King Heff’s Sports Game Hall of Fame

…And the winner is  RBI Baseball

Developer: Namco
Publisher: Namco, Tengen
Platform: Nintendo NES
Release Date: 1988
Genre: Sports
Mode: Single Player, Multiplayer
Media: 768-kilo bit cartridge

As the official sports corespondent for ezGamerz.com, I will from time to time be giving  you my personal list of the greatest sports games of all time.  Let me first say that baseball is my favorite sport.  It always has been, and it always will be.   It is much like a slow paced game of chess during lazy afternoons in the dog days of summer.  Walking into a baseball stadium is a surreal experience.   Seeing the green of the grass, hearing the sounds of the game, and paying for that overpriced ballpark hot dog is one of the finest things in life.  When we were kids we spent all our summer days either playing baseball, or playing baseball  games (at least I did). Remembering back to the earliest games, we had to create our own names for the players and keep our own statistics. Then came the first great baseball game:  R.B.I. Baseball from Tengen for the Nintendo NES.

When this game was released in 1988 it was a game that turned the tide for sports games on consoles.  It was the first game to get permission from th MLBPA(Major League Baseball Players Association) to use the players actual names in games.  While MLB was to slow to jump on board causing the team names and uniforms to be generic, the MLBPA was way ahead of the game.  The user, if they were lucky enough to have their favorite team included in the game, could finally see their  favorite players name on the big screen in a video game.

The game consisted of 10 teams the playoff teams from 1986-87 and two all-star teams.  The American League teams consisted of Boston, Detroit, Minnesota , and California. The National League was represented by New York, Houston, St. Louis, and San Fransisco. The two all star teams one for each league held the best players from the rest of the league, which meant players that favorite team wasn’t in the game they could still play with their favorite player.  The two all-star teams mixed a list of superstars like Cal Ripken and Mike Schmidt, but it also had rising star in Mark McGwire and Benito Santiago.(he didn’t end up being much of a star but he was the rookie of the year when the game came out and a big deal at the time)

The game play was like driving a new car.  The players had in game characteristics that actually matched who they were in real life.  A defensive player knew if Vince Coleman hit the ball on the ground he wasn’t going to be thrown out.  Equally important, unless you were lucky enough to trick your friend into getting picked off he was also going to steal second with Vince Coleman every single time he reached first.  If you selected the Houston Astros you could play as the “Ryan Express” and in the first couple of innings Nolan Ryan would have a fastball that could hit triple digits.  The team you played with dictated the type of game you wanted to play. The Al teams tendencies leaned towards simply beating the cover off the ball whereas the NL teams, especially St. Louis, would kill you on the base paths and play small ball. (My how things really haven’t changed in 21 years.)  This game brought a whole new level to competitive play with pitching that if you weren’t  patient, was near un-hittable. The fielding was a little on the generic side without independent player movement, (think of your outfielders and infielders being more like on a foosball rail) but still an upgrade from previous games attempts.  The music even added to the feel with a upbeat tune when the bases were empty, and a more ominous melody when a runner reached base. The only downside was statics were not tracked for the individual player.  However,  you could still do it yourself and we did until games got that right to. (more on that at a later date.)

Hence,  my first induction into King Heff’s Sports Game Hall of Fame is R.B.I. Baseball. This game was the trend setter for all the sports games to follow.  It brought personality to the game more and above  just random blips on a screen. While there were subsequent sequels, none topped the original game for opening a whole new world of fun to the sports gamer. I challenge anyone to play this game against a friend even today and tell me its not still as fun as it used to be. Yes, sometimes simpler doesn’t always mean less enjoyment.

If you have any nominees for my HOF, please comment below, or if you think you have a better selection, don’t hesitate to state your case!

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