Baseball Stars 2

Baseball Stars 2[lower-alpha 1] is a 2-player baseball sports arcade game released by SNK in 1992 for the Neo-Geo console.[2] A less detailed console version was released for the NES by Romstar the same year.

Baseball Stars 2
Developer(s)
Publisher(s)
Producer(s)Eikichi Kawasaki
Designer(s)Masami Tokusue
Composer(s)Kazuhiro Nishida
Masahiko Hataya
SeriesBaseball Stars
Platform(s)
Release
Genre(s)Sports
Mode(s)
Arcade systemNeo Geo MVS

Neo Geo version
Gameplay screenshot from the original Neo Geo version.

You can select from one of 18 teams across two leagues: Exciting League (beginner) & Fighting League (expert).

It featured 18 teams across 2 leagues (Exciting League and Fighting League) and put more emphasis on the graphics and the gameplay; for example, being able to change pitchers or batters and powering up batters which increased the size of the bat.[3]

NES version

Baseball Stars 2 for the Nintendo Entertainment System was distributed by Romstar in 1992.

Changes made from the original Baseball Stars, released by SNK in 1989:

  • Female players are no longer included in any form.
  • Two additional batting stances. These additional stances are never used for players on custom teams. They will only appear on the pre-made teams' players
  • Enhanced pitch control.
  • Ability to shift field formations when playing defense.
  • Ability to view your team roster and ratings while in-game.
  • Sidearm-style pitchers are never generated on custom teams. They can only be hired.
  • Easier bunting controls; bunts are now retractable. (Hold Down+A to bunt instead of stopping the swing partway through.)
  • Ability to see lead-offs while pitching/batting.
  • Six pitchers and four bench players instead of five each.
  • New music and home run animations. These include the "Power connect" graphic for a two-run home run, an animated graphic of the batter rounding the bases and pumping his fist for a 3-run home run or grand slam, and a similar (yet very rare) graphic including a West highland white terrier following the batter for a come-from-behind (usually game-ending) home run in a dramatic situation.
  • Can no longer name custom teams or rename players on custom teams
  • You can still upgrade player using the same 15-point system introduced in the original Baseball Stars. However, the random points you get to disperse to various skills each time you purchase a player upgrade changed from between 1 and 6 to between 1 and 5
  • Player upgrades overall are much more expensive while the money received during play has remained about the same. This makes it much more time-consuming to upgrade players to maximum.
  • You can still fire players and hire players. However, due to the fact you cannot change the names of hired players your hired player will always be named generic names given by the game (examples 'STAR 5', 'ROOK 2', etc.). This can also lead to multiple players sharing the same name throughout the custom teams, even conceivably multiple players on the same team with the same name.

Players can still create leagues of up to 125 games (6 teams playing each other 25 times) and view statistics such as League Standings and Top 10 in Average, Home Runs, Runs Batted In, Earned Run Average, Wins and Saves. (A peculiar glitch occurs when viewing league leaders. The last pitcher listed on any user-created team in "View Team" does not appear in any of the Top 10 leaderboards.)

Reception

In Japan, Game Machine listed Baseball Stars 2 on their June 1, 1992 issue as being the eighth most-successful table arcade unit of the year.[6]

The Neo Geo version was critically acclaimed. The first issue of GameFan reviewed the Neo Geo version, with its two reviewers scoring it 99% and 97%; the former said it "is far and away the best sports game I have ever played" and the latter said the "graphics are incredibly well detailed" and "the gameplay is unparalleled." They concluded that it "has the best graphics, sound, and game play this side of ESPN."[4]

The NES version was less popular than the original Baseball Stars was on the NES. Reasons for this included the inability to change the name of a gamer-created team or names of the players on a gamer-created team, and unimproved graphics over the original. A Nintendo Power review wrote "Baseball Stars 2 is such a complete rehash that if you already own the original, it is not worth your money to get this game."

Re-releases

The game was included in the SNK Arcade Classics Vol. 1 compilation by SNK Playmore for PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable and Wii, released on 2008.

The Neo Geo version was re-released for Wii by D4 Enterprise via the Virtual Console in Japan on October 30, 2007,[7] in PAL regions on November 30, 2007,[8] and in North America on December 10, 2007.[9]

SNK Playmore released ports for PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Portable developed by M2 on August 25, 2011 on PlayStation Network via NEOGEO Station in Japan and North America on July 19, 2011,[10] and in PAL regions on August 24, 2011.[11]

A port for Microsoft Windows, OS X, Linux and asm.js developed by DotEmu was released by SNK Playmore as part of the Humble NEOGEO 25th Anniversary Bundle on December 8, 2015.[12] It was released on Steam on April 27, 2016 and on GOG.com on May 30, 2017.[13]

Hamster Corporation re-released the game as part of their ACA Neo Geo series for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One on March 21, 2019.

Notes
  1. Japanese: ベースボール・スターズ 2 Hepburn: Bēsubōru Sutāzu 2

References
  1. CRV (September 13, 2007). "Pixel". gdri.smspower.org. Retrieved 2018-11-02.
  2. "Neo•Geo CD: The Arcade In A Box - Baseball Stars 2". GamePro. No. Premiere Supplement. IDG. Spring 1996. p. 102.
  3. Baseball Stars 2 user's manual (Neo Geo AES, US)
  4. GameFan, volume 1, issue 1 (October 1992), pages 7 & 49
  5. "Baseball Stars 2".
  6. "Game Machine's Best Hit Games 25 - テーブル型TVゲーム機 (Table Videos)". Game Machine (in Japanese). No. 427. Amusement Press, Inc. 1 June 1992. p. 25.
  7. van Duyn, Marcel (26 October 2007). "Japanese Virtual Console list - November 2007". Nintendo Life. Archived from the original on 8 September 2015. Retrieved 3 August 2019.
  8. van Duyn, Marcel (29 November 2007). "EU VC Releases - 30th November - Baseball Stars 2". Nintendo Life. Archived from the original on 7 September 2015. Retrieved 3 August 2019.
  9. van Duyn, Marcel (10 December 2007). "US VC Releases - 10th December - Pokemon Snap". Nintendo Life. Archived from the original on 7 September 2015. Retrieved 3 August 2019.
  10. "NeoGeo Station to get The King of Fighters '95 and Baseball Stars 2". EntDepot. 18 July 2011. Archived from the original on 22 July 2011. Retrieved 3 August 2019.
  11. Barker, Sammy (25 August 2011). "European PlayStation Store Updates: 24th August 2011". Push Square. Archived from the original on 10 May 2015. Retrieved 3 August 2019.
  12. Walker, Alex (10 December 2015). "The NEOGEO Humble Bundle Is Incredible, And You Can Trial The Games In Your Browser". Kotaku Australia. Archived from the original on 29 June 2019. Retrieved 29 June 2019.
  13. "Release: 15 SNK NEO・GEO Classics". GOG.com. CD Projekt. 30 May 2017. Retrieved 28 June 2019.
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