Baseball Blowout Part 2

     At the time of this writing, Opening day will officially begin at 6:AM Eastern time as the Seattle Mariners play the Oakland A's. Not much time to get in all the games I want to cover, but in the spirit of the season kicking off in the land of the rising sun, let's examine some baseball games from our eastern friends.

Kyuukai Douchuuki

Sorry, I have no idea how to pronounce it or even what it means, however...

This game was a port of an arcade game in japan. I can understand why Sega of America didn't release this stateside. It's got that oh so very cute look and sound to that is prevalent in Japanese titles.

Everything is in Japanese but the game play is the universal standard fare for a baseball title doing nothing that an 8 bit game can't perform. That said it's got some things going for it. For starters, it has representations of all Japanese and American pro teams. So a selection of 38 teams is pretty hefty and a nice touch. What really shines is the selections of ballparks. Two are based on Japanese stadiums, a third is obviously Yankee Stadium but the real fun are the last three.
 

The fourth is played on in the Arctic. The change of view is a pleasant surprise, but what is really fun is that the game physics are skewed just a bit. Fielders chasing down batted balls tend to slide a little before stopping and balls that hit the field scoot across the ice very quickly.

The fifth is played near pyramids and the sandy field plays opposite of the the ice stadium. Fielders are sluggish as they're running on sand and the baseballs respond to the field like a golf ball in a sand trap. An infield hit won't go past the pitcher's mound very often and a fly ball stops dead where it lands.

The sixth and final field is on a ship in the middle of the ocean. The physics are normal but the detail of hitting a home run into the ocean and having a group of whales pop up either celebrating or complaining is simply another in a series of nice touches. 

The player sprites are disappointing but that's the only real issue I have with it. The music is upbeat and wacky and fits the game like the glove. 

As usual, pitchers tire and need to be replaced during the game. They tire very quickly but there are plenty of arms in the bullpen. Also batters tend to tire as well. I found that interesting and it does add another element of strategy.

Both are represented by blue bars that decrease.

      As far as defense goes, a fielder can jump or dive. It feels clunky and loose at first, but after a few games it's no problem settling in. The fielders move very slowly, and without some sort of outfield radar, if you don't get a jump on the ball right off the bat, ( so to say ), lots of balls are going to find the outfield wall. Still, this is just a matter of getting used to.

     Batting of course is again, simple timing and pitching is standard. Up for a fast ball, Down for a change up or fork ball and left and right curves.

You can play an exhibition game, Two player or jump into a World Tour where you select a team and play a series of games versus different teams in different stadiums. I haven't gotten to the end of it so I can't say how long this option actually is.

 Options are sparse. Play with or without errors,

number of innings per game, and how many runs a team can be up by to end the game early via the "Mercy rule".

There is also a sound test.

 This is a unique game, a nice change of pace from the more serious offerings but perhaps not for everyone due to what could be considered a very kiddy image. I think it's great fun. It's also a very affordable title online. A complete copy can be found for around $10.00.