Virtual League Baseball

File:VB Virtual League Baseball (Virtual Pro Yakyū '95).png

There are three modes of play in Virtual League Baseball: Player 1 vs. computer, all-star game, and pennant race. In player 1 vs. computer, one single match is played between the player and the computer. In the all-star game, the player plays against the computer using a team of all-stars from America, Asia, or Europe. In the pennant race, the player plays a series of games against the computer, using passwords to resume play after turning off the console, instead of saving.

It is a single-player game. Players can receive and enter passwords to skip levels of the game. The game's teams are international.

Virtual League Baseball was developed by Kemco and released in October 1995 for the Virtual Boy.

A playable version of the game was displayed at Electronic Entertainment Expo 1995. At the time, the coding was so broken that it was impossible for the player to hit the ball.{{cite web|last=Plante |first=Chris |url=http://www.ugo.com/games/ten-lessons-from-virtual-boy-to-nintendo-3ds |title=10 Lessons the Nintendo 3-DS Can Learn From the Virtual Boy |publisher=UGO.com |date=2010-08-13 |access-date=2012-01-07|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130321032417/http://www.ugo.com/games/ten-lessons-from-virtual-boy-to-nintendo-3ds|archive-date=March 21, 2013}} Promotion for the game was further hurt by its infamous "chili dog farts" print advertisement which was centered on a photo of two obese men exposing their butt cracks.{{cite magazine|title=When Ads Go Bad, Readers Get Mad|magazine=GamePro|issue=91|publisher=IDG|date=April 1996|page=12}}

Like all other Virtual Boy games, Virtual League Baseball uses a red-and-black color scheme and uses stereoscopy, an optical trick that is used to simulate a 3D effect.{{cite web |title=Backwards Compatible: The Virtual Boy |url=http://www.abc.net.au/tv/goodgame/stories/s2585841.htm |work=Good Game |date=2009-06-01 |access-date=2015-04-13 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150712045522/http://www.abc.net.au/tv/goodgame/stories/s2585841.htm |archive-date=July 12, 2015}}

A sequel, Virtual League Baseball 2, was in development, but was never released, despite receiving an ESRB rating.{{cite web|url=https://www.esrb.org/ratings/1918/Virtual+League+Baseball+2/|title=Virtual League Baseball 2|work=Entertainment Software Rating Board|publisher=Entertainment Software Association|date=2019|access-date=2019-09-28}}{{cite magazine|url=https://www.virtual-boy.com/magazines/famitsu/weekly-famicom-tsushin-363/scans/|title=ケムコ - バーチャルプロ野球'96 (VB)|magazine=Famitsu|issue=363|publisher=ASCII|date=December 1, 1995|page=106|lang=ja}}

Nintendo Power praised the game's graphics and "realistic baseball experience", but wrote that it was hard to defend near the fence. One of the magazine's six reviewers recommended the game. GamePro panned it in a brief review, stating, "VLB's impressive 3D graphics seem promising at first. But after a while the shallow gameplay and awful sounds sent it foul. The archaic controls only add to the agony."{{cite magazine|title=ProReview: Virtual League Baseball |magazine=GamePro |issue=90 |publisher=IDG|date=March 1996|page=69}} Scott Alan Marriott of AllGame found the game reminiscent of Major League Baseball for the Nintendo Entertainment System, noting "plinky sound effects, only one stadium, all fielders moving in unison with the control pad (including the infield and outfield!), a batting and pitching interface that relies on one button, and base runners who move at the speed of light. Are these features you want in a 1995 release? Certainly not, especially on a system that's supposed to deliver a 'virtual' experience."{{cite web|last=Marriott |first=Scott Alan |title=Virtual League Baseball |website=AllGame |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141115050049/http://www.allgame.com/game.php?id=2716&tab=review |url=http://www.allgame.com/game.php?id=2716&tab=review|access-date=May 6, 2019 |archive-date=November 15, 2014}}

• List of Virtual Boy games

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{{cite magazine |magazine=Nintendo Power |issue=78 |date=November 1995 |pages=106–107 |title=Now Playing }}

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• {{cite web| url = http://www.vr32.de/modules/games/index.php?type=released&sec=main&id=21| title = Virtual League Baseball| publisher = Planet Virtual Boy| access-date = 2006-06-04| archive-date = 2007-09-27| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070927231130/http://www.vr32.de/modules/games/index.php?type=released&sec=main&id=21| url-status = dead}}

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{{Virtual Boy}}

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Category:1995 video games

Category:Baseball video games

Category:Kemco games

Category:Single-player video games

Category:Video games developed in Japan

Category:Virtual Boy games