Categories: MobileReviews

REVIEW: Baseball Superstars 2011

Baseball Superstars 2011 is another offering from the company Gamevil, a company that when I read their name always comes across as “Game Evil”. That couldn’t be farther from the truth though, Gamevil and Baseball Superstars 2011 are as good as they come.

When you start up Baseball Superstars 2011 you’ll have a myriad of game choices

  • Recent game: continue where you left off the last time you played.
  • Exhibition: Single game.
  • My League: The RPG’ish mode. Select to play as a batter or pitcher and work your character through a career.
  • Season: Take control of one team for a season.
  • Match Play: Best teams from the Season play.
  • HR Race: Home Run derby.
  • Mission:Mini games that require you to pass specific goals like get 2 hits or a home run.

    Huffito is at the plate…..

The real meat and potatoes of the game is the “My League” mode. This is where you take control of a character and guide them through a career much like MLB Power Pros. I picked a batter (because chicks dig the long ball) and started a career. The game plays out only showing you at the plate when it’s your turn, you get three strikes and then the game skips to the next time you’re up. The games go very fast, at most you’ll have 5 chances at the plate but most times it’ll be the standard four. Along the way in this mode you’ll be leveling up your character and passing certain requirements you get from the coach in order to get game bonuses.

When not playing games you can help your character advance by choosing one of the following

  • Training: You select a type of training and then your character automatically completes it, the levels given are random.
  • Rest: Your character rests and builds back his stamina
  • Outing: Your character does a specific outing that helps raise it’s levels
  • Item: This is where you can buy and equip items that improve your player’s performance.

Exhibition, season, and match play all follow the same form as My League with the only difference being that you control every player on the field instead of a specific one.

The controls are well thought out and responsive. When you’re batting there’s a direction pad on the left side of the screen for player placement and then on the right side there’s a hit button and a bunt button. Once you make contact with the ball everything is automated. When you play as a pitcher there’s a bit more to do. First of all you have to select what pitch you want to throw and then the overlay changes to the same design you have when batting, this time the directional pad on the left is for the pitch location and the right side of the screen has a pitch button and a back button in case you want to throw a different pitch.

Both batting and pitching are easy to control and add to the “pick up and play” feeling of the game.

Giant kitty man at the plate…..

The one twist this game has is that for whatever reason you’ll find special characters in games. Some may be a demon pitcher or a giant panther batter. They break the flow of the game because when one shows up you know it’s either an instant out or an instant hit. It’s discouraging to work for an entire game and have it blown to pieces in the 8th by a super character’s actions.

The sound is sparse but when it’s there it’s well done. The crack of the bat is especially good with a very clear sound when you get good wood on a pitch.

The music is a cheery selection of titles, nothing mind blowing but they fit the overall theme.

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COULD BE HELPFUL WITH ANXIETY BECAUSE

  • Easy to pick up and play
  • Lots of content
  • Story mode is addicting

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COULD BE UNHELPFUL WITH ANXIETY BECAUSE

  • Numb/cold hands could lead to trouble with the controls
  • Playing My League mode when anxious is a good way to tank your character after a few bad games

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JASON’S THOUGHTS

I think this is a great game for anyone to play. It’s anxiety friendly because the easy controls plus the amount of depth makes sure there’s always something to do. The thing I can’t stress enough is not playing My League when you’re anxious because it’s such a steep climb getting your character better that a few games of missed hits gives your character such a drop. There are still plenty of other game modes to keep anyone busy for hours or just a few minutes if need be.

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This review was based on the Android version that was provided by the reviewer.

Jason

Full time cat dad/Full time streamer. Feline power broker, goofball, motivational speaker, conversationalist. I take care of 9 special needs cats and stream with my tuxedo cat Simon on Twitch. Come join the family. https://www.twitch.tv/panicgamer_and_simon

View Comments

  • Hands down, my favorite mobile game to play. That said I don't play mobile games much, but this is still a great game.