Baseball Stars II

Baseball Stars II follows up on SNK's successful first entry and arrived on the NES in 1992 as one of the most elaborate baseball games of the entire generation. Compared to the competition, it offered a depth players were used to seeing only in later sports simulations – you could build your own team, train it, and gradually improve its players across a wide range of stats over the course of a season.

The matches themselves relied on precise timing of hits and pitches, and the game offered a wide range of pitching styles and batting techniques that had to be learned and factored into your tactics. Besides classic exhibition matches, the game also let you play a full league season, in which the growth of individual players and strategic roster management came into their own. This emphasis on long-term team development was above the norm for the NES at the time of release and set the game apart from most arcade sports titles, which relied solely on instant fun.

Thanks to its depth and precise controls, Baseball Stars II became one of the genre's reference titles on 8-bit consoles and inspired a number of later sports games in their approach to building your own team. For players who took baseball seriously, it was at the time one of the few games offering genuine strategic depth instead of mere arcade entertainment. Being able to watch your own recruits improve season after season gave the experience a scope that was rare on the NES.

Why play it: it offers the depth of season management and precise controls that make it one of the best baseball games on the NES.