EWB Baseball for iPhone has made it to the App Store. I did a post a short while ago when I learned the app was coming soon, and had been looking forward to checking it out.
I installed the app last night and got to spend a little while playing it. I was not disappointed. Here ‘s part of its App Store description:
Based on the award winning Earl Weaver Baseball engine and ported by its original creator, EWB Baseball is both a world class simulator and an hours-of-fun action game. The original game was recently named one of the 20 Great PC Games of All Time and this version contains all of its great features including lineups and bullpen management, in-game strategy, ballpark selection, pitching and batting, four viewing styles (from classic to 3D), "instant" stats games and a full set of commissioner’s options. Three league files are included including the original All-time Greats League.
I ‘m not yet familiar with all the game ‘s features “ in fact, I ‘m very much a rookie, not ready for the big leagues yet “ but I can already tell the game is a lot of fun if you ‘re a baseball fan, and especially if you ‘ve read any baseball history and appreciate players and teams from long-gone eras. If you like baseball nostalgia, you ‘re probably going to like this one a lot.
The game lets you choose between 3 leagues “ MLB 1990, MLB 1991, and Oldtimer. The first two offer teams from those two years, and the third offers a nostalgia-packed selection of AL or NL teams covering 15-30 year stretches ranging from AL or NL 1900-1930, to AL or NL 1961-1975.
So far, I ‘ve stuck to the Oldtimer league, and relished the chance to choose whether to bat Mickey Mantle or Frank Robinson at cleanup for the 61-75 AL team, and to decide how to pitch to Hank Aaron with Maury Wills on third and two outs, and made various other similarly compelling decisions.
I love that you can choose your level of involvement in the game “ whether to just let it simulate results for you, or whether you want to just manage a team, or manage and play. So far I ‘ve chosen to do it all, and I ‘m just getting the hang of controlling the batter and hitting the ball. When your team is pitching you choose the type of pitch to throw and location, but you don ‘t control the pitching action.
The game ‘s graphics are not going to compete with many of the flashier games in the App Store, but they seem fine to me for the style of game this is. The graphics and the gameplay, much like baseball itself, are slower-paced “ and nicely incorporate the strategic elements of the game.
Much as I enjoy nostalgia and playing as and against some classic, Hall of Fame players, I ‘d like to see the game get updated to incorporate more modern and even current leagues as well. I expect this will come in future updates.
I haven ‘t found any options thus far to save games. This needs to be added as well, as the game currently does not always pick up where I left off.
I ‘m not hugely concerned with graphics and sound effects, but I wouldn ‘t be against just a little livening up in these areas in future updates either.
Overall, my first impression of EWB Baseball is a very good one. I can see why this has been a big hit on the PC platform, and expect it could be on the iPhone as well, especially if it is updated a bit in just a few areas.
You can find EWB Baseball in the App Store now, at a price of $7.99.
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