Ninja Baseball Bat Man (Arcade) Playthrough - NintendoComplete

A playthrough of Irem's 1993 arcade beat 'em up game, Ninja Baseball Bat Man.

Played through as Captain José on the default difficulty level.

Ninja Baseball Bat Man is an Irem beat 'em up that isn't afraid to stand apart from the sea of wannabe Final Fights and Streets of Rages that were so popular in the early 90s. The gameplay is certainly familiar, but game's personality is like little else ever seen in a belt-scroller.

Somehow, the game is not about ninja, baseball, nor Batman. Rather, you play as a one of four baseball stars dressed as ninja as they take out bad guys with their bats, so in this case, "Bat Man" refers to a person who will beat you to death with a wooden bat. Not Michael Keaton in spandex.

The game begins with some shiny golden items being nicked from the Baseball Hall of Fame. The "commissioner" begs the Bat Men to save the treasures, and of course, the baseball sentai squad agree.

You can choose to play as Captain Jose (Jose Canseco, red), Twinbats Ryno (Ryne Sandberg, green), Beanball Roger (Roger Clemens, yellow), and Stick Straw (Darryl Strawberry, blue), and like in most brawlers, they each have their own distinct advantages and disadvantages. Jose is the balanced type, Ryno is quick, Roger is strong, and Straw has a better reach with his moves.

The gameplay feels a lot like other Irem beat 'em ups like Hook and Undercover Cops: in addition to the standard array of punches, flying kicks, and grapples, Ninja Baseball Bat Man incorporates several screen-clearing blitz moves that can be woven smoothly into combos. These moves require some simple fighting game-style commands, and once you figure out the timings, you can reliably and regularly lay waste to everything on-screen. The controls feel a bit different from Final Fight and Streets of Rage, but they are just as intuitive and responsive as you'd find in those games, and the number and sheer variety of move keeps it from getting dull.

Though the gameplay stands up fine on its own merits, the gameplay is not likely what will draw people's attention to Ninja Baseball Bat Man. Oh no. The presentation is both beautiful and ludicrous, and I say that in the fondest way possible. As if being a pro-baseball player in a neon ninja outfit wasn't noteworthy enough, the enemies and the animation all do their best either to keep you laughing (or slackjawed) the entire time.

Sometimes attitude-laden baseballs saunter on-screen like they're street toughs out of Westside Story, while at other times you'll see spider-legged cyborg-baseballs wearing Elton John glasses charging at you like a freight train. One stage's boss features a psychotically flailing airplane that fights you inside the cabin of another airplane in mid-flight, while another involves a mechanical alligator trying to blow you up before you dismember him and literally turn him into a purse.

The game revels in its absurdity, and it shines because of its quality. It's another example of Irem doing what they do best - producing excellent games that get thoroughly ignored in the west. Apparently fewer than fifty cabinets were sold in the United States when the game was released, and that's a damned shame.

I can't recommend this one highly enough - if it appeals to you in the slightest, do yourself the favor and seek out a way to play it. It won't disappoint.

If you're interested, you can also find my playthrough of Hook, another Irem beat 'em up that plays similarly to this one, here:    • Hook (Arcade) Playthrough - NintendoC...  
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No cheats were used during the recording of this video.

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