Virtual Baseball:

Welcome to Virtual League Baseball for Nintendo’s Virtual Boy, the 3D baseball game that lets you experience the exciting action of world class International Virtual League Baseball competition!
Choose from 18 or 20 National Teams in 3 Continental Leagues and slug your way to the top of the Virtual League International World Series pennant race. Coach the greatest baseball teams from the Pan-Am, Asian, and European Continental Leagues to victory in three different realistic Game Modes. So come on, slugger, step up to the plate and take a crack at Virtual League Baseball!

"Foul" Why did it call me a fool? Naughty VB! Although I was pretty proud I was able to hit the baseball backwards into the crowd instead of forward into the field, 'tis not the meaning of the game. I have to say however that I was pretty disappointed The Netherlands weren't selectable in the European League, but I guess that's part of why I don't know much about the sports, it's not a big thing over here. But alas I digress, on with the review.

In this game you're sure to get your piece of baseball (don't look at me like that, you know what I mean). Throwing fast balls, forkballs, sinkers, sliders and changeups, or bunt or try to hit the ball as far as possible going for that homerun! Here are some of the countries you can play with: USA, Canada, India, Dominican, Chile, Argentina, Japan, Taiwan, India, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Australia, France, UK, Germany, Russia, Italy, Switzerland.

After a funny 'n smooth 3-D rendered intro movie, you get to the options menu where you can choose from three different game modes:
Player 1 vs. Computer: Choose your favorite National Team from the many different countries in three Continental Leagues and play one game against a computer controlled team. This is a great way to practice using the controls and gain valuable game experience. You'll get to set up the entire team yourself, everything from Team Select, Designated Hitter System, Pitcher Select to Batting Order;
All Star Game: Choose an All Star Team comprised of the best ball players from the Pan-Am, Asian, or European Continental Leagues. The All Star Teams are pre-selected, and you will play a single game against another All Star Team;
Pennant Race: Select a team of your choice, and beat each team in your League. When you are the champion of your League, you get a chance to play in the Virtual League International Pennant Race. You get to battle it out with the other two Continental League Champs to become the Virtual League World Champion! Using the passwords access system, you can continue play from the last game you played in the series. A password appears after finishing a game in the Pennant Race, don't forget to write it down.

When you're in the field the controls for pitching are very extensive, you can adjust the position, speed & course of your pitcher, but more importantly strategy is required. Send in relief pitchers when your pitcher's arm is fatigued (press Select and then A after choosing the relief pitcher, B to return). Practice using your special pitches and varying pitch speeds with the pitching power meter. As for offense, remember that aggressive base running is vital to a good offense when your team is up to bat, do this by batting, bunting, stealing a base and returning to a base. A good defense in the outfield is obtained by a lot of practicing to get used to fielding the ball. "The best offense is a good defense!" This is sadly easier said than done, you only get to move the fielders all at once and if that wasn't hard enough, their just a few dots compared to the entire playfield, timing a good save by diving/jumping towards the ball is at best really hard to get done right. Practice (again) makes perfect I guess.
Also don't forget that coaches of the opposing teams will make players subs, pitching changes, call base steals, and other strategic moves, so keep your eyes open and especially don't forget to do the same! Try to test each country, for their team members all have unique personalities, strengths and weaknesses.

Visuals are ok, the game menus are plain dull, but you'll only look for functionality in them so that's good enough, yet the ingame baseball playfield doesn't bring a whole lot of new 3-D effects into the game, it's more your basic attempt at simple cardboard cutout 3D. When you hit a ball and the game goes to a different overview, the backgrounds show to be lush 3D rendered which is great to see, just like the intro of the game.

Sound effects are your basic bumb I hit the ball, bleep I selected this option, etc. The alternating ingame background music however is very well done and fits the baseball theme great! And if you need to concentrate on the game hard you can even turn it off at the main option screen. It's also awesome to hear a small part of the national anthem of the country you select to play with.

Generally Virtual League Baseball will follow basic baseball game rules, but some rules have been changed: One game consists of nine innings, however if there's a ten point spread at the end of an inning, it will be an automatic gameover. That is, if your team is winning by over ten points, you automatically win the game eventhough you haven't played all nine innings. The Designated Hitter system can be activated by the player regardless of which league their playing. A bean ball is an automatic walk to first base. One last thing that's changed is that you will only have to move your fingers and not your entire arms, legs and overall body, pretty nifty that Virtual Boy game system huh?

In short: This game's for the baseball fans, none other.

My opinion: An ok game. If you're a baseball fan, be sure to pick up both the American (Virtual League Baseball) and Japanese (Virtual Professional Baseball '95) versions of the game. The Japanese version is the same as the American, but the Japanese version has deformed characters instead of the true form characters.