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and an action button. One of the four cardinal directions is used to choose the pitch, and again to aim it towards low, high, inside (towards batter), or outside (away from batter). The same directions are used to aim the swing when batting. When fielding after a hit, the defensive player closest to
282:
Hardball! was one of the first baseball video games to incorporate the perspective from the pitcher's mound, similar to MLB broadcasts. There are also managerial options available. The player has a selection of pitchers to choose from. Each team member has his own statistics that affect his
417:
stated that the Apple II and
Macintosh versions had "almost everything you could want from a baseball simulation", with good support for playing as manager, player, or statistician and "exceptionally clear and precise graphics". The magazine concluded that
399:
praised the Atari 8-bit version's gameplay, graphic, and animation, only criticizing the computer opponent's low difficulty level. The magazine concluded that the game "is in a league of its own, above all other Atari sports games—simulations included".
32:
443:
picked the game as the #11 greatest game available in 1991, saying: "With its oversaturated colors, ultrarealistic sound effects (when the umpire shouts 'Play ball!' it sounds as if he’s in the room), and detailed managerial options,
263:
435:
gave the
Genesis version a score of 75% writing: "A decent baseball game which doesn’t have enough novel or interesting features to make it appeal to anyone other than real fans of the sport."
1018:
1003:
381:
topped the UK sales chart in March 1986. It went on to become
Accolade's best-selling Commodore game as of late 1987, and by 1989 had surpassed 500,000 units sold.
723:
662:
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four-plus stars out of five, stating that it "is easily the best baseball simulation we have seen to date for the 64/128" and praising its graphics.
1023:
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978:
577:
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the ball will flash to show it is the one currently under control. The four directions are then used to throw to one of the four bases.
958:
506:
636:
431:#132 by Hartley, Patricia, and Kirk Lesser in "The Role of Computers" column. The reviewers gave the game 5 out of 5 stars.
862:
1008:
988:
425:
s realism is outstanding—at a level unmatched by other baseball software to date". The game was reviewed in 1988 in
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51:
39:
998:
83:
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44:
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177:
73:
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667:
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297:
was the first to integrate that aspect with the arcade control of the game action itself.
514:
782:
749:
Lesser, Hartley; Lesser, Patricia; Lesser, Kirk (April 1988). "The Role of
Computers".
691:
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120:
819:
811:
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266:
Throwing a pitch on the
Commodore 64 version, with options for the pitcher and batter
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66:
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100:
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is the closest you may ever get to playing in a real major-league ballpark."
604:
413:"would probably be disappointing to anyone other than an avid arcade fan".
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271:
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in 1985, it was ported to other computers over the next several years. A
205:
124:
104:
88:
803:
324:
140:
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s release, there were managerial baseball games available, such as
847:
539:
Worley, Joyce (December 1989). "Mega Hits: The Best of the Best".
261:
128:
635:
Dunnington, Benn; Brown, Mark R. (December 1985 – January 1986).
136:
851:
283:
performance, and can be rearranged as desired. Prior to
403:
In an overview of statistics-oriented baseball games,
565:. No. 55 (May 1986). 16 April 1986. p. 40.
183:
171:
150:
94:
82:
72:
60:
50:
38:
24:
863:
840:can be played for free in the browser at the
8:
330:
1019:Video games developed in the United States
870:
856:
848:
534:
532:
308:
30:
21:
1004:Multiplayer and single-player video games
578:"The Commodore Games That Live On And On"
542:Video Games & Computer Entertainment
479:
692:"Bezbol Been Berry, Berry Good To Me!"
460:in the opening scene of the 1987 film
7:
507:"Hardball (Commodore 64/128) Review"
313:
603:Blasko, Larry (December 14, 1989).
304:
377:was a commercial blockbuster. The
14:
722:Florance, David (December 1987).
661:Millard, Robert (December 1986).
332:
220:cartridge was published in 1991.
576:Ferrell, Keith (December 1987).
351:
346:
341:
336:
331:
1024:Video games scored by Ed Bogas
1:
728:Compute!'s Apple Applications
703:. No. 36. pp. 42–43
690:Wilson, Johnny (April 1987).
415:Compute!'s Apple Applications
212:. Initially released for the
1045:
979:Atari 8-bit computer games
832:at SpectrumComputing.co.uk
270:Play is controlled with a
886:
317:
314:
29:
959:Accolade (company) games
562:Computer and Video Games
208:video game published by
771:(1): 78. December 1991.
494:(1): 78. December 1991.
267:
700:Computer Gaming World
643:. pp. 4–5, 88–93
406:Computer Gaming World
265:
557:"The Software Chart"
545:: 130–132, 137, 138.
517:on November 15, 2014
440:Entertainment Weekly
290:MicroLeague Baseball
783:"Video Games Guide"
311:
1009:Sega Genesis games
989:Commodore 64 games
637:"C-64/128 Gallery"
505:Sutyak, Jonathan.
466:, being played by
463:The Princess Bride
309:
268:
1029:ZX Spectrum games
936:
935:
582:Compute's Gazette
371:
370:
197:
196:
1036:
974:Apple IIGS games
954:1985 video games
872:
865:
858:
849:
842:Internet Archive
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773:
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761:
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668:ANALOG Computing
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584:. pp. 18–22
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513:. Archived from
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396:ANALOG Computing
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224:was followed by
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22:
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1014:U.S. Gold games
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19:1985 video game
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16:1985 video game
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11:
5:
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984:Atari ST games
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969:Apple II games
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824:at Atari Mania
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816:at Atari Mania
809:
799:
798:External links
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714:
682:
653:
627:
622:Newspapers.com
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753:(132): 80–85.
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730:. p. 106
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310:Review scores
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188:Single-player
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71:
68:
67:Bob Whitehead
65:
63:
59:
55:
53:
49:
46:
43:
41:
37:
33:
28:
23:
925:
918:
911:
906:HardBall III
904:
897:
891:
890:
878:
844:(Apple IIGS)
836:
828:
820:
812:
804:
786:
777:
768:
765:"Game Index"
759:
750:
744:
732:. Retrieved
727:
717:
705:. Retrieved
698:
685:
673:. Retrieved
671:. p. 26
666:
656:
645:. Retrieved
640:
630:
620:– via
614:. Retrieved
610:Courier-Post
608:
598:
586:. Retrieved
581:
571:
560:
551:
540:
519:. Retrieved
515:the original
510:
500:
491:
488:"Game Index"
482:
461:
455:
445:
438:
437:
426:
419:
414:
410:
409:stated that
404:
402:
394:
390:
384:
383:
379:Commodore 64
374:
373:
323:
294:
288:
284:
281:
269:
249:
243:
237:
233:HardBall III
231:
225:
221:
218:Sega Genesis
214:Commodore 64
200:
199:
198:
164:
159:
154:
101:Commodore 64
78:Mimi Doggett
52:Publisher(s)
40:Developer(s)
964:Amiga games
913:HardBall IV
899:HardBall II
808:at Lemon 64
663:"HardBall!"
605:"Computers"
468:Fred Savage
315:Publication
239:HardBall IV
227:HardBall II
192:multiplayer
162:Atari 8-bit
117:ZX Spectrum
113:Amstrad CPC
109:Atari 8-bit
96:Platform(s)
84:Composer(s)
62:Designer(s)
999:MSX2 games
943:Categories
927:HardBall 6
920:HardBall 5
724:"Hardball"
647:2019-03-19
616:August 16,
588:24 January
521:August 24,
474:References
276:arrow keys
251:HardBall 6
245:HardBall 5
133:Apple IIGS
994:DOS games
949:HardBall!
892:HardBall!
837:HardBall!
829:HardBall!
821:HardBall!
813:HardBall!
805:HardBall!
734:18 August
456:The game
446:HardBall!
391:Hardball!
375:Hardball!
367:75% (GEN)
357:(C64/128)
306:Reception
301:Reception
295:HardBall!
285:HardBall!
222:HardBall!
201:HardBall!
74:Artist(s)
25:HardBall!
879:HardBall
769:MegaTech
707:23 April
492:MegaTech
433:MegaTech
420:Hardball
411:Hardball
363:MegaTech
272:joystick
258:Gameplay
210:Accolade
206:baseball
173:Genre(s)
125:Atari ST
105:Apple II
89:Ed Bogas
56:Accolade
45:Accolade
511:Allgame
458:appears
325:AllGame
184:Mode(s)
167:Genesis
151:Release
145:Genesis
881:series
787:EW.com
751:Dragon
675:7 July
452:Legacy
428:Dragon
389:rated
248:, and
178:Sports
141:MS-DOS
695:(PDF)
423:'
318:Score
204:is a
165:1991:
160:1987:
155:1985:
129:Amiga
736:2014
709:2016
677:2014
641:Info
618:2021
590:2015
523:2022
386:Info
293:but
137:MSX2
274:or
157:C64
121:Mac
945::
785:.
767:.
726:.
697:.
665:.
639:.
607:.
580:.
559:.
531:^
509:.
490:.
470:.
254:.
242:,
236:,
230:,
190:,
143:,
139:,
135:,
131:,
127:,
123:,
119:,
115:,
111:,
107:,
103:,
871:e
864:t
857:v
789:.
738:.
711:.
679:.
650:.
624:.
592:.
525:.
418:"
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
