The Baseball Video Games Worth Playing
Sports video games remain a staple of a burgeoning industry. Since the early days of the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES), baseball games have been a staple for fans of video games and the sport, alike. There have been far too many titles to list, but few have managed to stand out.
As fun as it is following the league and tracking MLB rumors, there is nothing like getting in the action yourself. What makes for the perfect baseball video game? Though everyone has their personal favorites, the best games are immersive and – above all else – fun. These games manage to check all the right boxes, making them baseball titles that will live on forever on their respective consoles.
MLB: The Show (Various Years)
There are some retro options on the list, but when it comes to modern baseball games, MLB: The Show is the standard. Not only is it the best baseball title out there, but it is also one of the best sports titles you will find. The graphics are great – because it is a current-gen title – but gameplay is what takes it above and beyond.
Building rosters and taking your franchise to the World Series are great, but the career mode is what brings players back again and again. Start in the minors and work your way up to a Major League position, going through games rapidly despite how many there are. Tweak your skills, adjust your look, and pursue records like never before.
Backyard Baseball (1997)
There are gamers 28 years later who remember the legend of Pablo Sanchez reverentially. That is the impact that Backyard Baseball has had on those who have played. The graphics are simple, but fun, and the roster is full of diverse characters across the Backyard series.
Each player has varying stats and different personalities, making roster management as unique as possible. Originally on PC, the game has since made the shift to consoles, bringing Kiesha Phillips, Kenny Kawaguchi, and Pete Wheeler to homes everywhere. Simple as it may be, this is easily one of the most fun titles in baseball video game history.
MVP Baseball 2005
EA Sports has been a staple of sports gaming for more than 30 years. In its long history, it may not have done better in the baseball realm than MVP Baseball 2005. The graphics were revolutionary for the time and still hold up pretty well. But it is the gameplay that really sold the title.
Hitting and pitching were simple, yet effective, and roster construction could become downright obsessive. Because of rights issues, the legendary Barry Bonds isn’t in the game, but Jon Dowd stepped in to become the kind of player that gamers talk about decades later in hushed tones.
Mario Superstar Baseball (2005)
Some games can be a bit polarizing, but Mario Superstar Baseball is one of the few titles that everyone agrees on. It is one of the most fun baseball video games of all-time and still holds up to this day. The controls are simple yet effective, a must for games that make this list. You can’t really enjoy yourself if you don’t know what half the buttons do, after all.
Even cooler is the fact that there is a story mode (called Challenge Mode) within the game. Pick a team, go around the map to different stadiums, and complete achievements. You can steal players from other teams, unlike them to make them playable, and add them to your own roster. There is so much to do in this game and all of it is as fun as could be.
