Grand Slam

Saturn · 1997 · US

Publisher: Virgin Interactive Entertainment · Developer: Burst · Genre: Sport

Grand Slam introduced a few play mechanics to video game baseball that would later prove to be fixtures in the genre. The most notable in this area was the introduction of a meter for pitching, used to control the velocity and accuracy of pitches, similar to the familiar swing meter in popular golf games. This meter was later borrowed and made popular by titles such as EA's MVP Baseball. On the batting side of things, a similar metered approach was used. This was inspired by older arcade baseball games that allowed the player to load up a swing's power with a control stick before releasing it as the pitch came in.