Hardball
Back then, in the early 80s, Hardball was a great sports game. When it came out and as I recall, it was the only decent baseball title for the Commodore 64 (and the others). Accolade had a pretty good reputation for making quality games for the C64 so they must have sold quite a few of those (no complaints here).
The computer (in red and white uniform) bats first. My pitcher throws some good stuff and gets out of the inning without allowing a single hit. The computer then pitches and things get a bit tough for the poor guy. After a nice strike inside, the computer makes a huge mistake in its pitch location and gives up a nice home run. That’s when I chose to stop the video. Those who pay real attention may have noticed that the video goes from the top of the 1st inning to the bottom of the 2nd.
Let’s start with the pitching, shall we? You have 4 types of pitches available. What they are depend on the pitcher that’s on the mound. So, you select the pitch and then you pick a location with the directional pad (if you don’t pick a location, the pitch is going straight down the pipe). Can’t be more simple, can it ?
When batting, you have the option to perform a bunt. If there are base runners, you also have the option to steal. It’s possible there are more options but I haven’t been that far. For a normal swing at the ball, just press on the button without doing anything with the directional pad. Once the pitch leaves the pitcher’s arm, you can press the directional pad to swing high, low, inside or outside. I personally don’t bother with this since it’s already hard enough to time the swing right.
Fielding relies on the directional pad as expected. To throw to first, you have to press to the right on the pad and click the button. I am sure you can figure out how to throw to the other bases.
Base running (once the ball is hit) follows the same concept. To get past first base on a possible double, you have to press the directional pad up. In other words, you press the pad where you want the base runner to go.
Don’t expect to see the names of famous baseball players of the era in the lineups. Don’t even expect to see the names of real teams in there. The only two teams available are the all-stars and the champs. Bummer ! I however think that there was some kind of (underground) editor to replace those 2 teams with your favorite ones.
To me, the best baseball game on the Commodore 64. If you disagree, tell me what’s better and I’ll check it out and review it.
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