9 Innings: Pro Baseball 2009 is a wonderful baseball simulator game made by the great folks over at Com2uS.

The Game

I bet he’s a catcher.

9 Innings: Pro Baseball 2009 is a very full-featured baseball simulator that has you managing a baseball team. You can play on multiple modes: Exhibition, Tournament, Season, and Homerun mode. Exhibition mode allows you to play 3, 5, or 9 innings as any team against any team and is a great way to get a hang of the game and practice. Tournament mode places you in a tournament bracket against other teams in a bid for first place. Season mode has you starting fresh with zeroed statistics for every player on your selected team and going through a season facing different teams in different stadiums, trying to win the championships. Last but not least, Homerun mode is essentially home run derby mode where you try to hit as many home runs possible before running out of pitches, trying to also get the highest score possible.

Aw crud.

If you can tell that I am not really going deep into every mode, there is a good reason: I only have so much room to write. 9 Innings is a terribly deep game, and I wish I could describe to you every single little aspect of it. Instead, let’s talk about the game mechanics instead. Batting is simple enough, there are three buttons – swing, bunt left, and bunt right. Personally, I’m horrible at bunting so I have stopped using it, but batting is all about the timing and pitch recognition. Once you master the timing of the swings, you will be unstoppable. Running the bases is pretty much automated, just click on the little icons of the players on the bases to have them run, and click on the icon between the bases to have them run back. Pitching is another beast, having you select a pitch, pick out where you want it to hit, and timing the control meter. At the same time, you have to manage the pitcher’s stamina and accuracy, ensuring to switch out when you need to.

Lastly, fielding is mostly automated, your fielders will usually throw it to the most appropriate person possible. Of course, this isn’t always true. Fielding is probably the most aggravating part of the game because your fielders aren’t exactly the smartest peas in the pod. I have had an opposing batter hit a blooper into right field, and instead of my right fielder throwing it to first base for an easy out, he chose to throw it to the cut off man, who then decided to throw it to second base. Very well done gentlemen, you have not only made fools of yourself, but you have made a fool of this entire organization!

Don’t choke, don’t choke, don’t choke!

Silly annoyances aside, the game has three difficulty levels for each mode: Easy, Normal, and Hard, with the amount of automation decreasing with the increase in difficulty – Hard is completely manual. In addition, there are achievements to be attained as well, ranging anywhere from “hit a solo home run” to “everyone on the team gets a hit”. The achievements have been really difficult to achieve on the higher end of the spectrum, but it is part of the reason why I have been coming back. These achievements in 9 Innings all give you points which you can put towards upgrading your coaches. Coaches offer greater depth for the game, giving you bonuses that you can upgrade as well as other types of coaches that you can unlock.

Graphics

The graphics of 9 Innings: Pro Baseball 2009 are cartoony in style but are not exactly impressive. Although the animations are smooth and the sprites are quite detailed, this was the weakest part of the game.

Sound

9 Innings: Pro Baseball 2009 has a great soundtrack that reminds me of the old sports games on the NES and SNES (Which surprisingly fits the graphics and art of the game) and the sound effects are top notch. Nothing more satisfying than the crack of a baseball bat signifying a very strong hit.

Additional Comments

I don’t feel I have played the game enough to really give any additional comments, despite having played for at least 8 hours now. I am very surprised at the depth and addictiveness of the game, and I wish I had played it much more before writing this review. While I would have normally suggested multiplayer modes or online multiplayer modes, I really could not imagine sitting there for half an hour to an hour playing 9 innings all the way through with someone, but it would be nice!

Conclusion

9 Innings: Pro Baseball 2009 has to be one of my favourite games for the iPhone thus far. There is something satisfying about being able to play a complete game of baseball in a multitude of modes, with plenty of achievements and unlockables to find. A definite must have, so go out and get it!

Score

MustTap Score: Silver Tap

Looks great and gives out some quality stuff!

Bottom Line
Baseball lovers are going to enjoy the hell out of 9 Innings: Pro Baseball 2009. It is a fully featured and robust baseball simulator that will keep you playing for hours. A definite must have game, worth every penny!

Screenshots