Baseball Adventure - Review

Baseball Adventure establishes itself as a bit of juvenilia and doesn't let go. It felt like a time capsule for me and like the text adventure I should've written. It has a lot of unnecessary comic violence. I'm pretty sure it's comic, because one item is a baseball autographed by Marv Throneberry, who gained a cult following for erratic play. Yet it's also a bit of a mystery and a spy game. It doesn't cohere strictly, but it wants you to like it very much, and like it I did.

You see, you have a job with the San Francisco Giants. It's in an office. The details are vague, as they must be for any kid or teen who wrote text adventures on their computer (Been there!) But you've been hit on the head as you put money in a safe. Now, if you just went to the police, that would be boring, and we'd have no text adventure where you get to do something that should (but doesn't) get the police coalled on you! Yup, it's vigilante time, finding the robber and getting the money back before the ballgame ends. Progress in the game is displayed by mentioning that a San Francisco player did something awesome. You have lots of room for error, partially because the Giants do seem to be running up the score with ease.

The main thing to do before finding the culprit is to give something to Robinson, the San Francisco manager. (NPCs do not have a first name, though when you THROW FRISBEE and such, poor Steve Sax or Dusty Baker is injured and can't play. But I can't help wonder if the author felt like throwing stuff at Dusty Baker after the Giants-Angels world series years later.) Here there's a cryptic clue that only sports fans of a certain era may know: "I'd like to be like Mean Joe Greene." So you sort of bribe him to get up to bat, which is a red herring for finding the culprit. And though you do not actually get to bat, rest assured you get to use the bat you find to thump the culprit with no evidence, after which the stolen cash will fall out. Along the way you'll meet people, friend, foe and Howard Cosell, who make sure you understand the Dodgers are no match for the Giants today, or any day!

But all that means nothing to you if you don't find the money. It's not a huge game, with 23 rooms, but it actually feels big and not bloated.

I hope the author is glad they wrote this as a kid. It's better than what I did. I suppose you can't do too much of "ha ha, this is silly and the faults make it charming" but all the same that's what I got from this. I remembered my own text adventures I wrote as a kid and didn't care that they were bad.

Oh. One word about the suspect? Let's just say Rolaids won't help with the pain you dish out to him.

Overall (Rating: 6/10)

Baseball fans, past or present, will enjoy this surreal romp with a walkthrough handy. You must track down a thief who has knocked you out and stolen from a bank vault. Charming juvenilia for sports fans.