Baseball Stars Pro

Well well well, if it's isn't Baseball Stars Profesional. So I've had this game forever. I'm not sure why exactly... I never play it. If it's a baseball mood I'm in, its Baseball Star Pro 2 for sure, and if I'm feeling frisky perhaps Baseball 2020. It's not worth much cash so I 've never bothered to sell it. In any event, now with the "The Great Neo Geo Project of 2012" underway I can finally learn all about what I've been missing since I was 13.. to the review!

Let's talk visuals. To understand Baseball Stars Profesional it's important to understand where it came from. There are 4 games in the series, 2 on the NES (BBS and BBS2) and 2 on the Neo Geo (BBSP, BBSP2). Check the visuals...

Baseball Stars (NES)

Baseball Stars 2 (NES)

Baseball Stars Profesional (NEO GEO)

Baseball Stars Profesional 2 (NEO GEO)

Ok so now you know the deal. Visually, yes, BBSP is better then it's 2 8-Bit predecessors but as you can see, it's a far cry from the glory that is BBSP2. Though it's one of the first NEO GEO games so I can give it a pass, and it's not like we are talking about the visual suck-fest of "Legend of Success Joe"...

Now let's talk gameplay. This is where the game really shines like a fresh turd in the hot summer sun. It's hard to explain just how screwy the mechanics of this game are. It's odd since the gameplay on BBS2(NES) is quite solid. It's like when they upgraded the graphics they decided to rework everything else to a tragic result. It's unbelievably easy to hit the ball and there is not really any specific skill to be applied to the pitching in the game. Those aspects aside, it's the fielding where things really go off the cliff. The game has a amazingly annoying habit of locking fielders to a base even when the ball is hit in their general direction. The result is you often have to use the next closest player to get the ball, and unless your lucky, you are often not close enough. It's also very hard to see where your players are in relation to the ball, until it's to late. The runners are also very quick so even an infield roller is often an easy single. 

I could go on but I'll resist. Needless to say this game blows. There is really little beyond a pretty snappy soundtrack to point to as a positive. Oh did I mention that there are 16 teams and each one has different skills but there is no real way to tell what said skills are? In any event I did play through the 4 games it takes to complete the season/tournament mode and I'm glad I did. If this experience results in one positive I can say I've done it and I never will again.