Baseball Stars Professional

Baseball Stars Professional
North American arcade flyer
DeveloperSNK
PublisherSNK
DesignersMiki T.
Toyohisa Tanabe
ComposerToshikazu Tanaka
SeriesBaseball Stars
PlatformsArcade, Neo Geo AES, Neo Geo CD
ReleaseArcade
  • WW: April 26, 1990
Neo Geo AES
  • WW: July 1. 1991
Neo Geo CD
  • JP: April 21, 1995
  • NA: October 1996
GenreSports
ModesSingle-player, multiplayer
Arcade systemNeo Geo MVS

Baseball Stars Professional is a 1990 baseball video game developed and published by SNK for the Neo Geo arcade and home platforms. A follow-up to the original Baseball Stars for the NES, it was one of the launch titles for both the MVS (on which it was a pack-in title) and Neo Geo AES home console, as well as the first baseball-themed game for the Neo Geo platform. Players compete with either computer-controlled opponents or against other players in matches across various ballparks.

Baseball Stars Professional garnered mixed reception from critics upon its original release; many praised various aspects of the game, such as the presentation, visuals and quality of the digitized voice samples, but some were divided in regards to the gameplay. The game would later be re-released for the Neo Geo CD in 1995, as well as through download services for various consoles.

Gameplay

Gameplay screenshot showcasing the player's batter about to hit the ball.

Baseball Stars Professional is a baseball game similar to the original Baseball Stars and other baseball titles from the era, where players compete in matches against computer-controlled opponents or other players across two ballparks. There are only two modes featured in the game: Tournament is the main single-player mode where one player compete against CPU-controlled opponents in a season. Versus, as the name implies, is a two-player mode where two people compete against each other. Most of the original teams featured in the first Baseball Stars return in this game, although some of the features within the first game were removed for a more arcade-style approach of the sport, such as team management and the ability to create a new team from the ground up, among others. If a memory card is present, the players are allowed to save their progress and resume into the last match the game saved at through a password system.

Development and release

Baseball Stars Professional was one of the first games released for the Neo Geo MVS (left) and Neo Geo AES (right).

Baseball Stars Professional was initially launched for arcades on 26 April 1990, and was the first baseball game developed for the Neo Geo MVS platform. The game was also released during the same period for the Neo Geo AES, which was originally a rental-only system for Japanese game stores and hotels until being released as a home console due to high demand on July 1, 1991. The game was also re-released for the Neo Geo CD on April 21, 1995, with minimal changes compared to the original MVS and AES versions. The game was re-released for the Wii Virtual Console. Hamster Corporation re-released the game as part of their ACA Neo Geo series for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, Windows, Android and iOS.

Reception

RePlay reported Baseball Stars Professional to be the eighth most popular arcade game at the time. In Japan, Game Machine listed Baseball Stars Professional as the fourteenth most popular arcade game of December 1990.

Baseball Stars Professional received mixed reception from critics after its initial launch. Famicom Tsūshin scored the Neo Geo CD version of the game a 21 out of 40.

Notes

  1. ↑ Japanese: ベースボール・スターズ・プロフェッショナル, Hepburn: Bēsubōru Sutāzu Purofesshonaru

References

  1. ↑ "極楽VGブラザーズ: SNK - Baseball Stars Professional". Beep! Mega Drive (in Japanese). No. 7. SoftBank Creative. April 1990. p. 100.
  2. ↑ Thacker, John (December 2009). "Retroinspection: Neo Geo AES". Retro Gamer. No. 70. Imagine Publishing. pp. 72–81.
  3. 1 2 "Baseball Stars Professional [Model NGM-002] (MVS)". arcade-history.com. Archived from the original on April 2, 2016. Retrieved April 9, 2019.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 Baseball Stars Professional user's manual (Neo Geo AES, US)
  5. ↑ Quartermann (April 1990). "Gaming Gossip". Electronic Gaming Monthly. No. 9. EGM Media, LLC. p. 28. Archived from the original on January 6, 2019. Retrieved April 9, 2019.
  6. ↑ "Arcade Alley - Behind The Scenes At The 1990 ACME Show... - SNK's Neo-Geo". Electronic Gaming Monthly. No. 10. EGM Media, LLC. May 1990. p. 37. Archived from the original on January 6, 2019. Retrieved April 9, 2019.
  7. ↑ "Baseball Stars Professional [Model NGH-002] (AES)". arcade-history.com. Archived from the original on October 20, 2012. Retrieved April 9, 2019.
  8. ↑ "Oh! Neo Geo Vol. 25 - ベースボール•スターズ•プロフェッショナル". Beep! Mega Drive (in Japanese). No. 60. SoftBank Creative. September 1994. p. 134.
  9. ↑ "NEO GEO Soft > 1991-1992" (in Japanese). GAME Data Room. Archived from the original on October 1, 2018. Retrieved April 9, 2019.
  10. ↑ "Baseball Stars Professional [Model NGCD-002]". arcade-history.com. Archived from the original on April 14, 2016. Retrieved April 9, 2019.
  11. ↑ "News - Neo-Geo CD hits the street". Edge. No. 14. Future plc. November 1994. pp. 10–11.
  12. ↑ "Neo•Geo CD: The Arcade In A Box - Baseball Stars". GamePro. No. Premiere Supplement. IDG. Spring 1996. p. 104. Archived from the original on November 29, 2018. Retrieved November 27, 2018.
  13. ↑ Miller, Skyler (1998). "Baseball Stars Professional (Arcade) - Review". AllGame. All Media Network. Archived from the original on 16 November 2014. Retrieved 21 October 2018.
  14. ↑ Knight, Kyle (1998). "Baseball Stars Professional (Neo Geo Advanced Entertainment System) - Review". AllGame. All Media Network. Archived from the original on 15 November 2014. Retrieved 21 October 2018.
  15. ↑ Rignall, Julian (November 1990). "Complete Guide to Consoles - The Complete Games Guide - Neo Geo - Baseball Stars". Computer and Video Games Mean Machines. No. 4. EMAP. pp. 86–88. Archived from the original on January 6, 2019. Retrieved October 22, 2018.
  16. 1 2 "NEO GEO GAMES CROSS REVIEW: ベースボールスターズプロフェッショナル". Famitsu (in Japanese). No. 332. ASCII. April 28, 1995. p. 27.
  17. ↑ Candy, Robin (August 1990). "Consoles - A Real Mean Machine - Baseball Stars: Professional". The Games Machine. No. 33. Newsfield Publications. p. 23. Archived from the original on January 6, 2019. Retrieved October 22, 2018.
  18. ↑ "Neo Geo For Real! - Previously Played... - Baseball Stars Professional". GamePro. No. 30. IDG. January 1992. p. 103. Archived from the original on January 6, 2019. Retrieved October 22, 2018.
  19. ↑ del Campo, Manuel (September 1993). "Neo Geo - Baseball Stars Professional - ¡Esto Es America!". Hobby Consolas (in Spanish). No. 24. Axel Springer SE. p. 98.
  20. ↑ Demoly, Jean-Marc (September 1990). "Tests - Neo Geo - Baseball Stars". Joystick (in French). No. 8. Anuman Interactive. p. 106. Archived from the original on October 22, 2018. Retrieved October 22, 2018.
  21. ↑ Noak, Philipp; Hellert, Stefan (August 1993). "Special - Neo Geo - Baseballstars". Mega Fun (in German). No. 11. CT Computec Verlag GmbH & Co. KG. pp. 28–30. Archived from the original on October 21, 2018. Retrieved October 22, 2018.
  22. ↑ Yamashita, Nobuyuki; Itabashi (July 1992). "Super Soft 大特集 - 今、『NEO・GEO』がおもしろい！: ベースボールスターズ•プロフェッショナル". Micom BASIC Magazine (in Japanese). No. 121. The Dempa Shimbunsha Corporation. p. 208.
  23. ↑ "NF編集部にまる - ネオジオゲームㇱインレビュー: ベースボールスターズプロフェッショナル". Neo Geo Freak (in Japanese). No. 25. Geibunsha. June 1997. pp. 124–128.
  24. ↑ "The Player's Choice - Top Games Now in Operation, Based on Earnings-Opinion Poll of Operators: Best Software". RePlay. Vol. 16, no. 2. RePlay Publishing, Inc. November 1990. p. 4.
  25. ↑ "Game Machine's Best Hit Games 25 - テーブル型TVゲーム機 (Table Videos)". Game Machine (in Japanese). No. 394. Amusement Press, Inc. December 15, 1990. p. 25.
  26. ↑ Drevet, Cyril; Scamps, Olivier (December 1990). "Stop Info - La Neo-Geo De S.N.K. -- Base-Ball Stars Professional". Player One (in French). No. 4. Média Système Édition. pp. 14–16.
  27. ↑ "Console News - Neo Geo: Baseball Stars". Joystick (in French). No. Hors-Serie 3. Anuman Interactive. July–August 1991. p. 56.
  28. ↑ Knauf, Andreas (January 1992). "News - Neo Geo - Baseballstars Professional". Video Games (in German). No. 5. Future-Verlag. pp. 10–12.