Every week Cyril Lachel comes down from his giant castle in the hills to provide the final word on all of the classic downloadable games and retro compilations. This is the Retro Round-Up, your official guide to the best (and worst) in classic gaming for the Nintendo Virtual Console, Xbox Live Arcade and PlayStation Network. Join us as we shed some light on what games are worth your five or ten dollars, and what games you should avoid at all costs. For more information about these games (and retro gaming in general) we invite you to check out Defunct Games. This week we finally have a "classic" game worth talking about, unfortunately I also have to put up with a lot of trash. But let`s stay positive here, after weeks of no recommendations, I am finally ready to suggest you buy a game. But what game is it? Could it be the two NES games, Bases Loaded and Yoshi`s Cookie? Or what about Ikaruga for the Dreamcast? Maybe it`s the Neo Geo game added to GameTap? Find out now when you read another exciting episode of Retro Round-Up.

Bases Loaded
What Is It?
Twenty years ago there were a lot of reasons to love Bases Loaded. Not only was it one of the best looking sports games of the era (far surpassing R.B.I. Baseball, Nintendo`s own Baseball game and the rest of the competition), but it also managed to get the feel of baseball right, something that no other title was able to do at that point. But this is not 1989 and Bases Loaded is not the greatest baseball simulator on the planet. In fact, Bases Loaded isn`t even the best baseball game on the Virtual Console. It`s hard to ignore twenty years of improvements; what was the best of the best twenty years ago just doesn`t cut it by today`s standards. The good news is that this still plays a solid game of baseball, unfortunately that`s pretty much all it does. Like most 8-bit sports games you can`t expect too much in the way of single-player content and extra modes. It can be fun with a friend, but the only way you`re going to enjoy this game is if you remember it from back in the day. If you and you want to relive some twenty year old memories then have at it, the game is only five dollars and you shouldn`t have too much trouble enjoying yourself for a short amount of time. But if you`re going into Bases Loaded thinking that it`s going to hold up as well as Tecmo Bowl, then you, my friend, are in for a world of disappointment.

Does It Hold Up?
What did I just say? Bases Loaded doesn`t hold up, especially when compared to some of the good old school sports titles (Tecmo Bowl, etc.). Part of the problem is in the controls, what worked twenty years ago just isn`t up to the task today. The actual gameplay is extremely basic, almost to the point of missing out on some important aspects of baseball. What`s more, the whole experience just feels slow and boring ... even slower and more boring than today`s baseball simulators (believe it or not). All in all, this game does not hold up well.

Is It Worth The Money?
Definitely not. Some old school Bases Loaded fans may get a kick out of it, but I can`t see them going back to it after the first day. Bases Loaded may have been one of the greatest sports games of the 1980s, but that doesn`t mean that it`s fun twenty years later. Sports games are already notorious for not holding up, but this game proves that statement conclusively. I hate to say it, but Bases Loaded isn`t worth your five dollars.


Yoshi`s Cookie
What Is It?
Wait a second, haven`t we been here before? I could have sworn that we already had a late-generation 8-bit NES puzzle game starring Mario`s dinosaur buddy, Yoshi. Oh wait ... we did! ...