Nintendo Entertainment System
Released in 1990 by Tecmo
Grade: B
Bad News Baseball is my favorite NES baseball game, with the most solid combination of logical pitcher-batter duels, functional action in the field, quick pacing, and charming presentation.
Where it falls in the series
This follows Tecmo’s first effort, Tecmo Super Baseball, which has a clumsy behind-the-pitcher viewpoint and is generally ignored by other critics.
Praises and gripes
This game adheres strictly to the Retro Baseball Formula™, with pitches that change direction in mid-air and a lack of AI-assistance in the field. The good news (come on, I couldn’t resist) is that Bad News Baseball is smartly engineered to tone down the difficulty on all aspects of the game, allowing you to zip through games without getting too frustrated.
The pitcher-batter duel is nicely balanced. Although pitchers can steer the ball, there’s some limitation to the steering. You can throw a cheap sinker ball that bounces in the dirt, but only when you hold back before the pitch. Sinkers are hard to see coming, but oddly, you can hear them coming due to the distinct tone of the whistling sound as they’re thrown.
As a batter, it’s intuitive to react to the pitch, despite the ridiculous range of speeds, from “55 mph” up to “111 mph”! Fatigue plays a big role after a few innings. Pitchers tire out, and a fresh bullpen arm can suddenly ratchet up the velocity.
There sure are a lot of home runs sailing over the relatively small field, and I’ve played games with scores like 5-4 where every run was on a solo homer. But I’ve also played real nailbiters with teams clawing their way to runs station to station. Games are delightfully unpredictable.
Perhaps what Bad News does best is fielding. The view is way back and the controls are crisp. Sometimes you need to move an outfielder who’s temporarily offscreen, but it’s much more user-friendly than in some other games. The results on the basepaths aren’t necessarily realistic, but they’re fair and consistent.
The graphics are modest during the core gameplay, but there are some really nice anime-styled cutscenes during close plays on the bases and after home runs. In the NES tradition, there’s repetitive music throughout the game, but luckily the pace is snappy, so you only have to hear the tune for 10 or 15 minutes at a time. Also, the umpires are pink rabbits. Strange but true.
Altogether, Bad News makes the most of its 8-bit graphics and primitive gameplay mechanics. It’s easy to pick up, it’s got competitive action, and it’s fun.
While other baseball games seem to have been more popular in their time (Baseball Stars, R.B.I. Baseball, and Bases Loaded), Bad News Baseball has stood the test of time and generally receives good reviews generations later. If you’re looking for an NES baseball game that delivers the goods, not necessarily nostalgia, this is the one.
Teams
In addition to being a fun game, Bad News Baseball has one of the better lineups of teams and color combos in an NES sports game. With the simple graphics, the darker colors look much better on screen than the lighter colors.
- San Francisco – black hat, white uniform
- Los Angeles – blue and white
- Toronto – A hideous light blue and white
- Detroit – black and gray
- Boston – red and white
- Texas – blue and powder blue
- Oakland – green and yellow
- Minnesota – rose and powder blue
- St. Louis – red and powder blue
- New York – blue and orange
- Chicago – blue and light blue
- Atlanta – rose and white
Published November 8, 2025