Baseball Stars is generally regarded as being the best baseball sim on the NES. I was always more of a Bases Loaded guy, personally, but it was a fun game nonetheless. Baseball Stars also made an appearance in arcades and on the Neo Geo home console as Baseball Stars Professional, and this week's Virtual Console lineup brings its sequel, Baseball Stars 2, to the Nintendo Wii.
It was a wise decision to bring the sequel to VC instead of Baseball Stars Professional, since Baseball Stars 2 outclasses its prequel in every way. Whereas Baseball Stars Professional has that first-generation Neo Geo stink on it -- complete with simple gameplay, barebones presentation, and an ugly default system font -- Baseball Stars 2 shines as one of the better 16-bit takes on the sport of baseball.
There's not really much else to say about Baseball Stars 2 otherwise. It's...baseball. You hit a ball and run around some bases. Sometimes you throw the ball so that this other guy can catch it. Other times, you pitch the ball directly at the batter's head on purpose, because it's funny.
Baseball Stars 2 looks really nice for a game of its era, though. The graphics are cartoony and vibrant, the presentation is flashy and somewhat ridiculous, and there's plenty of goofy digitized voice to keep things lively. Controls are tight and responsive, and the experience plays as fast and as smooth as you would expect from an arcade-style baseball game.
About the worst thing you can say about Baseball Stars 2 is that it's not 2020 Super Baseball, which is what some consider to be the Neo Geo's best baseball game. Unlike Baseball Stars 2, 2020 Super Baseball takes the sport in its own futuristic direction, adding robots, landmines, and high-jumping catches to the equation. Baseball Stars 2 may be a good game in its own right, but when one baseball game is going up against another baseball game with robots in it, the robots are going to win every time.
Luckily for Baseball Stars 2, 2020 Super Baseball is not yet available on the Virtual Console, and it stands head and shoulders above its current VC competitors World Class Baseball on the TurboGrafx-16 and the putrid Baseball for the NES. Assuming you don't already own Konami's excellent MLB Power Pros (and if you call yourself any kind of baseball fan, you should buy a copy as soon as possible), Baseball Stars 2 makes for a great time, despite its relatively high asking price of 900 Wii Points.
Here's the start of a typical game of Baseball Stars 2...
...and here's 2020 Super Baseball, for your future reference. Note the awesome diving robot catch at 00:58.
