World Series Baseball 98 (Mega Drive)

For the Sega Saturn game, see World Series Baseball 98 (Saturn).

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World Series Baseball 98
System(s): Sega Mega Drive
Publisher: Sega
Developer: BlueSky Software
Licensor: Major League Baseball Properties, Major League Baseball Players Association
Sound driver: GEMS
Genre: Sports
Number of players: 1-2
Release Date RRP Code US 1997-07-18 1244

World Series Baseball 98 is a Sega Mega Drive baseball game developed by BlueSky Software and published by Sega. Released exclusively in the United States in July 1997, the game is an update to the developer's previous game World Series Baseball '96, with the only substantial addition to the game being an updated player roster.

Gameplay

The game plays identically to World Series Baseball '95 for the Sega Mega Drive. It features all 28 teams and 700 players from the 1997 MLB season, along with all 28 ballparks. The game additionally features several special teams: the American League Stars, National League Stars, and MLB Stars (consisting of the best players from each league or from both leagues) and the American League Legends, National League Legends, and MLB Legends (all-star teams including historical players such as Roberto Clemente). The 1998 expansion teams, the Arizona Diamondbacks and the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, are also present. However, as neither team had yet played a game at the time of the game's release, they are not available for league play and have fictional rosters (containing the names of the developers).

• Exhibition: A single game against a human or computer player. The player can also watch two computer-controlled teams play. Assigning control to a human is done before the game by moving the player to a team with or , then the game is started with  START .
• League: Plays a season of games that culminate in the World Series. The player can choose the number of games (13, 26, 52, 104, or a full 162 games) and the number of divisions (4 or 6). The game has the ability to draft and trade players. There is a mid-season All-Star Game whose members are chosen based on the player's season. This version of the game adds interleague games, which were introduced to the 1997 MLB season. The game uses a battery backup to save the player's progress.
• Playoffs: A truncated season with only the play-offs. Progress in this mode is also saved using the battery backup.
• Batting Practice: The player practices batting. There are no outs in this mode. The player can select a left- or right-handed pitcher, a left- or right-handed batter, the type of pitch, and the venue.
• Home Run Derby: Players have 10 attempts to hit as many home runs as possible. A missed attempt is a hit that is not a home run; there are no strike-outs. This mode can be played by up to 8 players taking turns.
• Classic Home Run Derby: This mode is a home run competition that retains outs and innings. Like a standard baseball game, the player pitches during one half of the inning and hits in the other half, but there is no fielding or baserunning. The player with the most home runs after nine innings is the winner. It can be played by one or two players.

The scoreboard is shown at the beginning of the game and after each play (and can be shown by calling a time-out with  START ). The scoreboard has a menu that allows players to set the batting line-up, change the defensive position of each player, and choose the starting and relief pitchers. Starting pitchers have more stamina than relief pitchers, but players can have up to two relievers warm up to their maximum stamina in the bullpen. The scoreboard also provides options including selecting the difficulty for pitching and batting separately (Rookie, Veteran, or All-Star), setting the length of the game (3, 6, or 9 innings) before the first pitch, and toggling auto-fielding.

	Defense
	On each pitch, the player positions the pitch using the D-Pad and chooses the type of pitch to throw with , , or . Each pitcher has a repertoire of three pitches from eight different possible pitches (fastball, split-finger, slider, sinker, curveball, change-up, screwball, or knuckleball). The strike zone appears in brackets in the center of the screen. After choosing the type of pitch and its position, the player chooses the speed of the throw: for slow, for medium, or for fast. The pitcher can also throw to base with the D-Pad ( for first, for second, or for third) to pick-off runners trying to steal a base or throw a pitchout (a pitch deliberately thrown outside of the strike zone to make it easier to catch) with to prevent baserunners from stealing a base or to thwart a squeeze play. When fielding, the D-Pad controls the player closest to the ball. If auto-fielding is enabled, the fielders automatically move toward any ball hit near them. The position of the ball is highlighted with a yellow circle when it is near the ground. The player can have the nearest fielder dive for the ball by pressing while holding a direction or jump by pressing while the fielder is standing still. Once the ball is in possession, it can be thrown to base by pressing while holding a direction corresponding to the base ( for first, for second, for third, or for home). If no direction is held, the ball is thrown to the cut-off man or to the pitcher. The player can open the scoreboard with  START  to check the score, warm up relievers, substitute pitchers or fielders, play a replay, or change the options. There is also the ability to change the defensive strategy by changing the depth and shift of outfielders and infielders.
	Offense
	Before each pitch, the player chooses the type of swing: for contact, for normal, or for power. Contact is a light hit to put the ball into play; power is a hard hit to try to get a run. The strike zone appears in brackets in the center of the screen. Hitting comes down to aim and timing. The player moves a batting bar at the ball with the D-Pad and swings with or bunts with . The batting bar is shaped like a bat and indicates where the bat will make contact with the ball. It has two vertical lines that indicate the "sweet spots" on the bat. On Rookie difficulty, the player does not need to aim the hit and only needs to swing. On Veteran, the batting bar is always the same size, while on All-Star, the size of the bar and the positions of the vertical bars vary depending on the batter. After selecting the type of swing, runners can be instructed to lead-off by holding while tapping a direction on the D-Pad corresponding to the base that the runner is currently on (( for first, for second, or for third, or for all baserunners). Runners can attempt to steal a base by holding while holding a direction on the D-Pad. When running, the player can slide to base with . The player can control the runners on base by holding a direction on the D-Pad ( for first, for second, for third, or for all baserunners) with to run to the next base or to return to base. The player can open the scoreboard with  START  to check the score, make substitutions, play a replay, or change the options.

Teams

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

Magazine articles

Main article: World Series Baseball 98 (Mega Drive)/Magazine articles.

Physical scans

Sega Retro Average
Publication Score Source

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Based on 0 review

Sega Retro Average
Publication Version Score GamePro (US) NTSC-U 65

	65
Based on 1 review

World Series Baseball 98 (Mega Drive)

Mega Drive, US
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Technical information

Main article: World Series Baseball 98 (Mega Drive)/Technical information.