How to play Super Baseball online
- Choose one player (bat first or second) or two players: F11 (Select), or up/down on the joystick at the title screen
- Start the game: F12 (Reset) or Space
- Player 1: arrow keys, fire = Space
- Player 2: T/F/G/H, fire = A
- Save and load: Ctrl + 0–9 saves, Alt + 0–9 loads
Gameplay
It is a standard nine-inning game: three outs end a half-inning, and the team with more runs after the ninth wins. A tied game carries on past the ninth.
Batting. Hold the fire button and push the joystick in a direction to swing. Up bunts, up-left hits to right field, up-right to left field, and the two down diagonals hit fly balls. If there are runners on base after a hit, hold fire and push towards the base to move them. To steal, push towards the base the runner is standing on; pull the stick back to hand control back to the batter.
Pitching and fielding. First choose a pitch with the joystick: up is a fastball, left a riser, right a sinker, and the up diagonals are curves. Down is an intentional ball. Then hold fire and pull the stick down quickly to throw it. When the ball is hit, the fielder nearest to it is picked for you. To throw, point the stick like a map of the diamond (right = first base, up = second, left = third, down = home) and press fire. With the stick centred, the throw goes back to the pitcher.
Tips
- Pick your pitch before you let go of fire. If you haven’t chosen one, the game counts it as an intentional ball.
- Move fielders at once. Start steering the fielder towards the ball as soon as it is hit.
- Don’t throw wildly. Runners don’t move up on a bad throw, but play stops until the right fielder picks the ball up and returns it to the pitcher.
History
RealSports Baseball came out in 1982 as part of Atari’s RealSports series, which answered Mattel’s adverts comparing Atari’s old sports games with the Intellivision. The original cartridge had several bugs. Super Baseball was Atari Corporation’s improved version for the 2600. It fixed some of those problems, though not all, and made the graphics a little nicer. Sources differ slightly on the date: the manual is marked 1988, while one release list gives March 1989.
Similar games to play next
- RealSports Baseball – the 1982 original this game is based on
- Super Challenge Baseball – M Network’s two-player 2600 conversion of Intellivision baseball
- Pete Rose Baseball – another baseball game from the 2600’s later years
- Home Run – Atari’s very simple 1978 baseball game
- Super Football – another late Atari Corporation sports cartridge