Great Baseball

For the game released in Asia, see Great Baseball (1985).

n/a

Great Baseball
System(s): Sega Master System
Publisher: Sega of America (US), Sega Enterprises, Ltd. (EU)
Developer: Whiteboard
Genre: Sports (baseball)
Number of players: 1-2
Release Date RRP Code US 1987-03 5061 EU 1987 MK-5061-50 FR 198x 250F250 MK-5061-50 UK 1988-09 £22.9522.95 MK-5061-50 IT 19xx KR 19xx GB-1400

Great Baseball is a sports game developed and published by Sega for the Sega Master System as part of the Great series of sports games.

This Great Baseball should not be confused with the Great Baseball released in Japan and Taiwan. An upgraded version of this Great Baseball would later that year be released in Japan as The Pro Yakyuu: Pennant Race.

Gameplay

The game is a simple baseball game that can be played by one or two players. It uses a low view from behind the pitcher's mound for pitching and hitting, with an inset of the diamond to show the positions of runners on the bases. It switches between a wide overhead view of the outfield and a tighter view of the diamond (depending on the location of the ball) for fielding and baserunning. There are 26 teams, based on the Major League Baseball teams of the day, but the game lacks a license and has fictional rosters and player statistics.

Before each game, players choose a starting pitcher (from four choices), then their specialty pitch (fastball, slowball, slider, or knuckleball) and their stamina (between one and four). Once a specialty pitch or a stamina level is chosen for a pitcher, it cannot be used again when a relief pitcher is called later in the game.

Games are nine innings long. In the event of a tie in a one-player game, the computer wins by default; in a two-player game, the game goes into extra innings until the tie is broken.

	Defense
	When pitching, the player positions the pitcher with and . The pitcher throws the ball with . While throwing the ball, the player can control the pitch with and for a curve ball, for a fastball, or for a change-up. The pitcher can throw to base to pick off a runner trying to steal a base by pressing while holding a direction corresponding to a base ( for first, for second, for third, or for home). The player can substitute a relief pitcher with +. As when choosing a starting pitcher, the player chooses the pitcher's specialty pitch (fastball, slowball, slider, or knuckleball) and stamina (between one and four) from the remaining choices when selecting a relief. The fielders are moved with the D-Pad. When playing with automatic fielding, the fielders run after the ball automatically. Once the ball is in possession, it can be thrown to base by pressing or while holding a direction corresponding to the base.
	Offense
	When hitting, the player positions the batter using the D-Pad. The batter swings by pressing to step through three batting positions (which can be used for a bunt) or holding for a full swing (or to complete a swing). The player can instruct a baserunner to lead off or to steal a base or to continue running to the next base after a hit by pressing while holding a direction corresponding to a base ( for first, for second, for third, or for home) or to return to base by pressing while holding a direction corresponding to a base. If no direction is held, the order is given to all runners. The player can substitute a pinch hitter with +. There are four choices at the beginning of the game, and the player can choose the hitter's specialty (fleet footed, long hitter, spray hitter, or home run hitter). As with pitchers, each hitter and specialty can only be used once per game.

Modes

Scoreboard

The game has the following modes:

• 1 Players Level 1: Starts a one-player game with automatic fielding.
• 1 Players Level 2: Starts a one-player game with manual fielding.
• 2 Players Level 1: Starts a two-player game with automatic fielding.
• 2 Players Level 2: Starts a two-player game with manual fielding.
• Home Run Contest 1: Starts a one-player home run contest (with no competitor).
• Home Run Contest 2: Starts a two-player home run contest (alternating turns).

In the home run contest, each player gets 20 pitches and tries to hit as many home runs as possible. There are no fielders or basemen, and pitches are delivered automatically.

Teams

Teams are based on Major League Baseball teams. In one-player games, the player can choose any team to play, and the game automatically chooses an opponent from the same league. In two-player games, players can choose any team, but they must be from the same league.

League	Division	Team	Based on
A League	Eastern	Baltimore (BAL)	Baltimore Orioles
		Boston (BOS)	Boston Red Sox
		Cleveland (CLE)	Cleveland Indians
		Detroit (DET)	Detroit Tigers
		Milwaukee (MIL)	Milwaukee Brewers
		New York (NY)	New York Yankees
		Toronto (TOR)	Toronto Blue Jays
	Western	California (CAL)	California Angels
		Chicago (CHI)	Chicago White Sox
		Kansas City (KL)	Kansas City Royals
		Minnesota (MIN)	Minnesota Twins
		Oakland (OAK)	Oakland Athletics
		Seattle (SEA)	Seattle Mariners
		Texas (TEX)	Texas Rangers
N League	Eastern	Chicago (CHI)	Chicago Cubs
		Montreal (MON)	Montreal Expos
		New York (NY)	New York Mets
		Philadelphia (PHI)	Philadelphia Phillies
		Pittsburgh (PIT)	Pittsburgh Pirates
		St. Louis (STL)	St. Louis Cardinals
	Western	Atlanta (ATL)	Atlanta Braves
		Cincinnati (CIN)	Cincinnati Reds
		Houston (HOU)	Houston Astros
		Los Angeles (LA)	Los Angeles Dodgers
		San Diego (SD)	San Diego Padres
		San Francisco (SF)	San Francisco Giants

Production credits

• Programmer: Yuji Naka

Source:

Uncredited

Hints

• 

  US hints 1 (color scan)

• 

  US hints 1 (B/W scan)

• 

  US hints 2 (with Rocky and Great Ice Hockey)

Magazine articles

Main article: Great Baseball/Magazine articles.

Physical scans

Sega Retro Average
Publication Score Source

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Based on 0 review

Sega Retro Average
Publication Version Score Complete Guide to Consoles (UK) 71 Complete Guide to Consoles (UK) 70 The Complete Guide to Sega (UK) PAL 70 Console XS (UK) PAL 85 Computer & Video Games (UK) 76 Génération 4 (FR) 69 Mean Machines Sega (UK) 70 Power Play (DE) 70 S: The Sega Magazine (UK) PAL 67 Sega Power (UK) PAL 50 Sega Pro (UK) 74 Sega Pro (UK) PAL 75 Soft Today (DK) 60 Tilt (FR) 60 Tilt (FR) 65

	69
Based on 15 reviews

Great Baseball

Master System, US (℠ variant)
Cover

Master System, US (® variant)
Cover
Cart Manual Poster

Master System, US "Made in Taiwan" variant
Cover
Manual

Master System, EU
Cover

Master System, EU (Sega®)
Cover

Master System, EU ("No Limits")
Cover

Master System, IT

Master System, KR
Cart

Technical information

ROM dump status

System	Hash	Size	Build Date	Source	Comments
?	CRC32 10ed6b57 MD5 1d126c6ac8e4d7b612e9db3d56d9e78e SHA-1 b332344eb529bad29dfb582633e787f7e42f71ae	128kB		Cartridge (EU/US)