Spotlight on Skyworks Day Four: Batter Up! Baseball
by Eric March on April 23, 2009 at 4:57 pm
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App Name: | Batter Up! Baseball |
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| Developer: | Skyworks |
Version: | 1.1 | |
| Publisher: | Skyworks |
Size: | 16.1 MB |
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| Category: | Sports Games |
Price: | $1.99/Free | |
We’re almost through Skyworks Week here at Frapstr, so I wanted to cover their latest updated app, Batter Up! Baseball.
I’d never played this one before, but I love single-player arcade type games like this, especially in the context of an activity or sport you couldn’t normally play indoors. Batter Up! Baseball is a lot like other physical arcade games like skeeball or target shooters, except you play on a normal baseball field in a normal stadium and try to hit home runs. Batter Up! Baseball featuers two play modes: Home Run Rally and Arcade Mode.
In Home Run Rally, the object is to hit as many home runs as you can without striking out — and here, a strike is any swing that does not result in a home run. Three strikes and you’re out. Home runs count if they clear the fence or hit a billboard — or the scoreboard itself. Also, scattered around the field are a variety of targets — a few bull’s eyes, a cuckoo clock, and a baseball bat atop the rightfield billboard. Hit any of these and you’ll get an extra swing, up to a maximum of 3.
In Arcade Mode on the other hand, you start out with 20 swings. Once again the object is to get as many home runs as you can, but there are some new wrinkles in this mode. Hitting targets still earns you an extra swing, but there is the added bonus of being “on fire.” To become so immolated, hit three homers in a row. From that point on, your bat will set itself alight, and each consecutive home run you make from that point on earns you an extra swing. Fail to hit a homer while on fire and you’ll return to your boring, non-fiery self and have to work for it again.
Controls are simple, though may take some practise to get the timing down: At the outset, swipe down and hold to get your batter into a proper swinging position. The ball launcher will give you the green and launch the ball at you. Swipe up to swing. The timing, speed and direction of your swipe will all determine where the ball goes and how far it makes it. You can let the ball pass over the plate without swinging and it won’t count against you, but as soon as you commit to the swing, you deal with the results.
Visually this one is a treat. It’s all done in proper OpenGL-ES 3D, and while some of the textures are low resolution, there is a nice variety across the billboards, targets, scoreboard, and ad banners along the field wall. The ads are all fake of course, but are enough to heighten the illusion of being in a real ball field. The large targets are nicely animated when struck, and the scoreboard features some fun and varied animations when you hit homers and targets, or strike out. There are some cool visual notions added in here, too: There’s a nice sparkly firework explosion when you hit a target or billboard, and you can even blow the stadium lights out if you hit them — one light at a time. Yes, they’ll stay blown for the rest of the game. No, you don’t get a bonus for doing it (other than it counting as a home run); it’s just kind of cool, straight out of The Natural.
The sound effects are all pretty appropriate — the crowd cheers when you hit, roars when you score a homer, and occasionally groans when you ground out. The crack of the bat is satisfying; the sound of the ball hitting the fences — kind of weird, like a ping pong ball hitting the table. But no matter, really; it’s all pretty cohesive and nothing is distracting.
About the only major complaint people seem to have is that there’s no global leaderboard here like there is in their other sports games — and I must admit that yes, that did kind of stand out. It’s not a huge deal for me because I usually suck enough that I really don’t want to see how badly everyone else is beating me, but it’s an omission I’m sure Skyworks will eventually take care of. Seeing the ball sink below the ground when watching home runs fade in the distance also comes across as a bit weird, but it’s so minor it was barely worth mentioning.
Overall this has become one of my favourite Skyworks games. It’s not action-packed, but it’s simple in its execution and no two games ever turn out the same way, which makes me want to keep trying to beat my own high scores. (25 in arcade mode! Rock on!) It’s also priced at just $2, which is a steal. HA! Steal. Oy. Anyway, this is definitely one to grab; I really don’t think you’ll regret it — but if you’re hesitating, grab the free lite version and see for yourself.
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Posted in Developer Spotlight, Games: Sports, Paid Apps
