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We’ve seen a major paradigm shift in the last couple decades. It used to be that baseball
was America’s favorite sport, and if you wanted to see international competition, you
watched those famous US/USSR Olympic hockey games. Nowadays, not so much. With the fall
of the Berlin Wall, the collapse of the Soviet Union, and a steroid scandal or two, that
situation is largely obsolete. Nowadays, we’ve grown closer to Football as a national pastime,
while baseball has become almost an international language. We’ve seen development of talent
in East Asia and Latin America, as well as the establishment of the World Baseball Classic,
not to mention the international nature of the Little League World Series. So when I
came upon this import copy of Powerful Pro Baseball, I knew all I needed before stepping
in: BASEBALL and ICHIRO.
Konami’s Powerpro series started on the Super Famicom in 1994, bringing super-deformed,
somewhat-detached caricatures of NPB stars to home consoles. That said, ‘94’s rather
late for the establishment of a 16-bit franchise, and... well, Final Fantasy VII released in
January of ‘97. Powerpro 4 dropped on the N64 two months after that. And this came a
week later. Some games would look rather suspect, straddling generations like this, seeming
a desperate attempt to cash-in on a larger install base. Don’t tell that to Powerpro,
though. This game is all about very solid, very customizable baseball action. You want
to conduct some shady deals and craft an absolutely absurd team? You go right ahead and do that.
Standard players not working out for you? Make your own! The series is famous for its
Success mode, allowing you to bring your own player up through the minor leagues, develop
a training regimen, and socialize with the team. (Also, many thanks to whoever this Kuroda-san
is for leaving their save-file on the game.)
One particularly intriguing game mode is the concept of “Scenario” games, where you’re
dropped into a contest with the task of changing the outcome. It’s the bottom of the 10th,
the Blue Wave are up a run, and you’ve gotta pull this one out for the Giants. DON’T
SUCK. On the one hand, yeah, you’re missing all the gameplay up to that point. On the
other hand, you don’t have to wait for all the gameplay up to that point; you’re simply
put in a pressure situation and forced to perform. It’s the most exciting bits of
the game, served up front and center. When you’re in the actual gameplay, there are
several options to keep the game fresh, as each pitcher has access to a number of different
throws and can maneuver the catcher’s glove to aim the shot... which, coincidentally,
is one of the easier ways for the batting player to find their target. It’s more crucial
when the batter’s activated his power swing, shrinking the hitbox to next to nothing in
exchange for extra oomph behind the hit. Or you miss and end up falling over with a goofy
look on your enormous face. That’s always a possibility.
If anything’s going to put the import gamer off this title, though, it might be all the
yelling. But you can go into the options and turn that down. If you don’t mind lots of
shouting, though, you’ll be surprised at how much vocalization is in this game. This
is a Super Famicom game, mind, and yet you’ve got not only the play-by-play announcer, but
the counterpoint of the relaxing-sounding woman announcing who’s currently up to bat.
It’s one of those remarkably advanced games that only comes about late in a system’s
lifetime, and an interesting diversion for folks who couldn’t get enough of MLB Power
Pros on the Wii. Now, lemme track down Derek. We’re gonna have to throw down on this thing.