Baseball Stars Professional

Baseball Stars Professional[lower-alpha 1] is a baseball arcade video game developed and originally published by SNK on 26 April, 1990.[1] A follow-up to the original Baseball Stars on Nintendo Entertainment System, it was one of the launch titles for both the Neo Geo MVS (arcade) and Neo Geo AES (home) platforms, in addition of also being one of the pack-in games for the AES,[2] as well as the first baseball title released for the Neo Geo.[3]

Baseball Stars Professional
North American Arcade flyer
Developer(s)SNK
M2 (PlayStation Network)
Publisher(s)SNK
SNK Playmore
(PlayStation Network)
HAMSTER Corporation (PS4/Switch/Xbox One)
Designer(s)Miki T.
Toyohisa Tanabe
Composer(s)Toshikazu Tanaka
SeriesBaseball Stars
Platform(s)
Release
Genre(s)Sports
Mode(s)
CabinetUpright
Arcade systemNeo Geo MVS

In the game, the players compete with either computer-controlled opponents or against other players in matches across various ballparks. 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 in 1991 and 1995 respectively, in addition of being re-released through download services for various gaming consoles, 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
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 similar golf titles from the era, where players compete in matches against computer-controlled opponents or other players across two ballparks.[4] There are only two modes featured in the game:[4] 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.[4] Most of the original teams featured in the first Baseball Stars return in this game,[4] however 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.[4]

Development and release
Baseball Stars Professional became one of the first games released for the Neo Geo MVS (left) and Neo Geo AES (right) when both systems were launched.

Baseball Stars Professional was initially launched for arcades on 26 April 1990 and holds the distinction for being the first baseball game to be developed for the Neo Geo platform.[3] 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 in Japan,[5][6][7] but this was later reversed due to high demand and price, coming into the market as a luxury console on 1 July 1991.[8][9] It was re-released for the Neo Geo CD on 21 April 1995, with minimal changes compared to the original MVS and AES versions.[10][11][12] The game has received multiple re-releases in recent years on various digital distribution platforms such as the Virtual Console, PlayStation Network, Nintendo eShop and Xbox Live.

Reception
Reception
Review scores
PublicationScore
AllGame(Arcade) [13]
(Neo Geo) [14]
CVG Mean Machines(Neo Geo) 61%[15]
Famitsu(Neo Geo CD) 21 / 40[16]
The Games Machine(Neo Geo) 75%[17]
GamePro(Neo Geo) 19 / 25[18]
Hobby Consolas(Neo Geo) 84 / 100[19]
Joystick(Neo Geo) 92%[20]
Mega Fun(Neo Geo) 80%[21]
Micom BASIC Magazine(Neo Geo) [22]
Neo Geo Freak(Arcade) 5 / 20[23]

In Japan, Game Machine listed Baseball Stars Professional on their December 15, 1990 issue as being the fourteenth most-successful table arcade unit of the year, outperforming titles such as Palamedes.[24]

Baseball Stars Professional received mixed reception from critics after its initial launch.[25][26][27] Famicom Tsūshin scored the Neo Geo CD version of the game a 21 out of 40.[16]

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
gollark: Rust.
gollark: Rust.
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gollark: The command is ++exec, <@353513054912249856>.
gollark: =tex \lambda

References
  1. "極楽VGブラザーズ: SNK - Baseball Stars Professional". Beep! MegaDrive (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. "Baseball Stars Professional [Model NGM-002] (MVS)". arcade-history.com. Archived from the original on 2 April 2016. Retrieved 9 April 2019.
  4. 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 6 January 2019. Retrieved 9 April 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 6 January 2019. Retrieved 9 April 2019.
  7. "Baseball Stars Professional [Model NGH-002] (AES)". arcade-history.com. Archived from the original on 20 October 2012. Retrieved 9 April 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! MegaDrive (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 1 October 2018. Retrieved 9 April 2019.
  10. "Baseball Stars Professional [Model NGCD-002]". arcade-history.com. Archived from the original on 14 April 2016. Retrieved 9 April 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 29 November 2018. Retrieved 27 November 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 6 January 2019. Retrieved 22 October 2018.
  16. "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. 28 April 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 6 January 2019. Retrieved 22 October 2018.
  18. "Neo Geo For Real! - Previously Played... - Baseball Stars Professional". GamePro. No. 30. IDG. January 1992. p. 103. Archived from the original on 6 January 2019. Retrieved 22 October 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 22 October 2018. Retrieved 22 October 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 21 October 2018. Retrieved 22 October 2018.
  22. Yanma; 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. "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. 15 December 1990. p. 25.
  25. 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.
  26. "Console News - Neo Geo: Baseball Stars". Joystick (in French). No. Hors-Serie 3. Anuman Interactive. July–August 1991. p. 56.
  27. Knauf, Andreas (January 1992). "News - Neo Geo - Baseballstars Professional". Video Games (in German). No. 5. Future-Verlag. pp. 10–12.

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