Thanks in no small part to the Best Sports Video Game Tournament a while back, I decided to try out World Series Baseball ’95 with a friend to4 bring back some fond memories of years gone by.

After spending our first 30 minutes of old school video game bliss blowing into a cartridge and turning the system on and off, we realized reliving our childhood was not as simple a process as first conceived. Eventually we did get the kinks with the system worked out and we were ready to start playing. Unfortunately, the menu system was not as simple as one would hope. We loaded up the wrong teams at first and found there was no way to go back after the game had started, so we had to reset the system. We finally got our teams, the Yankees and the Mets, selected and the game started.

The top of the first inning took about 20 minutes to complete as half of that time was spent figuring out what the heck to do. For all of the people that think game controls used to be simpler back then, it sure wasn’t so simple for us. My friend would pick his pitch type and speed, but nothing would happen. Then he started button mashing which resulted in the pitcher throwing the ball to a base as if he was trying to pick someone off. Eventually we figured out that the batter had to pick his type of swing before we could continue, stupid us.

One feature I loved seeing was picking the speed of the pitch, because even some recent titles have neglected to include that feature as a prevalent part of the game play. The fastest fastball only seemed to hit 88 but it appeared to be traveling 100 mph to my untrained eye. When the fastball was mixed with a 59 mph changeup it was a devastating combo.

I had a good first inning facing off against Bret Saberhagen, scoring 3 runs thanks to my friend having trouble figuring out how to throw to first base. I felt no pity for him and took advantage of the situation.

When it was my turn to pitch I saw that that Scott Kamieniecki only had 3 pitches and none of them was a fastball, so I started warming up Jimmy Key. After Kamieniecki gave up two consecutive hits it was time to make the switch.

My friend gained a couple runs on me over the next couple innings, mostly due to my over use of the dive button allowing balls to get past me. I even gave up an in the park home run to Jeff Kent, which is when the game really turned competitive for me. At that point I also came to the conclusion that all outfielders in 1994 were able to reach home plate from the warning track without a bounce, seeing as it worked that way in the game.

In the 7th inning I let two men on and decided to stick with Jimmy Key for one more batter; Bobby Bonilla. One slow, hanging changeup later and the ball soared over the center field wall, and I had to deal with 10 fist pumps and a few cartwheels as my friend rubbed it in all the way around the bases.

The score was 5-3 and I was in sore need of a comeback. Wade Boggs led off and I liked my chances. After a single and a double I had 1st and 2nd and no outs and Stanley ripped one that I thought was an easy RBI single; that was until my friend made a diving prayer and caught the ball after I already sent my runners. Boggs returned safely to 2nd but Mattingly was nailed at first for the double play. With Bernie Williams up next I still felt good, and when he ripped a ball down the 3rd base line I was ecstatic; of course, that was before my friend made another ridiculous diving stop, this time with Bonilla that ended the inning.

It came down to the top of the 9th with John Franco on the hill. I had 2nd and 3rd with one out, so I pinch hit Tartabull for my pitcher. I got the fastball I was looking for and nailed it only to see my worst fear come true as my friend made another diving play with Vizcaino that had me send the controller at the wall in disgust. A quick throw to second base finished off the double play and I was defeated.

Even though I lost I had some great fun playing the game. This experience really shed some light on me on how great the 16 bit era of sports video games really was. It was a simple and yet rewarding experience where my friend and I were able to focus on the basics of the game play without having to read a small novel just to figure out the controls. I can still visually remember all the key moments, recounting what I could have done different over and over again. I can’t wait for my rematch so I can finally put the loss behind me and move on.