Tired of baseball games that try to look and feel like the actual thing? Bored with North American baseball players? Do you like big-headed characters who don't run very fast? Then pick up an import copy of Konami's Powerful Pro Baseball 4, a cute yet inconsequential N64 sports title that's unlike anything we've seen in the US since the original RBI Baseball.
Powerful Pro Baseball 4 is further proof that the N64 has a lot of promise in the sports arena. PPB makes full use of both the analog stick and the C buttons, both of which will make you wonder how you got through other baseball games without them. The analog stick precisely controls batting and pitching, and the C buttons are used to throw the ball from base to base. Batting is the area most improved over other games, as it allows you to track the pitch from the time it leaves the pitcher's hand, and lay the bat on any part of the ball with ease. Defense, however, is a completely different story. The pitching interface works well, but everything else is frustrating; the players move at a mind-numbingly slow pace, which translates into a lot of dropped fly balls and missed grounders.
The graphics of Powerful Pro Baseball 4 are strange for a baseball game. Instead of making the players look like their real-life counterparts, the characters are short and fat with huge googly eyes. This is quite a change from the “realistic” figures in many other baseball games (who have all grown to look roughly the same), and it adds a whimsical touch to the game. It's just too bad that the short fat guys don't spit, adjust their crotch, or swear as well as real baseball players. Nevertheless, they're well animated, and show a slight bit of emotion, depending on their situation - pitchers tend to breathe heavily and sweat profusely as they tire.
There is a great deal of speech in PPB, and although it's all in Japanese, it isn't too hard to figure out what's happening. If anything, it's quite entertaining to hear the announcer scream like someone is coming at him with a wood rasp anytime something exciting happens on the field. The rest of the game's sound and music - from the crack of the bat to the drum-heavy tune that plays when you've got a runner on base - is nice.
All in all, Powerful Pro Baseball 4 is a solid first attempt at an N64 baseball game that should satisfy most sports fans out there. The real teams, players, stadiums, and stats are a nice touch, but most of us have never even seen a real Japanese baseball game, so it doesn't make much difference. Bleacher bums looking for a more serious game will have to wait for Nintendo's Ken Griffey Jr. baseball game, which is set for release sometime in the summer of 1997.
