Super Batter Up

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Super Batter Up
Super Batter Up
North American packaging artwork for the Super NES version
Developer(s)Namco[2][3]
Publisher(s)Namco[1]
Designer(s)Masahiro Shimamoto
Composer(s)Yoshinori Kawamoto[4]
Shinya Yamada[4]
SeriesFamily Stadium
Platform(s)Super NES
Release
Genre(s)Sports[1] (baseball)
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer

Super Batter Up, known in Japan as Super Famista,[a] is a baseball video game with both a one- and two-player mode plus a league mode.[5]

The North American release has an official license from the Major League Baseball Players Association and features the names of actual professional baseball players. However, it does not have a license from Major League Baseball, so no actual team names are used; the teams are only identified by their respective locales. While the all-star mode in the Japanese version of the game closely mimics the Nippon Professional Baseball All-Star Series, the North American version of the game emulates the MLB All-Star Game. An intrasquad mode (found only in the Japanese version) allows players on the same team to face off against each other. The only limitations are that there are only five pitchers on each team, players cannot be changed, and uniforms are limited to red and white colors.

Gameplay[edit]

Someone has managed to hit the ball into the outfield. The outfielders are scrambling to retrieve the ball before the runner can score a run for his team.

The game features teams representing the 26 Major League Baseball teams and their players from the 1991 Major League Baseball season.[5] Ballplayers who competed during that baseball season like Cal Ripken, Dave Winfield, and Kirby Puckett are included.[6] However, the Japanese version was released featuring teams and actual player names from the Nippon Professional Baseball league. Players get to play in either a dome resembling the Tokyo Dome in Japan or Rogers Centre (then called SkyDome) in Toronto, a contemporary baseball stadium (with homages to Japan's Koshien Stadium or Chicago's Wrigley Field), or in traditional-style stadium style (reminiscent of Chiba Marine Stadium in Japan or Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis).[5] Each player in the Japanese version of the game has a popularity meter that gauges how liked they are by the audience; better players are more likely to be cheered on for an excellent play.[7]

Players are shown standing up for the national anthem of both the United States and Canada (when the home team is Toronto or Montreal).[8] They can also choose to substitute a hitter or a runner while at bat.[5] All game stats are shown on the fictitious newspaper, known as the Namco Sports paper. Players are permitted to zoom in and out of the paper to look for minor details. The words "game over" appear on the screen regardless of whether the player wins or loses a game. Passwords can be entered to restore progress in the game. Both one-player and two-player modes integrates the traditional playing mode of the game. If the player wins the single-player tournament, then he can see the ending. The battle mode becomes a single-game mode when two players are playing. While the Japanese version of this game uses super deformed graphics for the ballplayers, the North American version uses 2D rendering software to create more realistic graphics.

The single-player league play mode keep tracks of all the players statistics during the season. Pitchers are considered to be "cold" when their ERA is above 9.90. An "average" hitter for season mode would theoretically have a batting average of .300 and 30 home runs while the "average" pitcher would have an ERA of 3.00 along with a fastball of 150 kilometres per hour (93 mph).[7]

Stadium dimensions[edit]

  • Dome: Artificial turf with 100 metres (330 ft) distances down each foul line and 122 metres (400 ft) in center field.
  • Modern/contemporary stadium: Artificial turf with 91 metres (299 ft) distances down the coal up lines and 118 metres (387 ft) in center field.
  • Traditional stadium: Natural grass with 97 metres (318 ft) distances in each corner and 120 metres (390 ft) to center field.

Reception[edit]

In Japan, it topped the Famitsu sales charts from April[11][12][13] to May 1992.[14]

Allgame editor Brett Alan Weiss described Super Batter Up as "an average baseball game", although he praised the game's "solid controls".[3]

See also[edit]

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ Japanese: スーパーファミスタ

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d "Release information". GameFAQs. Retrieved 2011-05-28.
  2. ^ MobyGames. "Super Batter Up for SNES". MobyGames. Retrieved September 29, 2019.
  3. ^ a b c Weiss, Brett Alan. "Super Batter Up - Overview". AllGame. Archived from the original on November 14, 2014. Retrieved September 29, 2019.
  4. ^ a b "Composer information". SNES Music. Retrieved 2011-05-29.
  5. ^ a b c d "Basic overview of game". MobyGames. Retrieved 2011-05-28.
  6. ^ "Basic summary of baseball players". IGN. Retrieved 2011-05-29.
  7. ^ a b "Advanced summary of baseball players" (in Japanese). Famista. Retrieved 2013-06-17.
  8. ^ "National anthem information". allgame. Retrieved 2011-05-29.
  9. ^ "Super Batter Up Review Score". Archived from the original on 2019-05-30.
  10. ^ "スーパーファミスタ" [Super Famista]. Famitsu (in Japanese). Retrieved 28 September 2021.
  11. ^ "Weekly Top 30 (4月10日)". Famicom Tsūshin (in Japanese). No. 175. 24 April 1992. pp. 14–5.
  12. ^ "Weekly Top 30 (4月17日)". Famicom Tsūshin (in Japanese). No. 176. 1 May 1992. pp. 14–5.
  13. ^ "Weekly Top 30 (4月24日)". Famicom Tsūshin (in Japanese). No. 177/178. 8 May 1992. pp. 14–5.
  14. ^ "Weekly Top 30 (5月8日)". Famicom Tsūshin (in Japanese). No. 179. 22 May 1992. pp. 14–5.

Bibliography[edit]

  • Fighting Studio (April 1992). Super Famista Hisshō Kōryaku-Hō スーパーファミスタ必勝攻略法 [Super Famista: Winning Strategy]. スーパーファミコン完璧攻略シリーズ. Vol. 10. Futabasha. ISBN 4-575-28161-1.
  • Hippon Super! editorial staff (April 1992). Super Famista no Subete スーパーファミスタのすべて [All About Super Famista]. JICC Publishing Inc. ISBN 4-7966-0315-8.
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