Harball! is now in its 5th edition and this is the game that started it all!
Let's face it: Sports sims are hard to make. There are so many 'human' elements to program that any console games will have troubles replicating it. Now imagine a baseball sim made in 1985?
Hardball is after all about Baseball. All the fun aspects of baseball are here: designated hitters, different pitching and batting styles, stealing bases, player substitution and management of your team. However there are only two teams being the All-Stars and The Champs. There are not much difference between these two teams in regards to skill however the Champs has slightly faster runners than the All Stars (which definitely helps). You can play as a single player or much better still multiplayer. However there are no tournaments therefore boredom can come quite easily (unless you have a friend who claims to be a baseball guru and you beat the pants of him countless times could be a different story).
There are different styles of pitching (e.g. sliders, sinkers, fastball etc) and different styles of batting yet the batting styles don't really have a real effect as you'll mainly concentrate on just hitting the ball. Even though I have placed countless hours playing this game, I still don't understand what contributes a home-run. You can have a batter average of over 300 and not hit a home run as regularly as say 275. The flip side is that you can time the hitting so it can fly past the in-fielders. In addition the pitchers can tire out as the game progresses which simulates well like a real-time baseball game. Take note though that a typical game can last from 30-45 minutes yet like a real baseball game it can last much, much longer.
Considering it's a 1985 game don't expect marvelous AI as they are not the brightest bunch of people. For example: in a fielding position they tend to throw at the base where the last runner is heading to; another words if you have a runner on 1st and 2nd and you hit the ball towards the first base he'll throw the ball to the third and not go for a double. However batting wise, they are pretty good.
Stealing bases on the other hand is a downer. Once you try and steal the base you cannot run back hence those fast runners (i.e. The Champs) have this advantage. On the other hand batting-wise the All- Stars have the upper hand.
The typical sounds demonstrate well from crowd applauses if you hit a home-run to that cheesy music score when the innings starts. It's a nice touch however nothing to brag about.
The graphics looks pleasing enough especially the pitching. It has a nice flow as you'll see that wind up and then the throw. Others like sliding and running are pretty average however comparing to other baseball sims for that time Hardball is far pleasing to the eye. The grandstand and the baseball diamond are again nice and praise needs to be in order of the whole set-up of the game. Easy navigation means little learning-curve which means more action.
So if you are looking for a good baseball sim of the 80s then Hardball cannot be ignored. There is not really a better contender in this genre at the time of release and after all there are now five versions of Hardball. That has to be a good thing so batter up and play ball!