Main Review
Review Context: To me, free to play games (F2P) is an addiction if you are not careful. Games like Golf 3 on my iPod Touch I play until my free time of the day expires, and I wait till I can play again instead of coughing up money to continue. To see Nintendo give this method a twist peaked my interest.
Date of Playthrough: April 3, 2014
Publisher: Nintendo
Developer: Nintendo
This game was shown back in February during a Nintendo Direct. When Nintendo announced it would try out the free to play market, many were concerned if they could pull it off. The trailer for the game showed that they were taking a different approach to the scheme that had many people wanting to give the game a try. Will Rusty strike a home run, or will he go to the dugout?
Graphics
The game has a very cartoony look Nintendo is known for and it works in it’s favor. Rusty’s kids have a very fluid movement to them with their tongue moving all over the place when they talk. The game uses your Mii as the main character and looks better than your Miis on Wii Sports (missing arms and legs). The story is presented with hand drawn pictures while you read the dialogue.
The 3D effect isn’t needed, but does show off the level of depth in some baseball mini games when you have to judge when to swing your bat.
Control
The control scheme for this is very simple with you swinging the bat with A. There are some mini games that will have you using the Dpad and A to control where the ball goes after you hit it, but they do explain the control method with a training mode (optional). The touch screen is used to keep track of items you win and displays the control scheme as you play. Touching the bottom screen during gameplay pauses the game if pushing the Start button is too much of a hassle.
Design
The game starts you out by choosing your Mii. Then you move in next door to Rusty’s shop. You notice things aren’t as it seems when Rusty asks you to take in one of his twenty kids. You learn that he was once a popular baseball player only now to fall hard on his luck selling baseball items. He blames video games as the reason for the drop in sales. So he decides to stock baseball video games to spike sales. He then gives you a free game and a system to play it on. The Nontendo 4DS. He quickly states that Nintendo is a different company on its own. Thanks for the fourth wall information. You take the 4DS and his kid back home with you, only for the 4DS to literally suck you into the game.
This is where the free to play comes in. You play a complete baseball mini game then when you finish you go back to Rusty’s shop and buy another game to continue the story. There are 10 mini games to buy. The regular price is $4.00 (real not in game) and his child tells you that you can haggle him to lower the price. As you play the mini games, you earn items such as scissors, donuts, comb to offer to Rusty. The happier he gets the lower the price goes. Once you are willing to buy it at a lower price the game turns around and makes you feel bad after the children ask if there will be food tonight or will mother come back from vacation. You can real between the lines that he is divorced. Feeling bad for Rusty is good because it makes you want to continue the story to see if Rusty gets his big break.
This single player game supports Spot and Streetpass to show off your high scores. The game has a lot of replay even if you don’t continue the story with setting high scores in the current games you bought and unlocking new attires for your Mii. I have a hard time putting the game down until the battery light comes on.
Sound
The soundtrack for the game gives that “gaming in the 1990s”, which some will like and some will hate. The characters do not talk so you will be reading the text. The best sound effect that makes this game great is the sound of the bat hitting the baseball. I found it amazing that while licensed baseball games have the sound of a pro bat, Rusty brings me back to when I was in little league baseball with the sound of an amateur bat hitting the ball.
Similar Game Liked:
Golf 3 (iOS)
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