Contents
1.Introduction
2.Translation Guide
3.Teams and Stadiums in the game
1.Introduction
Released exclusively in Japan on August 8th 1997 by Hudson Soft, Power League 64
is the third baseball game released on the N64. The previous two baseball games
have a cartoonish style, but this is the first realistic baseball game for the
N64. It is part of a long running series that started on the PC98 in 1988. 13
games have been released in total, the last release in the series was World
Class Baseball for the Wii Virtual console in 2007. The series is notable for
pioneering the use of real baseball commentators using in-game commentary, which
began with the SNES release in 1993.
The British publication, N64 Magazine trashed the game, giving it 42%, saying
"This effort from Hudson is tragically awful". They were particularly harsh on
the speed of the players and the fact that they don't have faces. The review was
quite amusing so please allow me to quote a little more;
"...it moves with all the speed and grace of a Darlek confronted by a
particularly steep and narrow flight of stairs...[your fielders] move with the
willingness of sheep into Smiling Bob's Family Slaughterhouse...Avoid it with
all the enthusiasm you would a contagious disease."
The game features the fictitious team "Dolphins" from the previous game, "Super
Power League 4 Tournament". They are co-sponsored by Family Computer Magazine
and Hudson.
As a Brit I know nothing about Baseball, so please forgive any errors in terms I
may make. It's even possible that some cricket terminology might accidentally
slip in instead, sorry gov'ner.
I wish to thank Shellshocker18 for his help with this guide. He has been
tirelessly playing through Japanese N64 games in order to write a full history
of the N64. He has played and completed more Japanese games than anyone else,
and has an extensive wealth of knowledge about the N64 and it's games. Thank you
for preserving video game history through your writing and research! I highly
recommend you check out his youtube channel for obscure N64 game footage!
2.Translation Guide
Controls
Pitching / Fielding
3D Stick - Aim your pitch
A Button - Throw the ball - your pitch type depends on the 3D Stick
B Button - Throw the ball - your pitch type depends on the 3D Stick
Z Trigger - Aim at a base
Batting
3D Stick - Aim your bat
A Button - Swing (perhaps tapping A makes you run faster?)
B Button - Compact Swing
C Button - Change the camera angle
L Button - Show pitching data
R Button - Bunt the ball
Fielding
3D Stick - Move if holding the Z Trigger, aim throws
A Button - Throw the ball
R Button - Jump catch
Z Trigger - Dive for the ball, hold to run
Main Menu
Here are the options on the main menu.
Open - Play a single game
Watch - Watch the computer play itself, could a purer torture exist?
Pennant - Choose to play either a "Mini Pennant" of 10 games, or a "Full
Pennant" of 135 games. Considering that an average games of 9 innings takes
about half an hour to play, completing a Mini Pennant is going to take 5 hours,
while completing a Full Pennant is going to take an insane 67 and a half hours!
(Hold L and press the A Button for a 30 game pennant.)
(Hold R and press the A Button for a 70 game pennant.)
Edit - Edit the teams and make your own player.
HR Race - A home run competition mode. Can be played in multiplayer.
Options - See below.
About the Edit Mode
In the edit mode, you will be shown the following four options
Change the defenders or batters in a team
Change the All Star Members
Make an original player
Quit
About making an original player
You are giving the following options over two pages
Page one
Name
Back Number
Batting arm
Pitching animation
Skin colour
Body Type
Batting animation
Page 2
Batting percentage
Home bases
Number of hits
Number of stolen bases
Running speed
Throwing power
What type of bat they use
Options screen
Here are the options that can be changed in game.
The number of innings
Cold games on or off
Difficulty Level - Normal, Hard, Extra Hard
Errors on or off
Falling Ball Indicator on or off
Display on or off
Sound - Stereo or Mono
Quit
When you start pennant mode you will be asked to choose a save file and then
Mini or Full Pennant. You will then be shown the game schedule. After press the
A Button the following menu appears
Start the next game.
Change the player order
Turn the display on or off
Turn the falling ball location indicator on or off
Errors on or off
Return to the schedule screen
On the game start screen you can change the following options
Defenders - Automatic play on or off
Runners - Automatic play on or off
I would recommend setting the fielders to auto because they can catch the ball
far better than a human player ever could. As for the base-runners you probably
want to control them yourself because they run very slovenly.
The computer is also very susceptible to low curve balls, so use them
repeatedly.
3.Teams and Stadiums in the game
I have listed each team with their ranking after the 1996 league in real life
because this was most likely the data that was used to make the game in 1997.
7th place and lower are teams in the Pacific League, so Orix, with their star
player Ichiro (probably the best player in the game) finished at the top of the
Pacific League, whilst Giants won the Central League. This means that the Giants
are most likely the best team in the game.
First row
Giants 1st
Chuunichi 2nd
Hiroshima 3rd
Orix 7th
Nippon Ham 8th
Seibu 9th
Third row (fictional teams)
Birds
Dolphins
Bears
PBL
To unlock two secret teams,Hudson Bees and Monsters, input the following code
using the 3D Stick
up, left, right, down, then press the Start Button
There are several real life stadium to choose from, they are listed in the
following order.
Size Seats Real Grass?
Nagoya Dome 100m by 122m 40,500 No
Hiroshima Public Baseball Ground 91.5m by 115.8m 32,000 Yes
Meiji Jingu Stadium 91m by 120m 44,361 No
Yokohama Stadium 94m by 118m 30,000 No
Hanshin 96m by 120m 55,000 Yes
Green Stadium Kobe 99.1m by 122m 35,000 Yes
Seibu Lions Baseball Ground 95m by 120m 37,008 No
Osaka Dome 100m by 122m 55,000 No
Chiba Marines Stadium 99.5m by 122m 30,008 No
Fukuoka Dome 100m by 122m 48,000 No
Tokyo Dome 100m by 122m 55,000 No
