Jaleco Sports Faceoffs is the latest retro compilation published by Rockit Games following in the footsteps of the Bases Loaded, Bases Loaded II: Second Season, and Goal! packages. Just like these previous collections, this new sports bundle contains some important games, but they don’t hold up today.

All of these Jaleco re-releases contain the same quality UI. It is easy to read, easy to use, and fits firmly with the sports theme. The included instruction manual scans are also a nice touch, although the omission of viewable box art feels like something is missing.

Even though the overall presentation is well done, sadly, the games (mostly) do not.

The first game, Hoops, is a half-court 1-v-1 or 2-v-2 teenage streetball sim that plays like an even worse version of Arch Rivals. I owned this game as a youngster, so I am very familiar with it. However, I think the last time I played this game was in the early ’90s and, whoo-boy, my positive memories have been shattered. The AI in this game is beyond brutal. In a 10-point game, not only did I manage to score precisely zero points, I had zero shots on goal. The AI ransacks the player immediately, stealing the ball within a single dribble. I thought maybe 2-v-2 would be better, but the story repeats itself. The only way to play this game is with another local player in a human-vs.-human match. You might score a point then.

Next is Jaleco’s take on tennis: Racket Attack. Another game I played as a young child (and I wrote the Racket Attack entry in Brett Weiss’ NES Omnibus book), it basically taught me the rules of tennis while playing with my brother. Unfortunately, this game is just as unplayable as Hoops, as simply returning the ball is horribly inconsistent. Most of the time you will miss; rarely you will return the shot; sometimes it will randomly smash with the power of Thor. While I managed to win a few points in a six-game match against the AI, I was unable to win a single game. Frustrating.

The final games are the NES and SNES versions of Pro Sport Hockey, games I had not played until this collection (I was a Blades of Steel and classic Ice Hockey fan instead). These are the best and most playable games in this compilation, although they still are not great. The SNES version is much better than the NES original, but my bouts against the AI remained scoreless until I scored the only goal of the game in the 16-bit version during overtime (unlocking an Achievement). At least the AI doesn’t tear you a new one right from the start in these mediocre-at-best hockey sims.

The funniest part? I am not alone. One cool feature of this compilation is the included online leaderboard, which is segmented by month. At a game’s conclusion, your score is automatically posted to the online leaderboard. Browsing through it, I was relieved that I shared the same struggles with other players. With the exception of one player from Japan, everyone on the leaderboard posted a score of “1” in Hoops and Racket Attack, the lowest score possible. So the AI just kicks everyone’s ass. Plus, there were only a half-dozen scores registered, making me think this compilation isn’t one being enjoyed by the masses.

Like I said in my Bases Loaded articles, these games are not great and do not hold up well. However, Goal! and Racket Attack were notable NES titles for their time, so they have an important place in 8-bit history and appreciate their reappearance in the modern day. It is also worth mentioning that these games, like other compilations, are not available on the NES or SNES Switch Online apps, making this the only way to play them officially on modern hardware. Old-time fans like me are really the only target audience for these compilations, but, in a way, I sort of don’t recommend playing them. Why? Because I had fond memories of playing Hoops and Racket Attack as a kid, but revisiting them with modern eyes has squashed those memories, effectively ruining a piece of my childhood.

By: Zachary Gasiorowski, Editor in Chief myGamer.com

X/Twitter: @ZackGaz

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