Baseball Riot

While critics may complain about a schedule filled with sequels, I am of the mind that they serve a purpose. These follow-ups give developers a chance to build on the original ideas in way they wouldn't be able to by starting over from scratch. And when they're done right, they can change the industry forever. Unfortunately there are too many sequels like Baseball Riot, a reskinned follow-up to Tennis in the Face that doesn't attempt anything new.

For what it's worth, I largely enjoyed Tennis in the Face. While certainly not very deep, it made for a silly time-waster that was fun in short bursts. But even at its best, I never once thought there was enough material for a second game. Not every goofy concept needs to be turned into its own franchise. But apparently 10tons disagrees, because here I am reviewing what feels like a carbon copy of last year's game.

The concept is appealing enough; you play a baseball hitter with a limited amount of turns to injure every person in the level. Each stage offers a unique puzzle where players attempt to find an object or character that triggers a chain reaction that takes out multiple people in a single turn. There are explosive energy drinks scattered throughout the stages, as well as rolling barrels, vending machines, ice blocks and other innocent items that can be used to crush the opposition.

The change from tennis to baseball gives us a chance to take out a new batch of enemies. On top of the usual hipsters and business professionals, we go up against umpires and catchers. These baseball foes are ready to give our hero a headache. The umpire, for example, can only be injured by avoiding his protective chest plate, while the catcher will snag your ball out of the air if you're not careful.

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On top of the new enemies, Baseball Riot also adds stars to collect in each stage. The goal is to collect the three stars at the same time you're knocking everybody out. In theory, this simple change should have made the levels more engaging, but all it did was make the game more frustrating. Because the progression is tied to how many stars you collect, gamers will find themselves replaying the same stages over and over until they can figure out how to pick everything up. All this does is blunt the pacing and make me want to switch games.

Had our baseball hero played differently or came with his own special moves, I likely would have given the similarities a pass. But the developers didn't focus on any of that, they simply swapped sports figures and called it a day. The levels, graphics and gameplay are all the same, which makes me wonder why they even bothered. This isn't a sequel, it's a rehash.

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What's sad is that 10tons is selling this series short. Sure, it will always be a silly time-waster, but that doesn't mean they couldn't flesh out the experience to better suit the sport. Perhaps this would be the right time to introduce a rival from the other league or take a tour of all the stadiums. But nothing quite that ambitious makes it into Baseball Riot.

Much like Tennis in the Face, this sequel can be fun in short bursts. It's not very original and misses a lot of obvious opportunities, but the gameplay remains mildly entertaining and it's incredibly cheap. But even then, Baseball Riot is a wildly disappointing sequel that chooses to bunt instead of going for the home run.