What’s Going On?
Hey everyone. Dylan here. I just wanted to give an update on where “Nintendo is Great” is currently at and my thoughts for going forward.
As most of you know, this Substack is a chronological journey through every game ever released for a Nintendo console/handheld. That’s 40 years of history, thousands of games. More than enough for a guy like me to keep busy for, oh, the rest of my life or so.
I’d like for more people to be interested in this Substack at this present moment, but I acknowledge the NES has been covered to death by millennials for the last twenty years. Hence why I’ve tried to throw some Switch 2 coverage into the mix, but I don’t know if that’s really boosted readership either.
I have so many more 1988 NES games to go. About 50 or so by my count. Once I hit 1989, we’ll finally get into Game Boy! Not sure if the latter sentence is worthy of an exclamation mark, but I gave it one anyway!
1989 is also the year that the 16-bit revolution really began (in the States) with the release of the Sega Genesis and the TurboGrafx-16. I’d love to discuss these consoles on this Substack as well (within reason), if there’s reasonable interest.
Even with my semi-chaotic life schedule, I’m trying to write more each week. I’d love to get back to posting at least twice a week, maybe three times if I can manage. No promises, of course, but it would be nice to cover these NES games at a brisker pace.
I’d love to hear your thoughts/comments on “Nintendo is Great,” if you have any. If not, I will take that as a sign that you are all 1000% fully onboard with everything I’m doing here and to not change a single thing.
Thanks for reading, I’m really glad you’re here.
And now… for our Feature Presentation.
Major League Baseball
PUBLISHER: LJN
DEVELOPER: Atlus
RELEASE DATE: Apr. 1988 (US)
There are approximately fifty trillion baseball games on the NES, give or take a few. Major League Baseball is indeed one of them. (Feels like I’ve written something similar to this before. Hmm…)
Upon its release, Major League Baseball was notable for being the first baseball game licensed by the MLB. You can play as the Baltimore Orioles if you want, isn’t that exciting?! Well… yeah, in 1988, playing as any real baseball team in a video game was pretty wild. These days, MLB The Show 20XX is out here flaunting its realistic character models and silky smooth microtransactions, and nobody cares.
So Major League Baseball lets you control the Seattle Mariners, which means you can use Alvin Davis, the ’87 Home Run King, in your batting lineup, right? Sort of.
Major League Baseball is licensed by the MLB, but not the MLBPA, which means there are no official player names in the roster. Each player’s player numbers and stats are present, though, so technically, Alvin Davis is there in spirit, if not in name or form. I couldn’t find a reason why Major League Baseball didn’t acquire the MLBPA license, but I do have two theories. 1) all the player sprites look squatty, ridiculous and identical to each other. No self-respecting player wants to put their name on a Fisher-Price baseball figure. 2) More likely, LJN only had money for one license, not two.
The LJN rainbow has cursed far worse games than Major League Baseball, but that doesn’t mean this particular trip to the ball game is worth experiencing. As with many of these early NES sports games, the computer has extraordinary talent. Even the lowliest batters on the Cleveland Indians can hit circles around your own pathetic outfielders. Their pitchers have tremendous arms that shoot lightning balls from their knuckles directly to the catcher’s mitt. You presume the pitcher threw a ball, but you didn’t see it. All you hear is “Strike,” “Out,” and “What a Loser!” On the off chance you hit one of these acts of God, you might make it to first, but don’t expect any more concessions. Didn’t you know? The Cleveland Indians have the best outfielders, Jerry. The best.
In addition to pitching and batting (poorly), Major League Baseball touts that you’re also able to manage your team. This is no in-depth managerial sim, though. The most you do is choose your player lineup from the array of nameless stats and player numbers. Place the batters in your preferred order, select a pitcher, and you’re off to the field, destined to lose. Pressing ‘Start’ during the game also allows you to switch pitchers, should your current pitcher’s arm feel tired. Their tiredness will show when they’re unable to throw above 40mph.
You know what baseball title is most reminiscent of Major League Baseball? The original NES Baseball, albeit without the endearing insanity. The controls are exactly the same in both games for pitching, batting and outfield. The camera angles are the same. The graphics are arguably worse. Every action feels floaty and awkward, from hitting a ball to pitching to catching. The game doesn’t flow, it janks from inning to inning.
Problem is, Baseball came out in 1983 for the Famicom before its eventual Stateside release in October 1985. Major League Baseball was released in April 1988. With the MLB license secured and with years of gaming advancements, developers Atlus and lead programmer David Rolfe should have created a baseball revelation. Instead, we get this halfhearted experience, one that’s content to coast on branding alone.
Thanks so much for reading Nintendo is Great! If you like this post and you’d like to read another, the Master Games List has the majority of our previous posts available for free!
What I like about your Substack compared to other media that has covered the NES is that it isn't about nostalgia. If a game is awful, you make that clear and if it's a classic, you don't spend 30 minutes telling us all what we already know. I enjoy reading your work because it's like a guided tour through the NES library where I make a mental note of which pieces I'd like in my own collection.
Feedback-wise? It's difficult. I can't say much other than I'd happily read anything you write that's later too: especially on the Gamecube as I know we have different opinions on that console. Writing what creatively fires you up will always be the best bet, at least in my opinion.
I enjoy the chronological and catalog-encompassing way you’re doing this, but I wanna read what you’re excited about writing with games.
I don’t want you to get bored or burned out by sticking to a formula, especially if there are other related thing you’d be excited to be doing that would align with the content a purpose. If you threw in some Game Boy, some competition perspective from Sega and NEC, or some later-than-NES Nintendo reviews, I’m all for it.
I think it would be cool if you mixed timelines so that you’re going chronologically through each system’s catalog, but we’re not having to wait through several generations before we get to hear your thoughts on Game Cube games. I do like hearing how the gaming landscape evolved and the progression of game development/design as a whole over time, but there’s a (as you aptly stated) lifetime of Nintendo content to cover and I think having some of the other bits in here and there wouldn’t be a bad thing at all.
I’ll be here reading however you decide going forward. Thanks for all the write ups!