Little League Baseball: Championship Series
System: NES
Release Date: July 1990
Developer: SNK
Publisher: SNK
Genre: Sports
The second half of 1990 starts with a trip to the stands for Little League Baseball: Championship Series. Choose from 16 teams, eight of which come from the USA and eight of which come from Asia, North America, and Europe. Each have their own strengths and weaknesses when it comes to batting, defense, pitching, and running, so choose wisely!
After choosing your team, the tournament begins. You can watch the other games of the tournament, or just check out the result. The ump tosses the bat to find out who is visitor or home. You can make any last minute changes to your line up, but it doesn’t show their stats, so you need to have them memorized if you want to have any luck here. The game is only six innings long, so you don’t have time to dig out from mistakes.
Pitching is exactly the same as it’s been in a dozen other baseball games. Move left or right on the mound to choose your starting position. You can choose from three speeds by pressing up, down, or nothing. Then you can break the ball left or right. Over a few games, I think I recorded one strike out. Something that I think is new is doing a field shift for different defensive plays by pressing down twice before throwing. Fielding is generally alright. The view is zoomed in more than other baseball titles, so you don’t really know where your outfielder is on a fly, but the game usually starts you at a good spot. If you need to jump or dive, that is an option.
Batting gives you the opportunity to swing away or bunt. If you have any plate discipline, you can wear their pitcher down by taking balls, but that’s never been my way of doing things. You can throw down that bunt by pressing the B Button. The aim is changed by pressing the button again. Useful if you want to lay down the sac bunt. The different player body types have things they’re better suited to. Short guys are typically better at bunting and getting to base with their speed. Lanky guys are better at defense. Husky kids have more power behind their swings, but are slow. Homeruns can be blasted by anyone, though. What’s up with the foreheads of the people in the crowd?
Graphics: 2.5
There is a lot of flickering on the field, but it doesn’t affect too much. I like the big sprites.
Sound: 2.0
There’s nothing to write home about here, but it’s all fine.
Gameplay: 3.0
This is solid baseball action. There’s not any variety, though.
Difficulty: 2.5
Your team doesn’t get better or worse. Pitchers don’t stay tired between games. The AI is pretty easy to outsmart.
Fun Factor: 3.0
I wanted to play a couple more games and win the championship, but time didn’t allow for it.
Overall Rating: 2.6
Little League Baseball: Championship Series earns a B-. SNK brought a good follow up to Baseball Stars. It doesn’t have longevity, but it might be able to win one here or there.