The sheer awesomeness that is PETE ROSE BASEBALL

[JayAre]

As you can see, I have somewhat of an affinity for this game.  I still remember the first time I saw the game's initial screen with the pitcher throwing; I thought I was looking at a 5200 game.  And to this day, I'm still impressed that Absolute was able to get the ball's flight path in "3D" on the modest 2600.  All those options as a pitcher are way cool:  5 different pitches, slow or fast, and you can move your hurler horizontally across the mound for inside or outside pitches.  And as a hitter, you get to move anywhere inside the box, horizontally or vertically.  That "behind the pitcher" POV is awesome, just like watching games on TV.  And once the ball is put into play, it's impressive to have the possibility of those 5 different field angles.  It's fun as a 2-player game, and in 1-player mode, the computer "A.I." is actually pretty decent, much better than that of the other baseball offerings on the console.

 

Although the game is not without its faults.  I guess the main gripe that players have is the way you control the infielders, which is not very intuitive.  There's a definite learning curve there, and it takes some getting used to.  Although I guess it's not too bad, considering the limits of the joystick.  The game is also pretty drab looking.  Both teams have the same, exact white uniform.  Adding a little bit of color here would have gone a long way.  And two instances, in particular, where the game is pretty unrealistic.  First, there are A LOT of home runs in this game.  And secondly, the players run excruciatingly slow around the base pads.

 

In the end, for me, the pros greatly outweigh the cons.  The game is very engaging and a lot of fun to play.  Charlie Hustle Baseball is, hands down, my favorite sports game on the 2600, and overall, one of my faves in the entire library.  Would love to see a spruced-up hack of it one day.

 

Curious to hear what you guys think.  Thanks.

 

(By the way, is that picture on the box from when Pete had his second go-around in Cincinnati as a player-manager?  Certainly looks like the Reds uniform from that era, and he looks a little older in that one.  Hard to tell, though, since they doctored the picture and removed the team logo.  Would be great to see the original picture before it was touched up). 

[+KaeruYojimbo]

A fun game despite its flaws (infield controls, slow baserunners and cheesy home runs). Based on when the game was released, the cover pic is almost certainly from his second tour of duty with the Reds.

 

BTW, Pete Rose was placed on baseball's Permanently Ineligible list 30 years ago this Saturday.

[Jstick]

I wonder if changing the home run frequency might be as simple as changing a byte value in the code.

[+save2600]

The invisible lines that outfielders are quarantined to ruin it for me. Same goes for the 7800 version, of which there is no excuse. I'm guessing that is why almost universally, the 7800 version is typically rated lower than the 2600 game, despite having better graphics. 

[JayAre]

30 minutes ago, save2600 said:

The invisible lines that outfielders are quarantined to ruin it for me. Same goes for the 7800 version, of which there is no excuse. I'm guessing that is why almost universally, the 7800 version is typically rated lower than the 2600 game, despite having better graphics. 

SAVE, do you mean the infielders?

 

But I can totally understand how the controls would be a deal-breaker for a lot of players.  I've just played this game so damn much that I think I've developed a pretty decent feel for the controls, and I've just gotten used to it.  But it takes a considerable amount of gameplay to get over that learning curve.

[JayAre]

Hey, guys, a quick programming question regarding the infielder controls.  The way the game plays is that, if the ball is hit to the infield, you choose which infielder to control, and you can move that player horizontally anywhere along the screen.  But you're limited to a specific vertical boundary above and below the initial starting position of each indfielder.  Wouldn't there have been a way to allow each infielder to roam freely anywhere on the screen, like they did with RealSports Baseball and Super Baseball?  Thanks.

[+KaeruYojimbo]

It would be possible but require flickering the fielder sprites. The 2600 is limited to 2 sprites on any given scanline. By limiting the vertical movement of the fielders, it guarantees that there will never be more than one fielder and a baserunner occupying the same horizontal space. Activision adhered to a no-flicker policy, so it makes sense that Absolute, made up mostly of former Activision programmers, would have similar guidelines.

[JayAre]

9 minutes ago, KaeruYojimbo said:

It would be possible but require flickering the fielder sprites. The 2600 is limited to 2 sprites on any given scanline. By limiting the vertical movement of the fielders, it guarantees that there will never be more than one fielder and a baserunner occupying the same horizontal space. Activision adhered to a no-flicker policy, so it makes sense that Absolute, made up mostly of former Activision programmers, would have similar guidelines.

Awesome explanation.  Thanks so much.

[+cvga]

12 hours ago, JayAre said:

And two instances, in particular, where the game is pretty unrealistic.  First, there are A LOT of home runs in this game.  And secondly, the players run excruciatingly slow around the base pads.

 

Love the graphics but the slow runners and limited fielding ability used to make me wonder if this would have been better as a Home Run Derby type of game. With multiple characters with back stories (like Punch Out) and home run animations, this would be a ton of fun.

 

As a baseball game, it's visually impressive but I was never really able to get into it.