Game entry

HardBall!

1985 · Sports · Mac, DOS, Mega Drive, Atari ST, Atari 8-bit, Commodore 64, Amiga, Apple II, ZX Spectrum, MSX, Amstrad CPC, Apple IIGS · Advance Software Ltd.

HardBall! is listed in the GameForever catalogue but not in the duel pool: this game is never offered for a vote, its 1,500 points are never at stake and it does not appear in the world ranking. Its entry and its debate stay open.

World rank

–

ELO score

1,500

Wins

–

Duels played

0

The duel pool gathers the best-known titles of the catalogue, cover included, so that every match-up stays meaningful. It is recalculated with every catalogue update: this game may join it later. How a game enters the duels →

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About HardBall!

Play is controlled with a joystick or arrow keys 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 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.

The game incorporates a pitcher perspective, often used in 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 performance, and can be rearranged as desired. Prior to HardBall!s release, there were managerial baseball games available, such as Micro League Baseball but HardBall! was the first to integrate that aspect with the arcade control of the game action itself.