{"id":1044,"date":"2022-02-05T00:00:32","date_gmt":"2022-02-05T05:00:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/gaminginsurrection.com\/reviews\/?p=1044"},"modified":"2022-07-17T17:07:47","modified_gmt":"2022-07-17T21:07:47","slug":"ken-griffey-jr-s-winning-run-issue-40","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gaminginsurrection.com\/reviews\/index.php\/2022\/02\/05\/ken-griffey-jr-s-winning-run-issue-40\/","title":{"rendered":"Ken Griffey Jr.\u2018s Winning Run \u2014 Issue 40"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

The Kid\u2019s SNES<\/span> fol\u00adlow-up a guar\u00adan\u00adteed home run<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

There are a few things Rare, the bas\u00adtion of all that is unholy in retro gam\u00ading, has done cor\u00adrect\u00adly. One was Gold\u00aden\u00adEye 007 for the Nin\u00adten\u00addo 64. And anoth\u00ader is the Ken Grif\u00adfey Jr. MLB<\/span> series.<\/span>
\nKen Grif\u00adfey Jr., for the unini\u00adti\u00adat\u00aded, is one of the best major league play\u00aders to have ever picked up a bat and glove. There was once a time that folks believed that Grif\u00adfey would beat Hank Aaron\u2019s home run record in the \u201990s. Alas, once Grif\u00adfey left the Seat\u00adtle Mariners after the 1995 sea\u00adson, he was nev\u00ader the same thanks to numer\u00adous injuries. He\u2019s still \u201cthat guy,\u201d though, and it remains that his game series is one of the best in arcade base\u00adball. The first game was good, but the sequel \u2014 Ken Grif\u00adfey Jr.\u2019s Win\u00adning Run \u2014 is absolute fire.<\/span>
\nLet\u2019s start with the premise, because there actu\u00adal\u00adly is some\u00adthing of a sto\u00adry here. The open\u00ading cin\u00ade\u00admat\u00adics show Grif\u00adfey Jr. at the plate doing what he does best: Smack the ball. Already beloved by fans and team\u00admates, his hero\u00adics in the bot\u00adtom of the 11th inning of the 1995 Amer\u00adi\u00adcan League Divi\u00adsion Series\u2019 final game that year cement\u00aded the city\u2019s love for \u201cThe Kid\u201d and led to the birth of this sequel title. He was so beloved that when Grif\u00adfey Jr. start\u00aded think\u00ading about retire\u00adment, Seat\u00adtle active\u00adly cam\u00adpaigned for the Hall of Famer to sim\u00adply \u201ccome home\u201d and reclaim his title of King of the King\u00addome. This set\u00adup is lov\u00ading\u00adly craft\u00aded in just the intro, and the rest of the game is favor\u00adable because of it. <\/span>
\nSo, what\u2019s inside the pack\u00adage with a slick out\u00adside? A lot, for a SNES<\/span> game. There are sev\u00ader\u00adal ways to play, depend\u00ading on if you want a quick game or if you want to make a full 162-game sea\u00adson of things. The MLB<\/span> League mode is a great\u00adly appre\u00adci\u00adat\u00aded fea\u00adture. In it, you can choose to play three types of sea\u00adsons: A short 26-game sea\u00adson, a medi\u00adum 52-game sea\u00adson and a full 162-game sea\u00adson. There\u2019s also an option to play an exhi\u00adbi\u00adtion game in the MLB<\/span> Chal\u00adlenge mode. I like the abil\u00adi\u00adty to choose between those options, because maybe I don\u2019t want to sit through an entire sea\u00adson. I can\u2019t do that in real life, so I know I don\u2019t want to do that in a video game ver\u00adsion. There\u2019s even a mode to resume a pre\u00advi\u00adous\u00adly start\u00aded game. <\/span>
\nIf you\u2019re not so inclined to be a play\u00ader, there\u2019s a decent man\u00adag\u00ader mode includ\u00aded. Ever the non-tra\u00addi\u00adtion\u00adal\u00adist, if you\u2019re like me and you want to skip to the end, you can run through a World Series mode where you play out the Series to crown your cham\u00adpi\u00adon. There\u2019s also an All-Star mode where you can play through the tit\u00adu\u00adlar game and par\u00adtic\u00adi\u00adpate in the Home Run Derby. <\/span>
\nWith the wealth of options in how to play, it\u2019s easy to actu\u00adal\u00adly play. Win\u00adning Run doesn\u2019t rein\u00advent the wheel of base\u00adball video game mechan\u00adics, which is a good thing. That means that even if you\u2019re not a sports nut, you could prob\u00ada\u00adbly pick up the game and learn how to play base\u00adball. Base run\u00adning, field\u00ading, pitch\u00ading and bat\u00adting are easy to under\u00adstand here, and the mechan\u00adics all come naturally. <\/span>
\nWhile Win\u00adning Run doesn\u2019t have the MLB<\/span> player\u2019s license \u2014 nei\u00adther did the orig\u00adi\u00adnal game, either \u2014 it does have a fla\u00advor that com\u00adpet\u00ading games at the time didn\u2019t have: Charm and charis\u00adma in every detail. The graph\u00adics are clean, crisp and out\u00adright beau\u00adti\u00adful. They are so well done that even 26 years lat\u00ader, as a SNES<\/span> game, they hold up. Even the menu graph\u00adics look great. Rare was killing it in the late por\u00adtion of the SNES<\/span>\u2019 lifes\u00adpan, and Win\u00adning Run is a stun\u00adning example.<\/span>
\nAnd, for a moment, let\u2019s talk about the sound\u00adtrack. This is one of the few sports sound\u00adtracks that I own. Rare\u2019s sound team con\u00adtin\u00adu\u00adous\u00adly makes up for the sur\u00adround\u00ading mess with qual\u00adi\u00adty sound, and this is one of the best from their cat\u00ada\u00adlogue. The main theme was fan\u00adtas\u00adtic, and the menu theme is out\u00adstand\u00ading as well. Both themes add to the over\u00adall pack\u00adage and get things start\u00aded off right. The in-game ambi\u00adence is nice as is the play announc\u00ader. Every\u00adthing ulti\u00admate\u00adly cre\u00adates a good arcade base\u00adball feel, which you\u2019re going to need if you\u2019re going to slog through an entire pennant.<\/span>
\nTech\u00adni\u00adcal\u00adly, aside from the lack of the MLB<\/span> player\u2019s license, there\u2019s noth\u00ading wrong with Win\u00adning Run. The lack of play\u00ader names and like\u00adness\u00ades is a bum\u00admer, but it doesn\u2019t real\u00adly take away from the core strengths of Win\u00adning Run. <\/span>
\nExcel\u00adlent options, easy-to-under\u00adstand mechan\u00adics and a fan\u00adtas\u00adtic sound\u00adtrack make run\u00adning the bases fun in Win\u00adning Run. The Kid\u2019s sequel effort paid off and bats high in the order of great sports games.<\/span><\/p>\n