In Sega Home Run King 2, you play as one of two equal and opposite home run derby batters--the brawny KC, or the skillful Little Willy. Either way, you'll be swinging at tosses from a nameless pitcher, hoping to knock the balls out of the park and into targets in the distant cityscape. Billboards, buildings, and even UFOs respond with animations and sound effects whenever they're hit, which is all pretty cool. Unfortunately, the central batting mechanic and corresponding animation are broken, as are several other elements of this simple game.
Like most home run derby games on mobile, HRK2 can be played with the use of only one button. Timing is the only skill at play here. When you press the OK button, your batting arms will move slightly, but you'll never see yourself connect with the ball. This is tremendously disconcerting, even when said ball turns red, indicating that it's about to sail out of the park. The visual representation of bat and ball connecting is the only truly essential animation in a home run derby game, and Sega Mobile has messed it up here. To make matters worse, once the ball is hit it will move at about two frames per second. Nevertheless, if you hit a few home runs in a row you'll fill up a bat meter, which represents your momentum. It would make sense for a full bat meter to impart players with NBA Jam-like "on fire" skills, but this isn't the case. The meter has no visible effect on gameplay, and instead it serves as a score multiplier.
When you fail to hit a home run, you'll invariably hit a pop fly. For whatever reason, a certain number of these pop flies will cause the pitcher to hit the deck like a Little Leaguer encountering his first line drive. This is a strange occurrence, because these balls are always hit several yards above the pitcher's mound. It's the equivalent of ducking because an airplane is passing overhead. Pitchers without depth perception are bad news.
HRK2's audio is probably its best feature on the LG VX7000. Every element of the skyline yields some sound when hit with a home run ball. The breaking of windows is, of course, the most common sound byte. These urban targets also animate in neat ways, such as a Coke sign that pours a drink when it's hit. It's just too bad that the actual batting is so off.
Home Run King 2 isn't recommendable, simply because it fails to deliver a decent batting experience. Elements of the game's presentation are excellent, but they lack a foundation of good gameplay on which to rest. Furthermore, the inclusion of two fictional batters does not measure up to the huge real-world player rosters licensed in other games. Given the wealth of home run derby games on mobile, there's no reason to play this one.
