Sports Illustrated: Championship Football & Baseball

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Sports Illustrated: Championship Football & Baseball
System(s): Sega Game Gear
Publisher: Black Pearl Software
Developer: Unexpected Development
Supporting companies: Beeline Group (package design)
Licensor: Time Inc.
Genre: Sports
Number of players: 1
Release Date RRP Code US 1995 T-100128

Sports Illustrated: Championship Football & Baseball is a Sega Game Gear sports game released exclusively in North America.

Gameplay

The game combines a basic football game and a basic baseball game on the same cartridge. Games only support one player with a computer opponent. Neither sport carries a license from a professional league or players association, so teams are identified only by their locale and no real players appear. Both games contain an exhibition mode for playing a single match and a season mode for playing a full season, with a password system for continuing.

Football

Players can play a single game or a season of 16 games plus playoffs. The player can set the difficulty level (High School, College, and Pro) and the quarter length (5, 10, or 15 minutes).

	Coin Toss
	At the start of the game, the player chooses heads () or tails () and the referee tosses a coin. If the player wins the coin toss, the player can choose whether to kickoff (starting the game on defense) or receive (starting the game on offense) by pressing or to toggle between the choices and  START  to start the game.
	Kickoff
	Kickoffs are done at the start of the game, on every new set of downs, and after a touchdown. The defending team starts the kickoff by pressing . Before catching the ball, the offensive team can switch between players by pressing or move the active team member using the D-Pad. A team member automatically tries to catch the ball. After catching the ball, the player with the ball is controlled and can momentarily sprint by pressing .
	Playbook
	The offensive playbook contains 20 offensive plays, sorted into three strategies (Run, Pass, or Kick). The only Kick plays are punting (on the fourth down) or kicking (on the fourth down if close enough or after a touchdown). The defensive playbook contains 22 defensive plays, sorted into two strategies (Run or Pass). The player cycles through strategies by pressing or , cycles through plays by pressing or , views a play (by animating the playbook symbols, only for plays with arrows indicating the movement of a player) by holding , and chooses a play by pressing  START . The player has 30 seconds to choose a play but can call a timeout (up to three times per quarter) by pressing and stop the timer. Otherwise, the player is penalized 5 yards for delay of game (when on offense) or the selected play is chosen automatically (when on defense) if the timer runs out without choosing a play.
	Defense
	The active team member is indicated by a flashing arrow and can be cycled between by pressing . Other team members are controlled by the computer and follow. The active team member can momentarily sprint by pressing . Moving into the ball carrier automatically tackles him.
	Offense
	At the start of the play, the quarterback hikes the ball by pressing . If the play involves a hand-off, the hand-off is automatically done when close to the appropriate running back. After the snap, the team member with the ball (indicated by a flashing arrow) runs in any direction using the D-Pad. Other team members are controlled by the computer and follow. The team member can pass the ball by pressing to cycle through the receivers and pressing to throw the ball. Holding the button for longer throws more accurately, but holding it for shorter throws with more power. If no receiver is selected, the team member can momentarily sprint by pressing .
	Field Goal
	The offensive team can hike the ball by pressing . The defending team can switch between players by pressing or move the active team member using the D-Pad.

Teams

Football menu

There are 30 teams, based on NFL teams.

Team	Based on
Arizona	Arizona Cardinals
Atlanta	Atlanta Falcons
Buffalo	Buffalo Bills
Carolina	Carolina Panthers
Chicago	Chicago Bears
Cincinnati	Cincinnati Bengals
Cleveland	Cleveland Browns
Dallas	Dallas Cowboys
Denver	Denver Broncos
Detroit	Detroit Lions
Green Bay	Green Bay Packers
Houston	Houston Oilers
Indianapolis	Indianapolis Colts
Jacksonville	Jacksonville Jaguars
Kansas City	Kansas City Chiefs
Los Angeles	Los Angeles Raiders
Miami	Miami Dolphins
Minnesota	Minnesota Vikings
New England	New England Patriots
New Orleans	New Orleans Saints
New York	New York Giants
New York City	New York Jets
Philadelphia	Philadelphia Eagles
Pittsburgh	Pittsburgh Steelers
San Diego	San Diego Chargers
San Francisco	San Francisco 49ers
Seattle	Seattle Seahawks
St. Louis	St. Louis Rams
Tampa Bay	Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Washington	Washington Redskins

Baseball

Players can play a single game or a season of 32 games plus playoffs. The player can toggle auto-fielding and set the length of the game (from 1 to 9 innings). Before a game starts, the player chooses a starting pitcher by moving the D-Pad in any direction and pressing  START  twice to confirm. The camera zooms in and out with a scaling effect to switch between pitching/hitting and fielding/running.

	Defense
	When pitching, the player can move the pitcher on the mound with or . The pitcher throws the ball by pressing . After throwing the ball, it can be curved by pressing or or sped up by pressing and holding . The pitcher can pick off a runner by pressing , which zooms out to a fielding view. The pitcher can move in any direction using the D-Pad and throw the ball by holding (to switch control to the player who catches the ball) or (to retain control of the pitcher after throwing the ball) and pressing a direction corresponding to the base ( for first, for second, for third, or for home). When fielding, an arrow indicates the fielder under control, which can be changed by pressing . The active fielder can be moved in any direction using the D-Pad. The arrow is blue when the player does not have the ball and changes to white when the player has the ball. The ball can be thrown by holding (to switch control to the player who catches the ball) or (to retain control of the same fielder after throwing the ball) and pressing a direction corresponding to the base. If auto-fielding is enabled, the computer controls the player's fielders automatically.
	Offense
	When receiving a pitch, the player can move the batter the batter's box with or . The batter bunts by pressing and swings by holding (which can be released early for a check swing). The batter can raise or lower the bat by holding or while swinging to hit a high or a low pitch. Before the pitch, the player can select a baserunner by holding  START  and holding a direction corresponding to a base ( for first, for second, for third, or for home). Then after releasing  START  but before releasing the D-Pad, the player can direct the baserunner to lead-off by pressing , retreat back to base by pressing , or steal a base by pressing  START . After the pitch, the player can order a baserunner by holding a direction corresponding to a base and pressing to advance the runner or to retreat back to base.

Teams

Baseball menu

There are 28 teams, based on MLB teams.

League	Division	Team	Based on
American	West	Oakland	Oakland Athletics
		Texas	Texas Rangers
		Seattle	Seattle Mariners
		California	California Angels
	Central	Cleveland	Cleveland Indians
		Chicago	Chicago White Sox
		Milwaukee	Milwaukee Brewers
		Kansas City	Kansas City Royals
		Minnesota	Minnesota Twins
	East	Baltimore	Baltimore Orioles
		Boston	Boston Red Sox
		New York	New York Yankees
		Detroit	Detroit Tigers
		Toronto	Toronto Blue Jays
National	West	Colorado	Colorado Rockies
		Los Angeles	Los Angeles Dodgers
		San Francisco	San Francisco Giants
		San Diego	San Diego Padres
	Central	Pittsburgh	Pittsburgh Pirates
		Chicago	Chicago Cubs
		St. Louis	St. Louis Cardinals
		Cincinnati	Cincinnati Reds
		Houston	Houston Astros
	East	Florida	Florida Marlins
		Montreal	Montreal Expos
		New York	New York Mets
		Philadelphia	Philadelphia Phillies
		Atlanta	Atlanta Braves

Magazine articles

Main article: Sports Illustrated: Championship Football & Baseball/Magazine articles.

Physical scans

Game Gear, US
Cover
Cart Manual

Technical information

ROM dump status

System	Hash	Size	Build Date	Source	Comments
?	CRC32 de25e2d8 MD5 a437bf2802d078cde35dbbf2657fa0c8 SHA-1 781bc3ef9fbbbfcb5452dad99633b65c172b62fa	512kB		Cartridge (US/EU)

External links

• Sega of America webpage: Game Gear