I want to express some love for Dolucky no Kusayakiu (also called Dorakey Kusayakiu) on Super Famicom. Made by Imagineer Zoom in 1993.
I generally despise baseball games (or any sports games, for that matter), with a handful of exceptions. This is one. I think it's one of the most flat out fun sports titles on any platform.
Ignoring the cutesy animal characters, there's a solid game underneath that's heaps of fun. I don't speak/read a word of Japanese, but I still managed to fumble my way through this without any major dramas to handle things like replacing fatigued players, training and other necessary things.
It's awesome fun in two player mode. I've wasted many nights up late with mates playing this. I first discovered it in the early 90's when I owned a Super Wildcard DX disk copier. A friend regularly came back from Hong Kong with very obscure games (often unfinished betas) on disk, and Dolucky no Kusayakiu was one.
I've been playing this for over a decade now, and still love it. Despite that, there's very little information on the web about it. Sites like Moby Games don't even have it in their database, nor are there any YouTube videos documenting it. Maybe if I get motivated I'll knock up a quick video.
Basic controls for anyone who tries it:
When batting, A is your standard swing, and B is bunt.
When characters are on bases, the D-pad represents the bases (down is home, left is 1, up is 2, right is 3). Press the D-pad in a direction plus B to steal a base (so up and B will make your guy on 1 try to steal 2). You can retreat in the same fashion (press left and B to make your guy run back to 1), or press "Y" to force everyone to retreat - handy if your batter has hit a fly ball and you don't want anyone to progress.
Mash "A" when running to get a speed boost between bases.
When your bases are full, and you see a flashing bat onscreen, press "R" to use your super bat. This is a guaranteed home run (although it can be caught by a good player or lucky computer).
Likewise when pitching, you'll see a flashing ball icon. Use this "super ball" special (by pushing R before the pitch). If the batter has selected their super bat, watch the ensuing flames and "battle" music for a good laugh.
Press A to pitch, and B to break out of a pitch to try and get base-stealers out. When fielding, standing "A" will make characters jump. A plus a direction will make them dash towards a ball, and when holding the ball, A+direction will make them throw the ball with the directions indicating the bases (much like the base stealing above).
This is definitely one of my own "hidden gems" games. I love it (despite not loving baseball nor generally baseball games). Crack open your preferred SNES emulator and give it a go!
