is a

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...

arcade Arcade most often refers to: * Arcade game, a coin-operated game machine ** Arcade cabinet, housing which holds an arcade game's hardware ** Arcade system board, a standardized printed circuit board * Amusement arcade, a place with arcade games * ...

video game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This fee ...

developed and originally published by

SNK is a Japanese video game hardware and software company. It is the successor to the company Shin Nihon Kikaku and presently owns the SNK video game brand and the Neo Geo video game platform. SNK's predecessor Shin Nihon Kikaku was founded in 1978 ...

on 26 April 1990. A follow-up to the original ''

Baseball Stars ''Baseball Stars'' is a baseball video game developed by SNK. It was released for the NES in 1989. It became a major hit in many countries worldwide, particularly in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. Features ''Baseball Stars'' was th ...

'' on Nintendo Entertainment System, it was one of the

launch title This list includes terms used in video games and the video game industry, as well as slang used by players. 0–9 A ...

s for both the

Neo Geo MVS The , stylised as NEO•GEO and also written as NEOGEO, is a cartridge-based arcade system board and the fourth generation home video game console released on April 26, 1990 by Japanese game company SNK Corporation. It was the first system in ...

(arcade) and

Neo Geo AES The , stylised as NEO•GEO and also written as NEOGEO, is a cartridge-based arcade system board and the fourth generation home video game console released on April 26, 1990 by Japanese game company SNK Corporation. It was the first system in ...

(home) platforms, in addition of also being one of the

pack-in game This list includes terms used in video games and the video game industry, as well as slang used by players. 0–9 A ...

s for the AES, as well as the first baseball title released for the

Neo Geo Neo Geo is a family of video game hardware developed by SNK. On the market from 1990 to 2004, the brand originated with the release of an arcade system, the Neo Geo MVS and its home console counterpart, the Neo Geo AES. The Neo Geo MVS was ...

. In the game, the players compete with either computer-controlled opponents or against other players in matches across various

ballpark A ballpark, or baseball park, is a type of sports venue where baseball is played. The playing field is divided into the infield, an area whose dimensions are rigidly defined, and the outfield, where dimensions can vary widely from place to pla ...

s. Although it was originally launched for the Neo Geo MVS, ''Baseball Stars Professional'' would be later released for both Neo Geo AES and

Neo Geo CD The is the second home video game console of SNK Corporation's Neo Geo family, released on September 9, 1994, four years after its cartridge-based equivalent. This is the same platform, converted to the cheaper CD format retailing at per t ...

in 1991 and 1995 respectively, in addition of being re-released through download services for various gaming

console Console may refer to: Computing and video games * System console, a physical device to operate a computer ** Virtual console, a user interface for multiple computer consoles on one device ** Command-line interface, a method of interacting with ...

s, among other ways to play it as of date. ''Baseball Stars Professional'' garnered mixed reception from critics upon its original release, with reviewers praising various aspects of the game such as the presentation, visuals and quality of the digitized voice samples but many were divided in regards to the gameplay.

Gameplay

''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.''Baseball Stars Professional'' user's manual (Neo Geo AES, US) 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 Team management is the ability of an individual or an organization to administer and coordinate a group of individuals to perform a task. Team management involves teamwork, communication, objective setting and performance appraisals. Moreover, te ...

and the ability to create a new team from the ground up, among others. If a

memory card A memory card is an electronic data storage device used for storing digital information, typically using flash memory. These are commonly used in digital portable electronic devices. They allow adding memory to such devices using a card in a so ...

is present, the players are allowed to save their progress and resume into the last match the game saved at through a

password A password, sometimes called a passcode (for example in Apple devices), is secret data, typically a string of characters, usually used to confirm a user's identity. Traditionally, passwords were expected to be memorized, but the large number of ...

system.

Development and release

''Baseball Stars Professional'' was initially launched for arcades on 26 April 1990, and was the first baseball game developed for the Neo Geo platform. The game was also released during the same period for the Neo Geo AES, when the system was originally a rental-only system for video game stores and

hotels A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Facilities provided inside a hotel room may range from a modest-quality mattress in a small room to large suites with bigger, higher-quality beds, a dresser, a ref ...

in Japan, but this was later reversed due to high demand and price, coming into the market as a luxury console on 1 July 1991. It was re-released for the Neo Geo CD on 21 April 1995, with minimal changes compared to the original MVS and AES versions. The game has received multiple re-releases in recent years on various

digital distribution Digital distribution, also referred to as content delivery, online distribution, or electronic software distribution, among others, is the delivery or distribution of digital media content such as audio, video, e-books, video games, and other s ...

platforms such as the

Virtual Console A virtual console (VC) – also known as a virtual terminal (VT) – is a conceptual combination of the keyboard and display for a computer user interface. It is a feature of some Unix-like operating systems such as Linux, BSD, illumos, Uni ...

, PlayStation Network, Nintendo eShop and Xbox Live.

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'' on their December 15, 1990 issue as being the fourteenth most-popular arcade game at the time. ''Baseball Stars Professional'' received mixed reception from critics after its initial launch. ''

Famicom Tsūshin formerly ''Famicom Tsūshin'', is a line of Japanese video game magazines published by Kadokawa Game Linkage (previously known as Gzbrain), a subsidiary of Kadokawa. ''Famitsu'' is published in both weekly and monthly formats as well as in the f ...

'' scored the

version of the game a 21 out of 40.

Notes

References

External links

''Baseball Stars Professional''
at GameFAQs
''Baseball Stars Professional''
at

Giant Bomb ''Giant Bomb'' is an American video game website and wiki that includes personality-driven gaming videos, commentary, news, and reviews, created by former ''GameSpot'' editors Jeff Gerstmann and Ryan Davis. The website was voted by '' Time' ...

''Baseball Stars Professional''
at

Killer List of Videogames Killer List of Videogames (KLOV) is a website featuring an online encyclopedia devoted to cataloging arcade games past and present. It is the video game department of the International Arcade Museum, and has been referred to as "the IMDb for pl ...

''Baseball Stars Professional''
at MobyGames {{DEFAULTSORT:Baseball Stars Professional 1990 video games ACA Neo Geo games Arcade video games Baseball Stars video games Multiplayer and single-player video games Neo Geo games Neo Geo CD games Nintendo Switch games Pack-in video games PlayStation Network games PlayStation 4 games SNK games SNK Playmore games Hamster Corporation games Video games developed in Japan Xbox One games