Baseball Superstars

iTunes Link

Baseball Superstars is a baseball game by Gamevil. $4.99

Baseball Superstars is the first baseball game on the iDevice that has caught my attention. Apart from the SGN free game, iBaseball, there was really nothing any good in the baseball sector. This game still doesn't give the real MLB feel but is a very good cartoon version of the game. With Flick Baseball coming for probably $0.99 I am sure you are wondering why you shouldn't just wait for that? Well basically this game has weeks on end of playing to get through the finish it all as well as its very addicting gameplay. This game has 10 competitive teams to play with, 4 unique stadiums to play on, 5 different game modes to master, 3 difficulty levels for your own level of skill and 12 hidden players to choose from! This last one is the hardest to complete as I will talk about later. As you can see from all the variation in the game you will be playing with it for a long time, I have had it for over 50 days and am still playing it daily.

This game screams out mobile port, which it exactly is. Knowing that it was ported means I'm not going to be as harsh as I would be with this game. The graphics are certainly cute and are good for the cartoon baseball feel, but they are a bit pixelatted. I would have like to seen a bit more of a change between the mobile and iDevice version but they are still nice to look at. Flick Baseball looks like it will be a 3D baseball game while this is a 2D game. The game uses nothing apart from an onscreen controller that is designed specifically for Baseball Superstars. They are out of the way of the gameplay and are easy to use. On the left of the screen there is a d-pad for the menu (which should just be a touch screen job) and for moving your player or ball when batting and pitching. On the right side there is a large button for hitting and ball, a button for cancelling a run, a button for bunting the ball and a button for running another base if the player has stopped/ special powers hit. These don't take long to get the hang of and are really needed for a game like this.

This game has alot of sound effects and in-game music to listen to, but I didn't really enjoy it. While they put alot of work into everything, there is a few parts which I disliked. First of all everytime you even touched the screen a very annoying beeping noise was made and this really turned me off the sound. The game definitely came from developers in Japan, as the music sounds like it could easily fit into one of the anime shows over there. I could stand listening to it if the loud beeping noise was removed.

This game has a heap to play around with. There is a single game mode where you choose your team and your opposition and play 9 innings or more if need be. This mode is you only one where you bat for every player and also pitch the whole time. Great practice for beginners. There is a season mode where you choose your team and play through a season of 36 games to try and win the championship. I don't really know why this is an option as the Career mode is far better and plays on the same principal. Career mode is where you will mostly be playing. You create a character and play through his whole career starting out as a lowly skilled batter or pitcher, you can't be both, and work you way through up to 16 seasons. You get to buy new equipment for your player that improves his stats as well as train him and go to events like dates and interviews to get more money and popularity. This is alot of fun and is really the only mode I have given much play time with. You can have one batter and one pitcher in career mode at one time, but I mostly play with my batter as it is quick and easy to play matches. The next mode is a home-run mode where you have nine balls to get as many home runs as possible, and extras if you get combos of more than one home run in a row. This mode is really only to get G-Points to get special upgrades for your career player and to unlock special characters. The last mode is mission mode where you complete Batting and Pitching missions to again earn G-Points for your player.

This is a super fun game, and is easily a home run above all its other competitors. I really enjoyed playing this game as it is quick and easy to play just one match, but it will hook you there for a whole season or two. For those a bit skeptical about the game there is a lite version to try, but I would go straight for the full version at $4.99, it is worth it!

Gameplay- 9/10
Graphics- 7/10
Sound- 7/10
Overall- 8/10

I would recommend this game if you enjoyed- Flick Baseball (To be released)

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