After 1.5 hrs, I defeated the CPU 24-8 after losing 17-14.
Likely due to losing the license to Pete Rose's name, it's given as just "Baseball" in the compilation. Activision isn't listed as either the developer or publisher on Moby Games. For the demo mode, they replaced the copyright information with that of Skyworks Technology, as well as having a 2002 copyright date (It was originally released in 1988). According to Moby Games, Skyworks Technologies was founded in 1995 by Garry Kitchen and David Crane, who both worked at Activision and Absolute Entertainment before co-founding Skyworks.
The game is actually pretty decent, for a 2600 game. The graphics are pretty good, getting close to NES/SMS levels. Rather than showing the entire field, it breaks it down to behind the pitcher for each pitch, then upon a hit, switches first to either the left or right side of the infield, and then if it makes it past the infield to LF, CF, or RF. Fielding for the outfielders is well done, with you needing to track the shadow of the ball. Fielding with the infielders, however, is not so good. The problem is that each of the 4 infielders shown (3B, SS, P, and C for the left side; and 2B, 1B, P, and C for the right side) occupies a horizontal slice of the screen and they cannot go above or below that. So, if, for example, there's a grounder down the line to 3B and it only makes it halfway, the 3B will not be able to field it and you'll have to switch to the Pitcher to field it. Also, if you aren't in control of an infielder (you don't automatically start in control of any infielder) and it's a grounder that goes right to a fielder, the ball will go right through that fielder. I never could get the hang of selecting the Pitcher for the fielder by pushing left or right (depending on which side of the field the ball is on), but that's not a fault of the game.
Pitching is actually done pretty well, as you get to choose from a fast, medium, and slow pitch speed, as well as having a fastball, curveball, screwball, sinker, and changeup. Unfortunately, I never saw the pitcher miss the strike zone in the 2 games I played. The CPU will actually swing and miss, so it's actually possible to strike out the CPU -- something that seems rare to me for games of this vintage. You can also move the pitcher around the rubber to hit the corners. Likewise, while batting, you can move the batter around the batter's box to reach the outside corner. You also get to choose to swing high, center, or low. Unfortunately, I found no benefit to swinging high or low, as I had no problem hitting HRs, or just generally getting hits, with center swings. Even baserunning has the options of advancing or holding either all runners or only the lead runner. Thankfully, it automatically advances any runners that are in a position to be forced out. Luckily, the compilation includes the game manuals, as it's really needed for this game. Also for the compilation, they really shouldn't have made the game select (choosing between a 1P and 2P game) work once you begin a game, as it's fairly easy to accidentally hit the L1 button and therefore quit the current game.
A few other shortcomings are that on any fly/popout, the play is automatically over when the ball is caught, so you can't tag and try to advance on a flyout to the outfield. It also means that you don't have to have your runners hold on an infield pop fly. This does render the manual getting the infield fly rule wrong (it has the rule as being an automatic out on an infield fly if there's simply a runner on 1st base, while the actual rule is that runners have to be on 1st and 2nd or when the bases are loaded) moot. You can't steal or bunt. The CPU won't throw back to a base if your runner is retreating, as I was about 3 steps away from 3rd base when the throw from the outfield arrived and simply had my baserunner return to 2nd base.
A few nice touches are that when there's a runner on 3rd base, it will play some "organ" music. It also plays a short tune when you hit a HR. Something that might be annoying is that there is constant crowd noise. One feature I don't think I've ever seen before is that a ball can hit the top of the outfield wall and bounce back in play.
Even with the handful of negatives, I'd have no problem recommending this if you want an Atari 2600 baseball game. It really did not feel like an Atari 2600 game.
