1994 · Port · Park Place Productions · Baseball · Sports

ESPN Baseball Tonight

Timed Nintendo exclusivePort

ESPN Baseball Tonight is a baseball game with both exhibition and playoff modes. Other modes included are both practice (both pitching and batting) and Home Run Derby modes. The game contains 28 real MLB teams but no actual players. Gameplay options include being able to turn errors on or off and to have assisted fielding on or off.

Released: 1 September 1994
Platforms: MS-DOS SNES Sega CD Sega Genesis
Genres: Baseball Sports
Developers: Park Place Productions
Publishers: Sony Imagesoft
Modes: Multiplayer Single-player
Perspective: Bird view / Isometric Side view
Country: United States

About

ESPN Baseball Tonight is a 1994 baseball video game for the MS-DOS, Sega CD, Sega Genesis, and Super Nintendo Entertainment System.

The cartridge versions was developed by Park Place Productions, while Sony Imagesoft's internal development team handled development for the Sega CD version amidst troubles at Park Place.

Keywords

baseball
licensed game
sponsored by a tv network

Media

The articlegameplay, story, development, reception

Reception

ESPN Baseball Tonight mainly received negative reviews. Reviewing the Genesis version, GamePro said it "offers great graphics and sound, but it falls way too short in fun. ... If you're a die-hard baseball fan or a beginner, steer clear of this cart. It'll only frustrate you."

In Entertainment Weekly magazine, columnist Bob Strauss said that the design of the PC version was "appealing enough", but that it plunked players down into "shoddiest baseball simulation" he'd seen, with "pixelated generic-looking players; awkward, superfluous voice commentary; digitalized computer-generated and chroma-keyed or CSO technology-wise videos and a static interface that makes live baseball seem like the invasion of Normandy." He strongly preferred HardBall! '95 instead. Other reviews complained of its size.