Baseball Stars
Baseball Stars became one of the most influential games in sports video game development since it was first released by SNK in 1989. It was released for both the Nintendo Entertainment System and the PlayChoice 10 Upright Arcade Cabinet and became a huge success worldwide. It is often referred to as the best baseball game on the NES platform and introduced a number of key features that have become standard in modern sports games, such as the 'Create Player' and 'Create Team' functions.
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Baseball Stars allowed players to create a team and season that could be saved so that stats were retained between game sessions. Players could create players and teams and even name these items. The game also introduced managerial features, such as the ability to earn money, gain prestige and upgrade players in the squad. David Littman, a producer of EA's NHL game series, has said that the popular GM mode in the NHL games was inspired by Baseball Stars, so the influence continues. The gameplay involved participating in a season or simply a one-off versus mode. The rules of the game stayed true to baseball, and the realism surpassed anything that existed before its release.