Is Bad News Baseball Worth Playing Today? - SNESdrunk

[@WendeXTX]

To be honest I like it when you cover sports games, They tend to be forgotten, especially when you started getting official licenses and yearly releases.

[@esmerylan]

Exactly, the sports games of the NES and SNES eras were a lot more interesting because there was so much more variety and occasional weirdness. It wasn't like today where you've got basically two companies making every sports game and they're all going for realism.

[@alritedave]

Yeah, I like (old) sports games lol.

[@jonathanturbide2232]

Saying that sports games "tend to be forgotten" is an exaggeration, if a game is really that good there's no way it will be forgotten no matter if it's a sports game or not.

[@Blas4ublasphemy]

@@esmerylan There's still some great ones like Everybody's Golf and Rocket League. I'd love another Fight Night like Rd. 2 or SSX like Tricky!

[@Blas4ublasphemy]

@@alritedave I still enjoy Hit the Ice, Wayne Gretzky 3D Hockey, NHL Hitz, Baseball Stars, NFL Blitz, Street Hoop, Hyper Games, 1080, Track and Field, Windjammer...

[@Fio8os]

Bad News Baseball is on the shortlist of yearly playthroughs for me. It was the only NES baseball game I could get my dad to play with me as as kid.

[@zkarekrow83]

I completely understand you, the same exact thing happened with me and my dad.

[@popeye5274]

My dad played Bases Loaded with me. Good times!

[@motbus3]

I'm happy that SNES drunk has been very active lately. I had some rough days this week and at least I can stop everything for 5 minutes and have a good moment despite all the mess around. So thank you 🙇

[@SJReid82]

Literally my favorite baseball game for NES. Striking a guy out and having him wail on home plate with the bat is always hilarious.

[@PaleHorseShabuShabu]

Thanks for saying this is literally your favorite baseball game. Otherwise I would have assumed you meant figuratively.

[@DentronicCD]

"Animal" from the Road Warriors is a Rex Beat cameo from Tecmo World Wrestling. His likeness was totally based on the Road Warriors though.

[@BillyReplies]

This is absolutely the BEST baseball game on Nintendo. While the cartoon graphics and cutaways are fantastic, the actual responsive game play feels so smooth and easy. As little leaguers, when we weren't outside with our gloves, my brother and my friends and I played thousands of hours on this game. This game is a HOMERUN! Been waiting for this review for a while : )

[@pfromdapab]

Better than Basewars!? I don’t think so

[@BillyReplies]

@@pfromdapab While my brother and I also owned a copy of Basewars, it did not get but a fraction of the screentime of Bad News Baseball. I think Basewars was a really fun game, but the novelty would run off pretty quickly sometimes. Also, playing against the computer was IMPOSSIBLE.

[@boinkermcdoinker]

So true, have played hundreds of games of this. Setting lineup and positions is crucial, tough but fair fielding, pitching, and batting. Easy 10/10

[@alessandrorossi1294]

This was one of my favorite games as a kid! I loved the music humor and animations!

[@goatlll]

O man I almost never get to talk about this game, so I'm glad to see a review on it. A few things: This is one the first games I have recorded gameplay of. Back when we got our first VCR I was learning about daisy chains for inputs, and that made me try recording game endings as proof I could finish them. This is one of the only games I had at the time, which is why I was able to prove to friends that Ryu from Ninja Gaiden is in the stands when you beat this game. Second, this was one of the first games I learned to hard cheese. If you throw the ball to the catcher, then have the catcher walk forward and throw the ball behind home, the computer will try to steal no matter what base they are on. So you can have them run to home, keep the catcher near the ball, and when the runner gets close enough have him pick it up and tag him or throw it to third and have him tag him. Good times.

[@TheAxeGrinder]

My friend had this, and we'd consistently play it whenever I went over to his place. Such a fun time.

[@whyishoudini]

Just glad you're making videos. Always good vibes from SNES drunk.

[@low_e_music]

I absolutely love Bad News Baseball. I still try to play through a season at least once or twice a year and it never fails to entertain.

[@HeavensFrogman]

3:03 - That's Rex Beat from Tecmo World Wrestling, actually. A cool reference to one of their other games which doesn't get enough love. Great work, as always!

[@davidkaufman7979]

Loved this game. I like the close play animations that would happen on stolen bases and plays at home plate. Also there was a code for girls teams.

[@popeye5274]

That’s right! I forgot about the code for girls’ teams. 👍🏼

[@Turbo_Games_]

Sensational game! Many hours put into this one as a kid. Great review covering all the little details

[@BaldoFlores_godmetal]

There's that baseball being slammed out of the world!! And the cut scenes!! I remember this game!! Man, i had forgot all about it!! Thanks for the nostalgia!

[@winns35]

Was one of my favorite games as a kid. Still remember Howard for the Mets based team being one of the best hitters in the game.

[@DevManStrider]

This one is really the only baseball video game that I'll play. Love the spritework and the rabbit umpire always made us laugh as kids.

[@tsacelbuod]

I actually had this game for the NES. This game was fantastic. The cut scenes were superb for the time. And shout out to the bunny umpires for sure.

[@DGR_Dave]

This game looks super fun! Have you ever played Little League baseball on the NES? I argue that it's one of the better baseball games on the console too.

[@BigMhatty]

Dusty Diamond's All-Star Softball I feel was the definitive NES sports experience. Review that one!

[@SNESdrunk]

Coming soon, possibly a collab with a certain NESfriend

[@marccaselle8108]

I'll have to try that game. When I was a kid I used to joke that it was called dusty Rhodes all star softball lol.

[@matttherrien9608]

@@SNESdrunk Dude, do you own any Midwestern, Red Wing Boots?

[@robertcatania1120]

I didn't discover that game until I got my hands on emulators and roms....and man I wish I had that one as a kid. Great NES game for baseball fans even if it's really softball.

[@matthewakurz]

Softball Heaven > Dusty Diamond's... but Dusty's is amazing.

[@tolkoto]

Thank you! This was my childhood NES baseball game and no one ever knew what I was talking about when I brought it up. So happy you covered it here!

[@fernandesh.m.5504]

Man, I love this game. I used to play this with my brothers. Ah so nostalgic!

[@chiefynutz]

Thank you for covering this game. This was a favorite of the our neighborhood kids gang back in the day, and like you said it rarely gets brought up. Kudos to you sir

[@wesleymatthews6409]

This has always been my favorite baseball game just because of the personality factor... it just always stuck with me for some reason... probably cause me and my best friend growing up (R.I.P. Matthew) played the everloving fuck out of this together...

[@319t.j.5]

Nice to see another classic sports game covered. Your old "Every (insert sport) game on the SNES" videos are what got me into this channel.

[@HybridAngelZero]

While I generally don't play a lot of sports games that don't involve a plumber with a red hat, I always distinctly remember seeing this game at an old video rental store (that still had NES games for rent when the PSone was out) and really being drawn to the box art.

[@oobgarm1]

Nice to see DICK get some recognition for their hitting skills.

[@bluekinopio9390]

👀

[@AndrewsArchives]

Only DICKs hit 2 run homers!

[@YTOW85]

😳

[@FromTheRoomOfLittleEase]

Hey, when you see Dick come out you know hes going to hit that shit. The last thing a pitcher wants to see is Dick swinging over that mound. Catchers love it because they never have to throw them balls back and he never strikes out and always hits a home run. You see Dick on third base, get ready. Somebody is getting fucked in the ass. By a penis.

[@EYandre]

Thank you! I LOVE this game. Always said this was my fav NES baseball game! Please do a similar video for Extra Bases baseball on Game Boy. Thanks, love your videos!!!

[@thenextsteveblackman]

I loved this game as a kid. It had realistic (for the time) gameplay, and I completely vibed with its unique sense of humor. I don't think it's a stretch to say that until Madden came around, Tecmo had the best lineup of sports games.

[@Rstraub12]

"The fielders run like Peg Bundy" 🤣🤣☠️☠️

[@PeteSkerritt]

I *adore* this game. Tecmo’s touch with the cutscenes gives it a Little League vibe (no licensing though) and it’s a very approachable game to play. Getting deep into the ladder of teams gets pretty intense, as managing your rotation and bullpen becomes super-important. So glad you covered it. Hopefully more people will check it out.

[@simplemanchannel3318]

Funny you say that due to there being an actual Little League Baseball game.

[@initial_C]

I'm glad you're covering sports games, a lot of times they just get completely dismissed.

[@thenostalgiafactor5023]

Total length of video: 315 secs. Total length of "SNES Drunk": 4 secs. 1.27% of the video was spent listening to "SNES Drunk".

[@Double.G]

This was one of my favorite games as a kid, and I really don't play sports games at all. This and the robot baseball game where you'd buy upgrades and the pitcher has some sort of gun, etc. :)

[@TheJamesShow00]

Cyber Stadium Series-Base Wars. Loved that game.

[@Double.G]

@@TheJamesShow00 BASE WARS! YES! Thank you. Now to find it and play it again :) If only it'd make it to the Nintendo Switch Online stuff :(

[@josephbradshaw6985]

Sports games on the NES are fun. There are a bunch of Baseball games worth playing, a couple hockey games, at least 2 football games, and even a decent basketball game or 2.

[@LordNazerous]

"I don't want Metal Jesus' lawyers coming after me." 🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@MadMorgie6318]

I never played this game, but I must say, those little animations and cut scenes really do a lot of charm to the whole thing.

[@KennyPowersGaming]

This shit right here.....this one was me and my brothers fucking jam. The cutscenes...the intensity when you throw people out and they give you the tag video. the music. man we put hours and hours into this game. miss you Adam Rip

[@Bolsty7]

Metal Jesus' lawyers are for defending him when people call him out for claiming the most obvious games are hidden gems. You got it the wrong way round. Love your videos man keep bringing us concealed rare stones.

[@hgc7000]

Road Warrior Animal making an appearance makes sense. They were big in Japan back in the 80s and 90s.

[@Sully365]

this brought back MEMORIES. i used to play this game for hours. it's just 'fun'

[@odemata87]

my favorite baseball game for the NES hands down. It's just really fun especially when you get a good feel lol game. NY team definitely one the best teams to use.

[@Skeletorisnotnice]

SNES drunk’s baseball references and knowledge are 100% underrated. Love the sports videos

[@LorenHelgeson]

A good friend of mine introduced this to me a year ago, and it quickly became my favorite NES sports game. It has so much personality and charm to it. The cutscenes, the fact a teammate can fumble a catch, runners dropping to the ground with stars over their heads when they are outed. So much charm to it. Also, super cheap these days.

[@Zidane103]

I loved this game so much on the nes my brother gave me once he got a genesis in the 90s. Love the art and little clips for inning changes and home runs

[@tecpaocelotl]

I remember playing this in the early 90s. There was a daycare. One day, the adults brought in a nes but it had that 3 in 1 cartridge (mario/duck hunt/racing) and it was fun for a few weeks until we got bored passing around the cartridge so everyone could play. We decided that each day, someone would bring a video or an nes cartridge. I brought ninja turtles out of their shell tour vhs and kung fu for nes. I got the meh responses from other kids. Lol. Anyway, someone brought this game and we had fun by having a mini tournament and the last game was the 2 best players.

[@BakiX]

This title in particular is tied to memories of my dad and I growing up. Him being a sports nut, and me being a game nut, and neither of us knowing each others worlds lol. But in brief instances like Bad News Baseball, we could meet on common grounds and just laugh up a storm together, as our little chibi players would knock each other out trying to pass the ball back and forth too quickly. Really good times, love this game 🥲 Tip: While playing field, have two of the base catchers that are closest to each other pass the ball over and over again quickly. One will eventually miss and knock themselves out with the ball, lol.

[@koopakape]

Wish Tecmo had done more stuff with this much cartoony personality or used the rabbits, this is great.

[@CoquiReploid81]

Man! I remember renting this game at a young age. And I've been trying to figure out the name of it for a while. Thanks for the video. This was one of my favorite baseball games as a child.

[@andrewstrom8157]

This has been my go to baseball video game to play for many, many years. It was to the point that one of my room mates made a comment that we would play that more than the newer games we had.

[@elicash233]

Top 3 NES baseball game. Should be played for decades to come.

[@crissb8913]

Loved this game as a kid. Surprised you didn't mention the girl code. Your content is great. Always enjoy the vids.

[@prpredatorz310]

One of mu favorite "baseball" games on the NES was Dusty Diamond's All Star Softball. That game had personality and I think, even people who were usually not into sports games could like it.

[@Blas4ublasphemy]

Any relation to Rusty's real deal baseball

[@prpredatorz310]

@@Blas4ublasphemy No, it was setput like a street alley backyard baseball.game with weird characters and some special moves.

[@Blas4ublasphemy]

@@prpredatorz310 cool, i'll try it

[@raddastronaut]

I love this game. I liked sports as a kid and don’t now but I still love many baseball, hockey and many racing games.

[@Korncakes1]

I was really hoping to see Metal Jesus chime in after that little dig, you two are really some of the most wholesome guys to do this and I’m sure he’d get a chuckle out of it haha.

[@cignaga]

Baseball (1984) ... Bad News Baseball ... and Bases Loaded 3 were my favorite games on the NES ... so many hours were put into those games for years

[@wiseguy8100]

One of my favorite games as a kid.

[@J.Wick.]

This. Game. My Dad & I played a ton of this, and tecmo baseball. Bad News is one of my all time favorite games. What a gem. Typical late 80s early 90s Tecmo. They were on fire at this time.

[@kevintrjohnson]

Can't confirm it, but I suspect this was originally an unofficial Koshien simulator, i.e. a Japanese high school baseball championship game. The Koshien tournament is as big in Japan as the College World Series is here in America, maybe bigger.

[@Quinor76]

we had that game and played it pretty much every day it was that and Base Wars on NES

[@landeny65]

I had this when I was a kid, it was a lot of fun. Between Tecmo Baseball and Baseball Stars, was one of my favorite 8-bit baseball games

[@Vanfernal]

Fun factoid! The Road Warrior looking guy from the homerun scene is actually Rex Beat from Tecmo World Wrestling!

[@hemangchauhan2864]

Growing up in India watching Cricket, this game was my first introduction to Baseball rules. Played it a lot just to figure out the rules.

[@bakuiel1901]

Hilarious looking when you throw a guy out and he just falls to the ground looking like he got beaned by the ball

[@Nostalgia9478]

Speaking of Bad News, "Bad News Bears in Breaking Training" is the GOAT baseball movie

[@foodmetaphors]

Man, I was like addicted to this game for a short time in like my mid-20's, playing it all the time on an emulator. I don't get into sports games too much, especially not baseball games but this one has so much charm and as you said the gameplay is super snappy. The Toronto team is beast in this game, you can bunt your way to first with like each of the first three hitters iirc. Plus it's so easy to dominate the other team with aggressive pitching and just substituting in fresh pitchers.

[@flamesofhell6449]

The baseball game I found fun on the NES is called CyberStadiumSeries BaseWars. Not only you play baseball but you engage in fights too.

[@SimonCallahan]

I loved this game when I was a kid, it was one of the few I owned. I played the hell out of it, and Oakland was my team of choice. You're right about one thing, in a sea of sports games that were rather cold and soulless, this game had heart and warmth in spades. One of my favourite animations was the "bean ball" animation. If your batter got hit by the pitcher's ball, he'd sink to his knees, cross-eyed, with stars over his head. There was also a hidden "girls" mode, where you could swap the genders of the players. It didn't really change much gameplay wise, but all the players had female names, their hairstyles were different (they all had pigtails, I believe), and even the cutscenes changed to make the players girls. It was pretty cool. I will say that the game did suffer from horrendous rubber banding, though. I remember playing a game and getting a tremendous lead on my opponent. I think I was one run away from the point where the computer would just call the game in my favour (I think it was 9-0). Suddenly, my team just started playing like garbage and my opponent was playing amazingly. They struck me out and the very next inning they would go on to sweep the inning, doubling my score out of nowhere and winning the game before I had a chance to react. Literally every at bat for them was a homer. It didn't help that the game's exhaustion mechanic was kicking in and some of my best outfielders started fumbling balls. Still a fun game, though.

[@brian_keith]

The Road Warrior character you mentioned is actually Rex Beat from Tecmo Wrestling. An early form of an easter egg. love your videos SNES Drunk!

[@thegreathadoken6808]

I thought it was Mr T

[@alextrendos9105]

Basewars was always my favourite. Great review - miss Temco games!

[@BabusGameRoom]

2:14 omg...that's hilarious! That looks like what happened the last time I played baseball!

[@japanesehercules]

Tecmo Cup is another wildly underrated NES title that incorporates RPG elements (!) and has great anime style graphics

[@simplemanchannel3318]

I do remember playing just about every baseball game on NES as a kid. I really enjoyed this one. I always wondered if the kid was blowing bubble gum, or a snot bubble. Baseball Simulator 1,000 was my favorite baseball game though. Biggest thing that sucked about that game was even if you simulated games you weren't playing in, it took forever to sim those games. Playing a full 162 game schedule was brutal.

[@lenzanari]

It always impresses me how these NES sport games were able to squeeze the hardware to make a fun and believable experience, like we literally got a 3D scenario here for the players with just 2D sprites.

[@MrPQ2112]

I have fond memories of this game, a family reunion and older cousins!

[@offthebeatenpathoutdoors1894]

That Metal Jesus comment though!!! Too funny!

[@TBustah]

The reason that the teams have unique music is probably that this game was developed in Japan. The spectators at Japanese baseball games are big on writing their own cheer songs for the team or even individual players, and the music in this footage is very similar to those. The cadence, percussion, and whistles are all there. The rabbits are probably also a Japanese thing. In Japanese pop culture, rabbits are often used to represent America or inserted into situations involving American culture (in this case, baseball) as a play on words. The Japanese word for rabbit, “usa” (pronounced “ooh-sah”) is romanized the same as “USA”.

[@chaospoet]

Not a big sports guy or video game sports guy, with a few exceptions, but I've been singing this games praises since it came out. My brother and I used to play the ever living sh*t out of this game. You can actually knock out players too, if you hit the ball just right at them. My brother was the goddamned master of that move and had a supernatural knack for knocking out my 1st base man so I could never get him out on 1st.

[@LanEXHikari]

Thanks for the video SDrunk, there's nothing like learning about a rare sport game I've never heard of with the morning coffee. Still I wonder why it was called Bad News other than the cartoony animations

[@bortgunn9079]

The “Bad News” part is a nod to “The Bad News Bears”, a film from the 70s about a little league baseball team.

[@thirtyworld]

Tecmo Baseball was simple but enjoyable. The stats were based on the 1987 MLB season, with names that usually started with the first letter of the actual player's first name. For example, Alan Trammell was called "Arex", Kevin McReynolds was "Ken" and so forth.

[@holden6104]

That Mr. T looking dude at the end of the lineup is one of the Road Warrior bosses in the arcade version of Ninja Gaiden. Game companies were always plugging their stuff back then.

[@unappealingundesirable2826]

I was born in Seattle in 1973, where I grew up. Japanese-American and male. I was a senior in high school when I played Bad News Baseball! I had a crush on a cute girl named Erica back then, so I chose Texas as my team, and the rest is history! NES Baseball Stars is my favorite NES baseball game, because we can name our players and teams. If you look on You Tubes of Bad News Baseball, I wrote down the words to the songs.

[@MrFedetozzi]

"Sometimes an outfielder would just miss a base entirely". Yeah, just like real baseball.

[@Blas4ublasphemy]

Maybe sun was in his eyes?

[@Lunitarium]

I had Bad News Baseball and I loved it. It was one of the few games I could get my dad to play with me.

[@humanbeing9340]

Nice mate. In Australia we had Cricket and Aussie Rules Football. Both were amazing.

[@atcandotherthings4985]

Love all the recent uploads snes drunk, keep up the great work

[@taipion64]

Base Wars was our favorite NES baseball my brothers and I had.

[@letsseewherethisgoes]

I straight up forgot about this one. I'm 100% sure I had a copy growing up, the music was an immediate flashback. I'll have to go back and play this at some point.

[@grandmoffporkins]

Love this game. Amazed you didn’t gush on the music as well.

[@lhfirex]

I laughed way too hard at the fielders running like Peg Bundy. Great reminder of how awesome Tecmo sports games used to be.

[@GetLostGames1]

This my favorite sports game on nes. Two player games are still a lot of fun.

[@MrClawt]

My brother and I were not baseball fans, but we rented this one a lot. I think that says a lot to the gameplay on this one.

[@fmsyntheses]

I appreciate the Married With Children/Conan O'Brien references. I haven't played this one, but it looks like you can bunt. If you can bunt, it's a good baseball game.

[@duketogo25]

Bad News Baseball and Baseball Stars are neck-and-neck for best baseball game of all time. BNB soundtrack is unforgettable. How do I know? Because it’s been 30 years and I ain’t forgot it.

[@DjDizzy216]

For my money this is the best baseball game on NES. Gotta love the bunny empires that sound like they’re barking when they call OUT.

[@thebrendan03]

My favorite sports game on the nes was Dusty Diamond's All-star Softball. I big roster of characters to build your team and they all had different special abilities. There were different fields with different dimensions. It was weird and charming

[@AndyDo]

The reference game was strong this video. Great work!

[@chiquita683]

This was my favorite game growing up.

[@shadmere]

Bases Loaded II was by far my favorite baseball game on the NES, for some reason. I mean probably just because I played it before most others, but still.

[@blangdale]

This was one of my favourite games on the system. And the music was excellent!