''Little League World Series Baseball'' is a series of

sports video games A sports video game is a video game that simulates the practice of sports. Most sports have been recreated with a game, including team sports, track and field, extreme sports, and combat sports. Some games emphasize actually playing the sport (s ...

. Based on the

Little League World Series The Little League World Series is an annual baseball tournament for children—typically boys—aged 10 to 12 years old, held in the Eastern United States. Originally called the National Little League Tournament, it was later renamed for the Wor ...

, there are four games in the series. The latest release was on August 17, 2022.

Games

2008

''Little League World Series Baseball 2008'' was released on August 5, 2008 for the

Wii The Wii ( ) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Nintendo. It was released on November 19, 2006, in North America and in December 2006 for most other Regional lockout, regions of the world. It is Nintendo's fifth major ho ...

and the

Nintendo DS The is a handheld game console produced by Nintendo, released globally across 2004 and 2005. The DS, an initialism for "Developers' System" or "Dual Screen", introduced distinctive new features to handheld games: two LCD screens working in tan ...

Activision Activision Publishing, Inc. is an American video game publisher based in Santa Monica, California. It serves as the publishing business for its parent company, Activision Blizzard, and consists of several subsidiary studios. Activision is one o ...

. It is the first game to be officially licensed by

Little League Baseball Little League Baseball and Softball (officially, Little League Baseball Inc) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization seventh generation of consoles The seventh generation of home video game consoles began on November 22, 2005, with the release of Microsoft's Xbox 360 home console. This was followed by the release of Sony Computer Entertainment's PlayStation 3 on November 17, 2006, and Ninte ...

. The gameplay is also similar to the baseball game in ''

Wii Sports ''Wii Sports'' is a 2006 sports simulation video game developed and published by Nintendo for the Wii video game console. The 1.0 (pre-release) version of the game was released in North America along with the Wii on November 19, 2006, and the 1. ...

'' and

Mario Super Sluggers ''Mario Super Sluggers'' is a sports and adventure video game for the Wii developed by Namco Bandai Games and Now Production, and published by Nintendo. It is part of the ''Mario Sports'' series, and the sequel to ''Mario Superstar Baseball'' fo ...

. The game is a part of Activision's Fun4All-brand in Europe. The game begins when a player is taken to a main menu. They there can choose several different options, including tournament mode, exhibition mode and skill challenge mode. In tournament mode, a player chooses one of the 16 different regions, and tries to reach the Little League World Series by making it through pool play, then winning in the knockout round. In the Exhibition mode, a player can pick any two teams in the game against each other for a faster, less-complicated experience. The game has an extensive array of minigames called "Skill Challenges", which range from the power-hitting home run tourney to the accuracy-important

Tic-tac-toe Tic-tac-toe (American English), noughts and crosses (Commonwealth English), or Xs and Os (Canadian or Irish English) is a paper-and-pencil game for two players who take turns marking the spaces in a three-by-three grid with ''X'' or ''O''. T ...

. *In Home Run Tourney, a player sets the number of pitches, then tries to hit as many

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...

s as possible out of that number. Extra points are awarded when a player hits a hot-air balloon in the outfield, or when they hit consecutive home runs. *In Pitching Darts, a board of squares with different colors is on the plate. Depending on the color of the square, a player must throw a fastball(red), change-up(yellow), curveball(green), or slider(blue) as accurately as possible. If the pitch hits the same-colored square as its color, it will make a mark there. If a pitch hits the incorrect color, play will pass to the next player. *In Pitching bowling, a player is simply bowling from the

pitchers mound A baseball field, also called a ball field or baseball diamond, is the field upon which the game of baseball is played. The term can also be used as a metonym for a baseball park. The term sandlot is sometimes used, although this usually refers ...

. In ten frames, the player(s) must try to get as many pins as they can by pitching at them. Similar to Home Run Tourney, the point of the game is to hit the ball as far as you can. *Similar to the basketball game H-O-R-S-E- in the sense that a player must hit the ball to a specific area of the field, or they get a letter of the word horse. They must get as many points as they can before they miss five times. They get bonus points for hitting the ball further, and are eliminated when they spell out the word horse.

2009

''Little League World Series Baseball 2009'' was developed by Japanese developer Now Production (NowPro). The game begins when a player is taken to the main menu. They there can choose several different options, including tournament mode, exhibition mode, and skill challenge mode. In Tournament mode, a player chooses one of the 16 different regions and tries to reach the Little League World Series by making it through regionals, pool play, and then winning the world series in the knockout round. In Exhibition mode, a player can pick any two teams in the game against each other for a faster, less-complicated experience.

2010

''Little League World Series Baseball 2010'' was released in North America on July 20, 2010. The game begins when a player is taken to a main menu. They there can choose several different options, including tournament mode, exhibition mode, and skill challenge. In addition, the game features online leaderboards,

Trophies A trophy is a tangible, durable reminder of a specific achievement, and serves as a recognition or evidence of merit. Trophies are often awarded for sporting events, from youth sports to professional level athletics. In many sports medals (or, in ...

and

Achievements Achievement may refer to: *Achievement (heraldry) *Achievement (horse), a racehorse *Achievement (video gaming), a meta-goal defined outside of a game's parameters See also * Achievement test for student assessment * Achiever, a personality typ ...

. In tournament mode, a player chooses one of the 16 different regions, and tries to reach the Little League World Series by making it through pool play, then winning in the playoffs. In the Exhibition mode, a player can pick any two teams in the game against each other for a faster, less-complicated experience.

Reception

''Little League World Series 2008'' Wii and DS games received mixed reactions from critics. Some call the game "Simple, yet tough to master." While others say it's "...best for the younger players." One of the main criticisms of the game, especially from its online gamers, has been its lack of Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection. ''Little League World Series Baseball 2010'' was met with mixed results following its release. GameSpot's Brett Todd gave the game a 5.5 (mediocre) score, claiming "With more finesse and depth, Little League World Series Baseball 2010 could have been a contender."

References

External links

Official ''Little League World Series Baseball 2008'' site
at Activision {{DEFAULTSORT:Little League World Series Baseball Little League World Series Now Production games Video game franchises Video game franchises introduced in 2008