World Series Baseball II

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World Series Baseball II
System(s): Sega Saturn
Publisher: Sega
Developer: Sega
Distributor: Sega-Ozisoft (AU)
Licensor: Major League Baseball Properties, Major League Baseball Players Association
Sound driver: SCSP/CD-DA (1 track)
Peripherals supported: Saturn Backup Memory
Genre: Sports (baseball)
Number of players: 1-2
Release Date RRP Code JP 1996-10-25 ¥5,8005,800 GS-9120 US 1996-08-24 $59.9959.99 81113 EU 1996-11 MK81113-50 DE 1996-11 DM 99.9599.95 MK81113-50 UK 1996-10-10 £39.9939.99 MK81113-50 PL 1997 AU 199x

World Series Baseball II (ワールドシリーズベースボールⅡ) is a Sega Saturn baseball game developed and published by Sega. An entry in the World Series Baseball series of baseball titles, it is a version of Greatest Nine '96 with Major League Baseball players, teams, and ballparks. The game was first released in the United States in August 1996, and was later brought to Japan, Europe, and Australia in the following months.

The game is a sequel to the 1995 Sega Saturn baseball title World Series Baseball, and it was followed by World Series Baseball 98 in 1997.

Gameplay

The game plays identically to its predecessor but with several additions. Players can choose from any of the 28 teams from the 1996 MLB season. All 28 team stadiums have been recreated for the game. The 1998 expansion teams, the Arizona Diamondbacks and the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, are also present. However, since they had not yet played a game at the time of the release, they have not been assigned divisions or rosters and do not have ballparks. Instead, for each expansion team, the player must create a custom roster and replace an existing team in a division (adopting that team's ballpark). The game also adds new music, sound effects, and commentary, more player animations, and additional camera angles (including angles from the point of view of the outfielders). The angle for the pitching and batting view is now slightly off-center (pivoting depending on whether the batter is left- or right-handed).

The game retains the modes from its predecessor:

• Exhibition Mode: An exhibition mode, for playing a single game against a human or computer player. The player can also watch two computer-controlled teams play. The player chooses the team and the batting line-up for computer players.
• Pennant Race: Plays a season of 13, 26, or a full 162 games, culminating in the World Series. The game uses the Saturn's internal memory or a backup cartridge to save the player's progress.
• Playoffs: A truncated season with only the play-offs. Up to four players can participate, with two players playing at a time.
• All-Star Game: An exhibition mode against a human or computer player but featuring teams consisting of the best players from the American and National Leagues.
• Home Run Derby: A competition where players can choose any player in the league and compete to get the most home runs. There are no balls, strikes, or outs and no baserunning or fielding. This mode can be played with up to four players taking turns (with the computer pitching for every player), with each player batting for 5, 10, 15, or 20 balls.
• Data Base: View the statistics for any of the 700 players in the game.

Before each game, players choose a team and a batting line-up. Players can choose from any of the 28 major league ballparks, set the number of innings, toggle designated hitters (whether the pitcher bats or a designated hitter replaces him in the batting line-up), toggle errors (whether fielders occasionally drop fly balls or miss grounders), and toggle wind and weather (whether wind conditions affect the ball physics). When playing against a computer-controlled opponent, the player also sets the difficulty level (Rookie, Veteran, All-Star, or Legend).

	Defense
	When pitching, position the pitcher on the mound with and and throw the ball with . While throwing, hold and for a breaking ball, for a change-up (slow pitch), or for a fastball. Faster pitches are harder for the batter to hit but more likely to travel farther or potentially result in a home run. The batter is eliminated when three strikes are thrown; the batter gets a free base if the pitcher throws four balls or hits the batter. An indicator in the corner of the screen shows the wind speed and direction, which can affect the trajectory of the pitch. Wind can be disabled in the options before starting the game. When fielding, the D-Pad controls all of the fielders simultaneously (with the camera focused on the one closest to the ball). The player can move the fielders while pitching by holding while moving the D-Pad. The player can have the nearest fielder jump by pressing or dive by pressing while holding a direction. Once the ball is in possession, throw it to base by pressing while holding a direction corresponding to the base ( for first, for second, for third, or for home) or press by itself to throw to first base. The player can pause the game with  START  to substitute a relief pitcher or change the positions of fielders. This menu also has options for toggling the radar (which shows the speed of the pitch), toggling auto-fielding (allowing fielders to move into position automatically), and toggling the ball mark (a ring on the ground that indicates where the ball will land).
	Offense
	When hitting, the D-Pad positions the batter in the batter's box. Swing with or bunt with . The batter stops the swinging motion when the button is released. The player can instruct all baserunners to lead-off with or have them return to base with . While holding a direction corresponding to the destination base ( for first, for second, for third, or for home), the player can instruct an individual baserunner to steal a base with or return to his previous base with . The player can instruct all baserunners to steal a base with or instruct them to return to their previous bases with . The player can pause the game with  START  to substitute a pinch hitter or swap out runners.

Teams

League	Division	Team	Stadium
American	Western	California Angels	Anaheim Stadium
		Oakland Athletics	Oakland Coliseum
		Seattle Mariners	Kingdome
		Texas Rangers	The Ballpark
	Central	Chicago White Sox	Comiskey Park
		Cleveland Indians	Jacobs Field
		Kansas City Royals	Kauffman Stadium
		Milwaukee Brewers	County Stadium
		Minnesota Twins	Metrodome
	Eastern	Baltimore Orioles	Camden Yards
		Boston Red Sox	Fenway Park
		Detroit Tigers	Tiger Stadium
		New York Yankees	Yankee Stadium
		Toronto Blue Jays	SkyDome
National	Western	Colorado Rockies	Coors Field
		Los Angeles Dodgers	Dodger Stadium
		San Diego Padres	Jack Murphy Stadium
		San Francisco Giants	3Com Park
	Central	Chicago Cubs	Wrigley Field
		Cincinnati Reds	Riverfront Stadium
		Houston Astros	Astrodome
		Pittsburgh Pirates	Three Rivers Stadium
		St. Louis Cardinals	Busch Stadium
	Eastern	Atlanta Braves	Fulton County Stadium
		Florida Marlins	Joe Robbie Stadium
		Montreal Expos	Olympic Stadium
		New York Mets	Shea Stadium
		Philadelphia Phillies	Veterans Stadium
Expansion	Unassigned	Arizona Diamondbacks	—
		Tampa Bay Devil Rays	—

Production credits

Main article: World Series Baseball II/Production credits.

Magazine articles

Main article: World Series Baseball II/Magazine articles.

Promotional material

US print advert

UK newspaper print advert

Print advert in Electronic Gaming Monthly (US) #86: "September 1996" (1996-xx-xx)
also published in:

• Next Generation (US) #22: "October 1996" (1996-09-17)
• Electronic Gaming Monthly (US) #87: "October 1996" (1996-xx-xx)

Print advert in Sega Saturn Magazine (JP) #1996-18: "1996-18 (1996-10-25)" (1996-10-11)

Print advert in Sega Saturn Magazine (JP) #1996-19: "1996-19 (1996-11-08)" (1996-10-25)

Physical scans

Sega Retro Average
Publication Score Source

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Based on 0 review

Sega Retro Average

Publication Version Score CD Consoles (FR) PAL 80 Computer & Video Games (UK) 75 Famitsu (JP) NTSC-J 60 Fun Generation (DE) PAL 60 GamePro (US) NTSC-U 70 Game Informer (US) NTSC-U 90 Joypad (FR) PAL 90 MAN!AC (DE) PAL 85 Mega Force (FR) PAL 88 Mega Fun (DE) PAL 73 Mean Machines Sega (UK) PAL 83 Next Generation (US) 100 Player One (FR) 70 Saturn Fan (JP) NTSC-J 56 Saturn Fan (JP) NTSC-J 67 Saturn+ (UK) NTSC-U 88 Sega Power (UK) PAL 81 Sega Saturn Magazine (UK) PAL 87 Sega Saturn Magazine (JP) NTSC-J 57 Sega Saturn Magazine (JP) NTSC-J 82 Total Saturn (UK) PAL 86 Total Saturn (UK) PAL 86 Ultra Game Players (US) NTSC-U 92

	78
Based on 23 reviews

World Series Baseball II

Saturn, JP
Cover
Spinecard Disc

Saturn, US
Cover
Manual

Saturn, EU
Cover

Saturn, AU
Cover

Technical information

Main article: World Series Baseball II/Technical information.

External links

• Sega of America webpage: Saturn