Day 105: It's the Big Game, Charlie Brown

There are two parts to It's the Big Game Charlie Brown. The first part is rounding up kids for the baseball team. That part's boring, so I'm going to skip to the baseball part, which is awful.


The game's mouse only control system is unwieldy, which is totally inexplicable as the much older Backyard Baseball used a similar mouse only system and was not only playable but actually enjoyable. The game is further hindered by the fact that the Peanuts gang, with the exceptions of Peppermint Patty and Snoopy, are terrible ballplayers. Charlie Brown is hard pressed to throw a ball from the mound to first in time to beat the runner, and when he does get it there he pulls Linus off the bag.

Innkeeper's wives may not have naturally curly hair, but center fielders apparently do. Freida has a cannon. She was regularly able to throw batters out at first base from deep center field. It's a handy skill to have since Chuck's only pitch seems to be the meatball.

If the controls don't make you quit before the first inning's over, the interesting interpretation of the rules of baseball just might. Getting a runner to take an extra base is sometimes difficult with the mouse, so the game discourages it by allowing runners to be forced out at apparently any base when in transit.

This being a game meant for small children, the argument seems to be that it's OK for it to be awful, since they won't know the difference anyway.

Your children deserve better.