. Each team has only one batter (usually the team's best hitter) who can be provoked in this manner, however; it is up to the player to discover who it is.

At the time Bases Loaded was released, few video games were licensed by North American major league sports. Therefore, the league depicted in Bases Loaded is a fictitious league of twelve teams. They are:

Also noteworthy is the fact that the umpires' names are given. In the Western version, they are as follows:

In the Japanese version, the names shown are the last names of the developers.[4]

Disembodied catcher's mitt

One of the trademark images of the Bases Loaded franchise was the disembodied catcher's mitt, also referred to as the "phantom paw", that would catch pitches that were thrown extremely outside. Developer Heep Sop Choi claims it was programmed to show the catcher making some terrific snatches without any bodily movement.

Reception

Computer Gaming World compared the game disfavorably to Accolade's Hardball, both focusing primarily on the confrontation of pitcher and batter. The review described Bases Loaded's viewpoint behind the pitcher as making it far too difficult to discern the position of, and subsequently hit, the ball. Other annoyances during gameplay, such as the inability to see where outfielders were before the ball got to them, were contrasted against the game's good graphics and animation.[5]

References

  1. "Bases Loaded". The International Arcade Museum. Retrieved 13 Oct 2013.
  2. http://gematsu.com/2015/07/bases-loaded-announced-ps4
  3. Sulpher, Brian (October 2007). "Bases Loaded FAQs | GameFAQs.com".
  4. http://www.vgmpf.com/Wiki/images/8/84/Moero%21%21_Pro_Yakyuu_-_FC_-_Scoreboard.png
  5. Kunkel, Bill (December 1988). "Video Gaming World: Batter Up!". Computer Gaming World. pp. 64–65

External links

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