Get ready for the most sensational video baseball game ever!
World Class Baseball was released for the TurboGrafx-16 in December 1989, during the first holiday season after the console launched.
It is the latest game I've played on my TurboGrafx journey.
Even though I'm not the biggest baseball fan, I've certainly played my fair share of baseball video games back in the day, starting with RealSports Baseball on the Atari 5200 (which I loved).
Like most of the TurboGrafx games I've played on this journey, the first thing I noticed was the music for the game was really good and the graphics looked detailed and vibrant as well.
Like many games back in the day, it's clear the publisher didn't have the MLB license for either real players or real teams. Some of the team names are still pretty badass though. I like to play as the Ninjas. :)
The game itself plays like many other baseball games you might already be familiar with. Batting is a relatively straightforward affair, and if you want to do a line drive you just need to hold the D-pad in the direction of your batter (right-handed to the left, left-handed to the right). Honestly it took me a bit to get used to the timing (heck, I'm STILL getting used to it).
Now fielding is an even more straightforward setup, however all your outfielders move together in sync, so just watch the map of the field to see their positions relative to the ball movement when it is traveling to the outfield (although this is easier said than done).
Pitching is probably my favorite part, as you can curve the ball after throwing it and pretty consistently get Strike Outs. You can also get a runner out when they are leading off of a base to try and steal. You just have to be careful not to misjudge, as they will go for it if they see you trying to catch them and they are far enough off base already. (Many times they happened to make it safely to the next base when I tried it, however I also got plenty of them out. And it's VERY satisfying.)
You can also move your pitcher closer to the position of the batter and try to hit them with the ball. They get to take a base this way, but if a batter is really pissing you off, you might as well let them take a base AFTER you hit them. If you feel more in the mood to watch a game, rather than play one (or play one BADLY in my case) there is also a spectator mode. I do enjoy watching simulated matches from time to time, so I always like to see this option available in games.
Overall, I really enjoyed World Class Baseball, even though I'm not any good at it. I can generally do alright pitching and fielding, but there always comes at least one inning where the CPU gets a bunch of runs, and I just can't seem to get any.
I don't play a ton of baseball games, so honestly I'd probably rather pick another one if I were going to play one, however if I had been gifted this game back in the day, I definitely would have kept playing it.
You can watch some of my gameplay from World Class Baseball in this YouTube video:
While World Class Baseball was the first baseball game for the TurboGrafx, there were several other baseball games already available at the time on other consoles.
Just to give you an idea, here is a list of all the 8-bit and 16-bit baseball games released in the same year that World Class Baseball was released (plus a few corresponding gameplay videos you can watch):
On NES:
On GameBoy:
- Baseball (Jul 1989)
On Sega Master System:
- Reggie Jackson Baseball (Mar 1989) [WATCH]
On Sega Genesis:
- Tommy Lasorda Baseball (Aug 1989)
While I was researching this game, I came across this preview from GamePro magazine back in their September/October issue in 1989:
While I did enjoy my time playing World Class Baseball, I'm eager to get onto my next game.
The next game I'll be playing on my TurboGrafx journey is...:
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