Baseball Superstars series

"I think that it is an advantage to be able to play comfortably and play the game quickly on a small screen. The main advantage is that the main screen appears centered on pitchers and batters, so it takes less load on expressive power and that it can effectively perform various performances. As for the upcoming Gamevil sports game, we plan to introduce a new baseball game that combines training and networking."

- Joo-Young Kim, Former Gamevil Mobile planning team

Baseball Superstars is a video game franchise developed and published by Gamevil. In korean version it is known as 프로야구(게임) (Professional Baseball [Game]). It is a Korean RPG/Sports game series with varying Characters, plots, and gameplay between each installment, The series has been distributed on some platforms, beginning with 2G phones later 3G phones, to smartphones nowadays. It is a well known franchise in South Korea.

The series tend to focus on a gameplay feature known as 'My League Mode' in which the player controls one batter or pitcher in a team they wish to choose. In later versions however, features like Season mode, World Baseball Classic, Homerun race, Mission mode, have been added. The teams in the games are often based off of real KBO (Korean Baseball Organization) teams.

Amid Baseball Superstars 2006 and Baseball Superstars 2007 versions, Gamevil recorded an unprecedented number of downloads of 3 Million. It is well known for popularizing RPG elements with Baseball sport. The graphics gradually improve as the years go by, with more characters and reappearances of old characters with new re-designs, and critical acclaims have made the franchise notable.

Gameplay
The Baseball Superstars series usually puts the player in control of a pitcher or a batter, though in later versions, there are modes that allow the player to control the whole team. The player will improve the batter or pitcher in My League mode, growing their abilities and honing their skills, acquiring and unlocking equipments that give big bonuses for stats. In many of the Baseball Superstars series, a visual novel-like relationship story element is often added. See also: Category:Characters

Classic Baseball
Each Baseball Superstars installment use the same absolute rules of classic baseball. Each game will have 9 innings. Each team will take turns in both defending and attacking. Umpires and AI players are automatically controlled. For batting, the player can reposition the batter to the left or right, and can bunt or swing the bat. In later installments, a super batting is added to make the game easier for batters to play. For pitching, the player can choose which pitch to throw, where to throw at the strike zone, and control the pitching gauge. When the ball is hit by the batter, Fielders will automatically catch the ball for an out. They can miss or make errors like real life baseball.

My League modes
My league modes are the main show (modes) of every Baseball Superstars game series. There are 2 My league modes: My League Batter and My League Pitcher. In My League modes, the player will have control over one player. My league pitcher had been added in Baseball Superstars 2007. RPG elements are mostly implemented and felt in this mode. My League modes also have storyline/plot in them, to make the game more distinctive and feel like a visual novel. Each plot is different in every Baseball Superstars installment. Although in Baseball Superstars 2012, my league batter and pitcher had different plots. The plot mostly consists of the player learning the backstory of a girl, and building a relationship with them.

The player get to customize their character's name, batting or pitching type, skin color, and position to play. There are some my league mode mechanics worthy of mentioning however, like Popularity, Morale, Fame, salary, money to buy equipments, and sudden missions, outing, etc. The player can improve their skills by training or entering a story instance. The player's actions will affect their character in any way. For instance, in Baseball Superstars II, the player can get negative skills by simply not training. Another example, seducing a girl in Baseball Superstars II will give the player a skill to give the upper hand in the game.

An ACTIVE bar is implemented to make the player more considerate towards spending their time to train or to interact with the main girls in the series. It can be restored by playing a game or by buying an energy drink. This ACTIVE bar is always implemented in every Baseball Superstars Series, whether it'd be My League Modes, or Season modes.

Season Mode
Season mode is the mode where the player can control the whole team they choose to play. Many old baseball superstars games have this mode. In many of the installments, the player will have control the team's backstage. This includes: Recruiting players from hall of fame, Adding or removing players, Choose equipments to wear for the designated player, making player trades, see the rankings and more. The player can also train their team, to make their team more fiercer than ever, and to compete in match mode (online play).

Growth
In many Baseball Superstars series, the growth in my league modes is affected by training. This goes for season modes as well. In some versions, winning the 1st place in a season will give you +10 to all stats. Skills also give more growth to the player. In Baseball Superstars II, a play-well-get-skill system is implemented. You can get skills by just simply playing well, and seducing one of the seducable girls. In recent baseball Superstars installments however, namely, Baseball Superstars 2012 and Baseball Superstars 2013, you can get skills by spending SPs you get from training. The training system has drastically in Baseball Superstars 2013. Baseball Superstars 2013 has the most major change in player growth. You can't increase your stats by just simply training a designated ability, but rather by gaining Experience (EXP) to level up and choosing a stat bonus card. It will give the player a total of 5 bonus stat at random. you can also use an upgrade stone to boost your designated stat to boost, which gives +10 every level.

Each stat in Baseball Superstars installments include:

Batters:


 * Hitting
 * Slugging
 * Defending
 * Running

Pitchers:


 * Control
 * Speed
 * Curve
 * Stamina

In Baseball Superstars 2013, Defending and Stamina are both replaced by Mental stat.

Equipment
Typically, you can buy an equipment for your player or a designated player in season mode. Equipments are very crucial in every Baseball Superstars installments. Not only they give the player a fresher look, but they also give significant boosts to stats. Typically, in every Baseball Superstars series, batters can wear: Helmet variants to increase hitting, Bat variants to increase slugging/power, Glove variants to increase defending, and Shoe variants to increase running.

Pitchers can wear: Helmet variants to increase control, Glove/ball variants to increase speed, band variants to increase curve, and shoes to increase stamina.

In Baseball Superstars 2012 and older versions, "Money" is the currency used to buy equipments. In later versions like Baseball Superstars 2013 however, G Points are required/used to buy Equipments.