Street Sports Baseball

Street Sports Baseball

Game No.	414
Voting	7.20 points, 20 votes
Developer	Greg Omi
Company	Epyx
Publisher	Epyx
Musician	???
HVSC-File	/GAMES/S-Z/Street_Sports_Baseball.sid
Release	1987
Platform	C64
Genre	Sport, Baseball
Gamemode	Single player 2 players (simultaneous)
Operation
Media
Language
Information	Further games from the "Street Sports" series: Street Sports Basketball Street Sports Soccer Street Sports Football

Description[edit | edit source]

Do not get chosen as last one...

No uniform pulp

The game was relased in 1987 in the rather popular "Street Sports" series by Epyx, in which the different sports baseball, basketball, football and soccer where taken from the big stadiums and put into the neighbourhood of average teenagers.

After having decided for one of the two game fields, you can choose between human opponent or the CPU. Then comes the always exciting part in real life, choosing the members of the team. By a coin thrown, it is decided who is first in choosing the team from the pool of 16 boys and girls. If you want, you can also let the assigment be done randomly, which is definitely faster and can give a buzz to professionals. For each player you get shown a portrait and bit of information that is supposed to facilitate your choice. Now you have to assign a player to a position and select the order of the batters (or accept the corresponding suggestions) and then your are ready to go out on the field!
When you have put together your more or less perfect team by endless "test games", you can also save this line-up so you do not have to do this rather lengthy work again and again.

If you play against the computer you start in the offensive. A short wave with the bat (i.e. a press on the button) signals the "Pitcher", that you are ready and waiting for the throw. The pitcher swings ... throws ... and the battle lasting nine innings against the neighbouring kids can start!

The players do not only differ optically but also concerning their playing abilites there are big differences to be felt. Be it the mere speed, the accuracy, the throwing strength, the catching... for almost every situation there is a master and a lamer. The compiling of the team is therefore an art in itself. The two locations also play differently. Details as tree stumps and trash cans are not only decorative and nice for the eye - if you ever have fallen over a tree stump in real life, you will know that a baseball field is the worst possible place for it.

Design[edit | edit source]

A "Walk" in the Park

The screen is divided into three and offers a good overview. In the upper part you find at the fence all necessary information about the game: the current score, who is batter, in which inning you are and the list of the balls, strikes and outs. In the window at the lower left you see the happening from an isometric perspective, the right window gives you a kind of "radar" view over the whole field. When the next pitch is up, you see the thrower and the bat from the top in this window. You should then concentrate on this view, as the ball is easier to hit.

The players are pleasingly big and designed in many details. The different kids can be distinguished well at any time and they are well animated. After the Epxy-typical title music, the sound is limited to throwing and batting sounds and an occasional hooting during the game.

New Kids on the Block

The beau

The slow sharp shooter

The canon

The reliable

The thrower

The slider

The strong

The allrounder

The flash

The unfocussed

The weak

The semi-pro

The fast train

The catcher

The last choice

The extrasensory

Hints[edit | edit source]

On the parking lot

Controls offense[edit | edit source]

The batter swings the bat when the fire button is pressed. If he hits, then he and all other players move forwards one base. If you want to "steal" a base, you press the fire button. If you let go of the button, the player will walk back to the old base.

Controls defense[edit | edit source]

The pitcher throws the ball when the fire button is pressed. By joystick movements, you influence the trajectory (left + right) and the speed (up + down) of the ball. After a hit by the opponent, the necessary section of the field and the right player are automatically chosen. You catch the ball or respectively pick it up and you can now throw it to one of the four bases with the button + the corresponding direction.

Basic rules[edit | edit source]

A game runs for nine innings, there is no time limit.
If there is a draw after nine innings, more innings are played until the winner is clear.
An inning consists of one offensive and one defensive round of each team.
One round ends after 3 "Outs" and the offensive and defensive sides are swapped.
Only the offensive team can score.
The offensive team has the bat, the defensive team throws.
Points are given when a runner has gone over all four bases and thus reached the home base again.
If the batter misses, this is a "Strike".
After three strikes a new batter takes his turn and you get an "Out".
If the ball hit by the batter is caught by the opponent from the air, this is also an out.
If you are touched by the catchter with the ball before you have reached the rescueing base: out.
If the pitchter hits the batter on the body, all players can go one base further (a "Walk")
If the pitcher throws so that the ball cannot be reached by the batter, the referee gives a "Ball".
Four "Balls" also make a "Walk".

Solution[edit | edit source]

Tips:

Melissa and Radar are a good choice for the own team. Melissa is dangerous as a thrower, but also good as a catcher and also a fast runner. Radar is slightly better everywhere and has the total overview in the field.

Cheats[edit | edit source]

Voting[edit | edit source]

Voting of the C64-Wiki users (10=the best vote):
7.20 points at 20 votes (rank 374). You need to be logged in to cast a vote.
C64Games	7	17th July 2008 - "very good" - 3131 downs
Lemon64	7,4	17th July 2008 - 26 votes
ZZap!64	82%	Issue 9/87
Happy Computer	77%	Games Special 9/87
Kultboy.com	7,67	17th July 2008 - 3 votes

Reviews[edit | edit source]

Rockford: "The game scores by its good appearance and likeable atmosphere. From my point of view it is one of the first games that give a personality to the players of a team sport. With its easy controls it is quickly taught to a friend, but for people without friends too easy. Very little control in batting, punts are not intended in the game. For a baseball match alone I rather stay with Hardball, but in twos it is fun. My vote is therefore the mean of 6 points for the single player mode and 8 points for the game played in twos."

Robotron2084: "4 out of 10 points. I hate baseball and have no friends. Bugger!"

TheRyk: "Picking your team (like once in the schoolyard) from a selection of characters like the not-really-so-skilled dazzler, the superjock or the school beauty is just fun. The game is good as well, actually rather very good. Great visuals and sound. Gameplay is a little tricky at the beginning, but once you got it (normally after one or two games) the AI is not really a challenge anymore, but the 2 player mode is a great solution to this issue. Very good, 7 out of 10!"