Nintendo Entertainment System
Released in 1989 by SNK
Grade: C+
Of the assorted NES baseball games, the Baseball Stars series feels like the most advanced, with impressive graphics and state-of-the-art team management, but that doesn’t mean it’s the most fun.
Where it falls in the series
It’s the first of two on NES, and there were two sharp-looking versions on Neo Geo. Most fans of the series would recommend the sequel, Baseball Stars II.
Praises and gripes
Baseball Stars is immediately attractive by NES standards, with well-animated player models rendered with thin black outlines. Despite the realistic look, there are a couple oddball teams, like the Ninja Blacksox in head-to-toe black outfits, and the Lovely Ladies wearing skirts and ponytails.
It’s got old-school pitching mechanics where pitchers steer the ball after releasing it, but not so much that it makes hitting a chore. Most at-bats don’t last long unless you’re really patient at the plate.
The game logic feels fairly grounded in realism. A lot of hits don’t leave the infield, where the game really shines. The camera is close to the action, the field feels appropriately huge, and players make baseball-like movements. The ball appears to move fast due to the tight viewpoint, but it actually moves slower than in other NES baseball games, giving fielders some leeway and adding suspense to routine plays. It’s satisfying to dive for a ground ball, and outfielders can even scale the wall to rob home runs!
That all sounds great, but the viewpoint is also the game’s biggest flaw. You’re often controlling fielders who are temporarily off-screen, and you need to sense where they are. Infield plays usually work fine, but hits to the outfield can become unwanted adventures. Sometimes you can’t see any of your fielders, just the ball rolling to the wall. This affects baserunning strategy, too, because it’s hard to tell whether a ball will be caught.
One weird thing about this game is that the pitching-batting screen has a white frame around the batter, which is luckily easy to ignore. In the sequel, they smartly got rid of the frame.
Baseball Stars is the first NES sports game with a battery backup, and it’s known for its season mode, stat tracking, and the ability to create teams and players, although the interface is time-consuming to say the least.
Its gameplay might make it a favorite for some, but I felt I was spending too much of my energy trying to master its troublesome fielding controls. The game has its moments, but I don’t enjoy it consistently.
Teams
- American Dreams – blue hats, red uniforms, and player names that reference baseball legends like “Babe,” “Pete,” and “Joe.”
- Ninja Blacksox – all black
- Brave Warriors – magenta and purple
- Japan Robins – dark red and gray
- World Powers – dark red and mustard yellow
- Ghastly Monsters – light gray and dark green, and names like “Freddy” and “Damien”
- Lovely Ladies – red hats, pink uniforms, with skirts and long hair!
- SNK Crushers – blue and white
Published November 8, 2025