The Sporting News Baseball (SNES)

Pub: Hudson | Dev: Now Production | June 1995 | 12 MEGS
Pub: Hudson Soft | Dev: Now Production | June 1995 | 12 MEGS

Yesterday marked the official end of Major League Baseball’s 2019 season. It was the last day of ball for 20 MLB teams. Now 10 teams have emerged victorious and are prepping to do battle in the postseason. My team of choice, the Oakland A’s, will be taking on the Tampa Bay Rays on Wednesday, October 2nd. As an A’s fan for most of my life, I’ve witnessed some epic choking. Sadly, there’s a reason why they’re known as the Chokeland A’s. They make the playoffs fairly consistently but never quite make it far. Hopefully things turn around come Wednesday. At any rate, as I gear up for the big game, it made me think of an old obscure SNES baseball game that my brother and I enjoyed playing back in the day. I recently played it again after not doing so for over 20 years. Much to my pleasant surprise, it’s still a fun little baseball game even nearly 25 years on.

Brutal :
Brutal :(

EDIT: October 2, 2019. DAMN. The A’s just dropped the Wild Card game 5-1 to the Rays. The A’s are now 0-9 in elimination games, setting a MLB record. Damn. Feels like they’re cursed. But that’s baseball. There’s always next year!

A FIELD OF DREAMS

SNBBall12

In the summer of 1995, my brother had me rent The Sporting News Baseball. We both grew up baseball fanatics. I’ve been a fan of the game ever since my 5th grade class went to a ball game in 1994. The Sporting News Baseball isn’t the most refined baseball game on the SNES, but one thing it definitely had going for it was being able to play on that magical cornfield featured in Field of Dreams. Although I had yet to see the movie at that time, I knew it was an iconic field and it absolutely captivated my imagination. My bro and I played on that field every chance we got. There’s something truly magical about launching one deep into the corn stalks on a starlit night.

MLB LICENSE

Mode 7 Madness
Mode 7 madness :P

SNBBall1

Back in the ’90s, there weren’t too many MLB licensed games. But this one had the real players and the real teams. It was always nice when you ran across a baseball game featuring the real deal.

The Sporting News POWER Baseball
The Sporting News POWER Baseball

This game came out in Japan originally as Super Power League, so perhaps Hudson Soft forgot to remove the Power there from the title screen.

The Iron Man himself, Cal Ripken Jr.
The Iron Man himself
Typical modes of play
Typical modes of play
Up to 4 players can partake
Up to 4 players can partake
Adjust the roster as you wish
Adjust the roster as you wish
Only 3 ballparks, sadly
Sadly only 3 ballparks
At least you get night options
At least you get a night option
Dome with artificial turf
Dome with artificial turf
The best ballpark, hands down
The best ballpark, hands down
Majestic at night
Even better at night. Majestic
Players are huge!
Players are huge!
Swung at a pitch in the dirt
Swung at a bad pitch in the dirt
*Glaring intensifies*
*Glaring intensifies*
Dont let the ball get to the corn
Love that cornfield
Grabbing the ball or taking a dump
“Shouldn’t have ate that burrito…”
The ball cant roll into the cornfield
Ball can’t roll into the cornfield
Déjà vu
Déjà vu
Whew, close but no cigar
Whew, close but no cigar
OUT!
OUT!
SAFE!
SAFE!
As take the early lead
A’s take the early lead
Uh oh...
Uh oh…

Matt Williams puts a charge into that baseball as he launches it high into that starry night. The irony? Matt Williams, most well known for his Giants stint during his playing days, is now the Oakland Athletics’ 3rd base coach. You can’t make this stuff up. Such is life. Such is life.

Will it fall short?
Will it fall short?
I GOT IT I GOT IT I GOT IT!
“I GOT IT, I GOT IT, I GOT IT!”
Nevermind...
Nevermind… my bad y’all
The Giants tie it 2-2
The Giants tie it 2-2
Love how they give "the finger"
Love how they sorta give the bird
Or at least kind of :P
Best home run trot ever
The As grab the lead right back
The A’s grab the lead right back
Good eye, Brosius!
Good eye, Brosius!
Bases loaded walk, baby
Bases loaded walk, baby
4-2 As
4-2 A’s
BIG MAC!
BIG MAC!
Doing what Mac does
Doing what Big Mac does best
583 career home runs to his name
583 career home runs
He hits it high, he hits it deep!
Blasted into that majestic night
Good luck catching that, pal
Good luck catching that, buddy
Way back in the cornfield
Way back in the cornfield
Deep into the night
Deep into the night
Talk about crushing it
Talk about crushing it
Screw ya, pal!
“Screw ya, pal!”
Look at my big boy helmet!
Look at his big boy helmet :P
"HE HITS IT HIGH!"
“HE HITS IT HIGH!”
"HE HITS IT DEEP! -Ish..."
“HE HITS IT DEEP! -ish…”
Love when it barely clears
Love when it barely clears
Mike F'N Bordick of all people
Mike F’N Bordick of all people
"UP YOURS, MAN!"
“UP YOURS, MAN!”
The previous ABs are a nice touch
Damn he almost got the cycle

Results for previous at-bats are cited, which makes for a nice touch.

Bleacher just like the movie
Bleacher just like from the movie
Love the accuracy
Love the attention to detail there
Home Run Derby's a lot of fun
Home Run Derby is a lot of fun
Pick from ANY player
Pick from ANY player
Nice for a lazy Sunday afternoon
Nice for a lazy Sunday afternoon
"Oooooh yeeeeeah!"
“Oooooh yeeeeeah!”
Love the night time
Love the night time
Aim for the windows!
Aim for the windows!
Pitcher be like "Fuck this!"
Pitcher be like “Fuck this!”
Ball heading for the building
Ball heading for the building
Then disappears. What a moon shot
What a majestic moon shot
White Bread? I rather be macho man
The 100 pitches go by fast

SNBBall61

I love how the camera pans down to give you the full scope. The Field of Dreams ballpark at night in particular is simply majestic.

Talk about a serene evening
Talk about a serene evening
Time to let it rip!
Time to let it rip!
The ball soars into the night
Watch the ball soar into the night
Love the center field HRs best
Center field home runs are best
You get to see everything
Brings out your inner child :)
So damn satisfying
So damn satisfying
All night!
All night, son. All night!
Games can range from 20-25 minutes...
Games can range from 20-25 minutes…
Or 45+. It all depends on the amount of offense
… to even 45+. It all depends on the amount of offense
I like the blurbs :P
Uh, the National League won so… :P
What a game this was
What a comeback win this was
Now there's a choke job for the National League
Now there’s a choke job for the National League
Love that you can edit your own All Star team
Love that you can edit your own All Star team

CLOSING THOUGHTS

If you build it, he will come
“GO THE DISTANCE.”

My brother and I had more than our fair share of fun with The Sporting News Baseball back in the mid ’90s. Having played it recently in late 2018, I’m happy to say that for me at least, it’s held up pretty well. Granted, you’re probably not going to play this over the better baseball games available, but there is a quirky charm to this game. It’s definitely the cornfield — who doesn’t want to play a ball game on the iconic Field of Dreams cornfield? It just takes me to a happy place and makes Sporting News Baseball, at the very least, a notable effort. Speaking of which, it’s also the only 4-player baseball game on the Super Nintendo. Real players and teams, and plenty of editing options, round out the package. Unfortunately, there are only 3 ball parks to choose from. But in its defense, when you got the cornfield option, there could be 100 different ball parks to select from and I’d still pick the cornfield one 99 times out of 100. If you’re into old school 16-bit baseball games and you love Field of Dreams, Sporting News Baseball will likely entertain you enough for a few hours. It’s no Ken Griffey Jr. but what is? This certainly isn’t the worst alternative out there.

FoDBaseball19

Graphics: 6.5
Sound: 6.5
Gameplay: 6.5
Longevity: 6.5

Overall: 6.5

Timeless!
Timeless!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <strike> <strong>