GAME CLEAR No. 319 -- World Series: The Season

World Series: The Season (1985, Arcade)

Developer: Cinematronics
Publisher: Cinematronics
Clear Version: Arcade
Clear Platform: Arcade
Clear Date: 10/31/26

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Why should I care?
Novel controls make this simple baseball game one worth seeking out.

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Sticks of joy

From the makers of Dragon’s Lair comes… a pretty neat baseball game? That’s what we have in the bizarrely titled World Series: The Season. I’ve played a number of old baseball games this year, and this is certainly not the best or deepest, but it is the most interesting of the bunch, mostly owing to its unique twin-stick controls.

They look like this:

I won’t restate the information already in the image, but I’ll say this shit just works. Pulling back a little spring-loaded lever, aiming, and releasing feels awesome as both the hitter and the pitcher. As the pitcher, putting the ball in the exact spot you want is just tricky enough to feel like a nice reduction of the real thing. Helping thing is the fact that over 18 innings of play, I was not able to find an easy tendency to exploit in the AI batter behavior, which is pretty unusual for a baseball game of this age!

In the batter’s box, the mechanism feels even more like its real-life counterpart. The game gives you roughly a catcher’s-eye view behind the plate along with an always-visible strike zone. Then, it’s as simple as reading the pitch, lining up your cursor with it, and releasing the stick in time with its arrival at the plate (or laying off of a ball if you’re into that sort of thing). It’s held back a bit by the fact that there were limits to how well depth could be conveyed with monoscopic 1985 tech, but connecting with a base hit just feels cooler with this control mechanism than it does with a button press. It’s awesome. Like pitching, it also seems pretty well tuned. Across my two games, I batted .351. That seems about right for video game numbers, which tend to be a bit inflated compared to their real-world counterparts.

There’s little else to the game than this pitcher/batter duel. There are no substitutions or fatigue, fielding is automatic, and despite being called World Series: The Season, there is neither a World Series mode nor a season mode, just single games. The game does keep a surprising number of pitching and hitting statistics, though, stored by your initials and date of birth (NBA Jam style, but predating that game by several years). That’s pretty cool, especially for the time.

I wish I could speak to its player-vs-player viability, but unfortunately I only had the computer to play against. I’d love to have another shot at with a buddy. I bet it would work quite well elbow-to-elbow in the confines of the arcade cabinet.

Regardless, it’s a terrific little baseball simulator that I highly recommend giving a go if you ever see it. Really, it’s the kind of thing I’d love to have at home. Perfect for short sessions of repetitive, satisfying, and intermittently rewarding actions. 🪤

I don’t think it’s particularly common, so don’t skip it if you find it in the wild! I was lucky enough to come across it at the Church Arcade in Duquesne, Pennsylvania, just outside of Pittsburgh. Look at this place!

I loved it and spent hours there. Only left because I had somewhere else I had to be. I imagine it goes without saying that the vibes are unlike any other arcade I’ve ever been in. Check it out if you’re in the area!