Bases Loaded (video game)

The game allows the player to control one of 12 teams in either a single game or a full season. For single games, there is also a two-player option.

Bases Loaded featured a television-style depiction of the pitcher-batter matchup (previously seen in Intellivision World Series Baseball and Accolade's HardBall!), as well as strong play control and a relatively high degree of realism, which made it one of the most popular baseball games of the early NES.

One unique feature of the game is that the pitcher can provoke a batter to charge the mound. Each team has only one batter (usually the team's best hitter) who can be provoked in this manner, however; it is up to the player to discover who it is.

At the time Bases Loaded was released, few video games were licensed by North American major league sports. Therefore, the league depicted in Bases Loaded is a fictitious league of twelve teams.{{cite web |url = http://www.gamefaqs.com/nes/587113-bases-loaded/faqs/30570 |date = October 2007 |last = Sulpher |first = Brian |title = Bases Loaded FAQs | GameFAQs.com |access-date = 2010-09-15 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100624103009/http://www.gamefaqs.com/nes/587113-bases-loaded/faqs/30570 |archive-date = 2010-06-24 |url-status = live }}{{Cite web |url=http://www.vgmpf.com/Wiki/images/8/84/Moero%21%21_Pro_Yakyuu_-_FC_-_Scoreboard.png |title=Archived copy |access-date=2013-10-20 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304123314/http://www.vgmpf.com/Wiki/images/8/84/Moero!!_Pro_Yakyuu_-_FC_-_Scoreboard.png |archive-date=2016-03-04 |url-status=live }}

One of the trademark images of the Bases Loaded franchise was the disembodied catcher's mitt, also referred to as the "phantom paw", that would catch pitches that were thrown extremely outside. Developer Heep Sop Choi claims it was programmed to show the catcher making some terrific snatches without any bodily movement. {{Citation needed|date=May 2010}}

A defective chip was found during manufacturing, delaying the Nintendo Entertainment System version's North American release.{{cite journal |journal=Computer Entertainer |title=BASES LOADED Clarification |date=August 1988 |volume=7 |issue=5 |page=11 |issn=0890-2143 |url=https://retrocdn.net/images/6/6d/ComputerEntertainer_US_Vol.7_05.pdf |accessdate=27 February 2021}}

A port for the Atari Jaguar was planned to be developed by Jaleco, after being signed by Atari Corporation to be a third-party developer for the system, but it was never released.{{cite magazine|last=Halverson|first=Dave|url=https://archive.org/stream/Gamefan_Vol_2_Issue_06#page/n89/mode/1up|title=Jaguar's Domain|magazine=GameFan|volume=2|issue=6|publisher=Shinno Media|date=May 1994|pages=90–92}}{{cite magazine|url=https://archive.org/stream/Gamefan_Vol_2_Issue_07#page/n146/mode/1up|title=The Game Fan 32Bit System Shoot Out - Who Will Lead Us Into The Next Generation?|magazine=GameFan|volume=2|issue=7|publisher=Shinno Media|date=June 1994|pages=146–147}}{{cite magazine|url=https://retrocdn.net/index.php?title=File:GamePro_US_059.pdf&page=186|title=ProNews: Jaguar Lecensee Count Grows|magazine=GamePro|issue=59|publisher=IDG|date=June 1994|page=184|access-date=2018-08-04|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180731213533/https://retrocdn.net/index.php?title=File:GamePro_US_059.pdf&page=186|archive-date=2018-07-31|url-status=live}}{{cite web | url=https://archive.org/details/1994-06-games-amusement-pleasure-01/page/14/mode/1up | title=1994-06 Games Amusement Pleasure #01 | date=June 1994 }}

The game saw three sequels on the NES: Bases Loaded II: Second Season (released in 1988 in Japan and 1990 in North America), Bases Loaded 3, released in 1991, and Bases Loaded 4, released in 1993. The game also had two arcade sequels: Moero!! Pro Yakyū Homerun, released in 1988, and Jitsuryoku!! Pro Yakyū, released in 1989. Japanese game magazine Game Machine listed Jitsuryoku!! Pro Yakyū on their September 1, 1989 issue as being the eighth most-successful table arcade unit of the month; the magazine has listed it in English as Bases Loaded.{{cite magazine|title=Game Machine's Best Hit Games 25 - テーブル型TVゲーム機 (Table Videos)|magazine=Game Machine|issue=363|publisher=Amusement Press, Inc.|date=1 September 1989|page=23|lang=ja}} Super Bases Loaded was released for the SNES in 1991, and saw two sequels: Super Bases Loaded 2, released in 1994, and Super Bases Loaded 3, released in 1995. A 32-bit installment was also released: Bases Loaded '96: Double Header, released for the PlayStation and Sega Saturn in 1995.

Computer Gaming World compared the game unfavorably to Accolade's HardBall!, both focusing primarily on the confrontation of pitcher and batter. The review described Bases Loaded's viewpoint behind the pitcher as making it far too difficult to discern the position of, and subsequently hit, the ball. Other annoyances during gameplay, such as the inability to see where outfielders were before the ball got to them, were contrasted against the game's good graphics and animation.{{Cite magazine | date = December 1988 | last = Kunkel | first = Bill | magazine = Computer Gaming World | title = Video Gaming World: Batter Up! | pages = 64–65 }}

{{notelist}}

• [https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/arcade/566572-bases-loaded Bases Loaded] at GameFAQs
• [https://www.giantbomb.com/bases-loaded/3030-8283/ Bases Loaded] at Giant Bomb
• [https://www.mobygames.com/game/bases-loaded Bases Loaded] at MobyGames

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{{Jaleco franchises}}

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Category:1987 video games

Category:Bases Loaded video games

Category:Cancelled Atari Jaguar games

Category:City Connection franchises

Category:Game Boy games

Category:Jaleco games

Category:Multiplayer and single-player video games

Category:Nintendo Entertainment System games

Category:Tose (company) games

Category:Video games developed in Japan

Category:Virtual Console games for Nintendo 3DS

Category:Virtual Console games for Wii U

Category:Virtual Console games