*Image is from the Super Famicom version of “Jikkyou Powerful Pro Baseball ’94”
Today marks the 30th anniversary of “Jikkyou Powerful Pro Baseball ’94,” which Konami (currently Konami Digital Entertainment) released for the Super Famicom on March 11, 1994.
This work is the memorable first installment of the baseball game “Power Pro” series, which continues to be released to this day. As the name suggests, the main feature is that during the game, announcer Noriyuki Abe, also known as “Abelok,” will provide a variety of “live commentary” and voice messages such as player introductions by Miss Uguisu will be played, and all 12 NPB teams, players, and stadiums will be heard. All appear under their real names. It incorporated data based on official professional baseball records from IBM BIS (currently NPB BIS), and also realized 3D batting and pitching, which was still rare at the time, much to the surprise of many players.
Although “Success”, the original player training mode that the “PowerPros” series is famous for, did not yet exist, this game was still plenty of fun, and there is no doubt that it is a rare masterpiece. As a former baseball player who has been obsessed with the “PowerPros” series since the first series, I have looked back on the unique appeal of this game, which remains in gaming history.
Packed with systems that will excite players and professional baseball fans
The biggest feature of this game is that the players have a comical visual with two heads, but you can fully enjoy the fun and realism of hitting, throwing, and running as if you were a professional baseball player. There it is.
When batting, use the strike zone displayed in the center of the screen as a guide to identify strikes and balls, and operate the meat cursor according to the speed and type of pitch to hit back. It is necessary to read the trajectory of the ball not only left and right, but also changes in height and speed, making players feel as if they are actually standing at bat. Players with a high batting average generally have a large meat cursor, and sluggers with a high number of home runs tend to hit the ball more easily, so for example, when Hatsuhiko Tsuji (Seibu *The team he belongs to at the time, the same applies hereafter) enters the at-bat, he can hit the ball steadily and get on base. In the case of Takahiro Ikeyama (Yakult), he swings around aiming for a strikeout, and it’s really interesting to play while converting each player’s image in your mind. It’s also nice to see how each player’s posture is reproduced, such as Hiromitsu Ochiai’s (Chunichi) divine batting style and the crouching of foreign players such as Barfield (Giants).
When pitching, each pitcher has completely different ball speeds, pitch types, curves of curve balls, etc., so it’s really important to understand the characteristics of each pitcher and plan the game by thinking about how to suppress the opposing batter and how to distribute the pitches. interesting. Side throws, under throws, and even Hideo Nomo’s (Kintetsu) signature tornado pitch form are reproduced, and when a runner appears, everyone changes to a set position. Unique pitchers that only a few pitchers can use, such as the knuckle of Takashi Inomata (Hanshin), the slow curve of Shinji Imanaka (Chunichi), the SFF of Yoshinori Sato (Orix), and the high-speed slider of Tomohito Ito (Yakult) Being able to freely throw curveballs that follow a trajectory was irresistibly fun.
The system that displays the ground three-dimensionally and allows you to hit by operating the ball cursor or pitch by moving the cursor was introduced in the baseball game “Live Broadcast 68″ for PC (X68000), also released by Konami in 1991. It had already been introduced. This is just my personal opinion, but I think the trajectory of the ball in this game is more realistic than in “Live Broadcast 68,” and the fun of hitting and throwing the ball is even greater, especially when players play against each other. .
Ito (Satoshi)’s treasured sword, a high-speed slider, is sharp even when thrown in a bad condition.This is Takehiro Ishii (Seibu), a palm ball user.Nomo’s famous “Tornado Throw”, which is harder to hit than it looks because it falls slowly and greatly, is also beautifully reproduced.
Another major feature of “PowerPro” is the fun and detailed tactics involved in defense and base running. At times, he is required to direct the team like a manager while manipulating the players, such as quickly switching to forward defense when he senses that the opponent is going to bunt, and stealing bases or end runs while being wary of check balls. An interesting idea is that while controlling the runner, if you press the LR button repeatedly, the speed will increase slightly. This seems to have the effect of making players naturally run at full speed without giving up, even if they hit a mediocre grounder.
Also, in this game, during a cross play on home plate, some players can ram the catcher, and if successful (from the offensive side’s perspective), they can induce the opposing catcher to drop the ball and score points. It was an excellent idea to take advantage of this and have fun by betting on the outcome of the game being behind, even if you are completely out.
The author first played this game after it was recommended to him by a fellow gamer who also loves professional baseball. To be honest, my first impression was not very good, thinking, “It’s cool that batting and pitching are three-dimensional, but is it fun to move players with big heads?” However, when he started playing it, he found that it was both realistic and fun enough to give it a rating of “super”, and he immediately fell in love with the game.
Unlike traditional baseball games such as “Famista,” when batting, you had to operate not only left and right, but also up and down, so I could barely hit at first, but I was hooked. The more I played, the more interesting it was. The trajectory of the ball thrown by the pitcher was also very realistic, and I still remember being particularly shocked by the murderous yet beautiful trajectory of Guo Taiyuan’s (Seibu) high-speed slider.
In addition, by implementing rules such as passed balls and infield flies, which most baseball games had not introduced up until that time, and by incorporating an operation that allowed the runner to stop at any position, It was truly amazing to be able to experience the realism and baseball-like feel of baseball in all aspects, such as being able to see where the ball was going on the way.
The fun of tactics through control and stealing bases, as well as the power of the cross-play when the runner and catcher collided on home plate were excellent.
Plenty of creative ideas in addition to live performances
In this work, various live commentary voices are played depending on the situation, from play ball to game set. That alone was an amazing thing at the time, but if it was a critical call, the tone would get louder, saying, “Out!” or “Safe!”, or if a fielder caught a fly ball or liner by diving or jumping, people would say, “I caught it!” Nice play!” and complimenting the players, and the way they played voices according to the TPO was really great.
It is full of fun productions and ideas unique to the game that would never occur in real baseball or in real life. What I found particularly interesting was that pitchers who were in a pinch due to consecutive hits and runs, would become confused and become “light-headed.” If the pitcher becomes unsteady, the probability of the ball deviating far from the intended course or throwing a stick ball in the middle of the pitch increases greatly, so the timing of the pitcher change is also an important point in winning the game. became.
The pitcher’s missed pitches and meltdowns are an interesting idea. During fine play scenes, the commentary and cheering that praise the players is also wonderful.
It’s fun to watch the small gestures of the players, such as falling over when a batter misses, crying when they receive a dead ball, or glancing back when they miss a strike ball at the last minute. Also, although it is not specified in the manual, if an offensive player presses the select button before pitching, the batter will use the spikes to level his footing, and if a defensive player presses the button, the pitcher will rotate his neck to the left or right. A shaking performance is also available.
Another unique feature of this game is that some players have hidden data such as special skills such as “strong (or weak) against left-handed pitchers” and “strong (or weak) against pinch pitches.” At the time, I first learned of its existence in a strategy guide, and I remember being shocked, thinking, “They have such detailed abilities!” When a player with a “popular” skill stepped up to bat, the audience would erupt into an uproar, and I was also surprised that they had purposely prepared skills that did not directly affect the progress of the game.
By the way, among all the players in this game, there is a special skill that only Howell (Yakult) has, “Sayonara Man.” This seems to be a reflection of the fact that Howell hit five walk-off home runs in a single season in 1993, a Japanese record, but I found the development staff’s decision to deliberately introduce special skills that only one person could apply. I felt a strong sense of his unusual dedication and love for baseball.
I hate the way the batter looks back after seeing a last-minute strike ball, as if to say, “Isn’t that a ball now?” The idea of being able to press the select button and have the batter level his feet, and at the same time return the meat cursor to its normal position, is also a bit of a shame. It was wonderful though
By the way, why did I say earlier that this game’s live commentary system was “amazing for its time”? The reason for this is that the volume of audio data is so large that advanced technology such as data compression is essential in order to fit it into a program or ROM with limited capacity. In other words, it was precisely because Konami possessed this outstanding technology that it was able to complete “’Jikkyou’ Powerful Professional Baseball.” In other words, the appearance of “PowerPro” was an event that will go down in history in terms of technology.
I’m sorry to be so blunt, but if you’re interested in the technical circumstances of the time, please read my article, “‘Famista’ x ‘PowerPro’ Dream Conversation! Two Developers”, which was published in “Sports Navi” in 2021. Please take a look at Hiroshi Tanibuchi of Konami Digital Entertainment’s valuable testimony in “Looking Back at the Secret Story of the Birth of a Baseball Game” (*You must use the official “Sports Navi” app to read the full text).
In 2021, “Power Pro” will be used in the international tournament “Olympic Virtual Series 2021” sponsored by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), and in November of this year, “ePremier12” will be used in the world tournament “ePremier12” using “WBSC eBASEBALL Powerful Professional Baseball”. ‘ has been decided to be held at Tokyo Dome. In January of this year, it was also announced that Shohei Otani had been appointed as the official ambassador for the “PowerPro” and “Prospi” series (which are also celebrating their 20th anniversary this year). Even now, 30 years have passed since his birth, we still cannot keep an eye on the trends in the “PowerPro” series.
(C)1994 KONAMI ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
Powerful Professional BaseballTM and KONAMI(R) are trademark of KONAMI CO., LTD.
2024-03-10 15:09:10
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