Reggie Jackson Baseball
System: SMS
Release Date: March 1989
Developer: Sega
Publisher: Sega
Genre: Sports
Sega gets another baseball game, this one with a professional endorsement, it’s Reggie Jackson Baseball. The sports stars are putting their name on the games now, hopefully that will lead to a higher level of quality. Let’s see how it fares. First, you can choose from an exhibition game, a tournament, and a home run derby. I started out with the home run derby to get a handle on the batting game. You can move around the batter box and swing high, low, or level. If you’re a little early or late, you’ll whiff it.
When you start out, you can choose among all the teams from the MLB, split among the American and National Leagues. The pictures of the team managers are particularly enjoyable for me. Look, it’s Tommy LaSorda! We’ll see him later this year. The MLBPA wasn’t licensed, so players are all fictional. You have four pitchers to choose from, each with their own signature pitch. You also have pinch-hitters you can sub in, which is helpful if playing a National League game.
The game plays from behind the batter, which is the correct view for a baseball game. Give it points. The player graphics are very nice and animations are very detailed. Give it points! Pitchers have four pitches, a curve in either direction, a fastball, and their special pitch. The longer you hold button 2, the faster the pitch. After the ball leaves the pitcher’s hand, you can cheat it up, down, left, or right.
Before starting the game, you can choose to have your fielders controlled automatically by the computer or manually by yourself. The computer misses some easy stops on auto, but you’ll miss some pop ups on manual, so pick your poison. A downside I noticed is that runners don’t automatically start moving on contact, meaning you need to direct your base runners even if the ball hasn’t popped up. This led to more outs than I thought was appropriate.
Graphics: 3.0
The graphics are very nice. The animations are also very good. There are detailed cut ins for plays at home plate.
Sound: 2.0
I like the music and sound effects, but I can’t go above average because the song that plays when the camera goes to the field is incredibly annoying.
Gameplay: 3.5
The baseball plays as good as any other baseball game we’ve seen. A season mode would have set it above and beyond.
Difficulty: 2.0
Knocking one out to right field and getting thrown out at second can be infuriating. On your side, you can trick the AI into taking outs that no smart player would fall for.
Fun Factor: 3.0
The Master System finally gets a fun sports game! If only this came out a little earlier, it may have made a difference.
Overall Grade: 2.7
Reggie Jackson Baseball earns a B-. This is easily the best sports game the Master System has seen. Hopefully there will be a few more before the sunset of the console.