A new baseball season is nearly upon us and so is a new crop of baseball videogames. Unfortunately, if you're like me and only own a GameCube, pickings are (and have been) kind of slim. This year EA's MVP Baseball 2004 takes over Acclaim's All-Star Baseball series as the only realistic game (i.e. non-arcade) in Nintendo town. What's a picky baseball-loving GameCube owner to do? Well, if you're willing to look a bit harder, say across the Pacific, you might find some other, more exotic, flavors of baseball gaming to satisfy your cravings.

Konami's Powerful Pro Baseball (Jikkyou Pawafuro Puro Yakyu) is the biggest baseball videogame franchise in Japan. Konami has churned out ten console versions of the game (not counting post-season "Memorial" editions), the game continues selling well, and it usually racks up good review scores. Powerful Pro is practically the Madden of Japanese baseball, so it was a natural choice for exploring the world of Japanese baseball games.

So what's all the fuss about? The first thing you'll notice, besides the fact that there's a lot of Japanese text, is the game's graphics. Devotees of ultra-realistic player models and high-resolution textures should look away now. Powerful Pro features cartoonish super-deformed people, complete with large heads, no noses, feet with no legs, and an overall round look to all their bodies and appendages. Stadiums and backgrounds are bright and colorful. The overall look is very cartoon like and, um, 'teh kiddy'.. However, don't let the super-deformed exterior fool you. Powerful Pro 10 has all the realism, features, and stat tracking of your standard American sports game.

The game allows you to play a quick exhibition game, replay historical scenarios/situations, engage in a homerun hitting contest, edit players/teams, practice any area of the game (hitting, pitching, fielding and running), play through seasons as a team, play through seasons as an individual player, and create a player to join a new fictional team. While most of these modes can be found in an American baseball game, there are 2 game modes that I have yet to see in an American game. These are the 'My Life' and 'Success' modes.

Both modes are similar in that the user creates a player and focuses on making a successful career for that player. The 'My Life' mode places your newly created player on one of the existing 12 Japanese league teams while the 'Success' mode starts you on a newly created fictional team. The end result is that 'My Life' is narrowly focused on your individual player growth while 'Success' covers a broader range of team growth that includes how you relate with your teammates and coaches. Unfortunately, 'Success' mode features a lot of player/coach dialogue and menu selecting before you can even play a game, so those who cannot read Japanese will have a very difficult time proceeding with this mode.

'My Life' mode also has a fair amount of Japanese text, but with a little bit of trial and error, you can create a player, start your career, and begin working your way to stardom. You start out on your team's development squad and must play well enough to earn a call-up to the big team. Unlike most baseball games, you participate in the situations involving your player. If you're a hitter, you only play your at-bats. Playing defense, base running (if you've reached base safely), and all other aspects of the game are simulated for you. If you're a starting pitcher, you'll make a start every 5 days and go as long as you can. If you're a reliever, you'll only come in to face a few batters as the game situation demands. Everything else is simulated.

It's a really unique experience because it limits what you can contribute to the team's success. A hitter depends on the rest of the lineup to get on base or drive him in, and he has to hope the pitchers can pitch well enough to keep the team in the game. A pitcher depends on his fielders to make the plays and has to hope that the lineup can score enough to earn the win.

Also, since the simulated parts of the game are viewed through the score board, a game can go by very quickly. A hitter can play through a game in one or two minutes, since the action only slows down for you at-bats. A pitcher can take a lot longer, depending on how many batters are faced, but a pitcher does not participate in every game. The end result is that you can play through a full season and generate all of your individual stats in a matter of hours.

Of course, there's more to becoming a star than generating great stats. Coming through in a clutch situation and landing a post-game interview will boost your player's popularity slightly. Continuous on-field success can even land a TV commercial and boost your popularity even more. After games, you can occasionally go out with teammates for some drinking, fine dining, or singing karaoke. These activities will drain some of your hard earned salary, but you can also boost your player's status which can help your play in the next few games. Going out can also help you meet women! Yup, if you play well enough you can get a nice following of female fans ranging from ages 30 to 18, yikes! Given the right care (i.e. play well for your girl and give her the yen when she asks for it), you can eventually fall madly in love and marry one of your female fans.

All of this amounts to a really fun personalized sports experience that I've yet to see in an American game. While the language barrier can be a bit intimidating, the 'My Life' mode has proven to be a lot of fun. Powerful Pro 10 is far from your average American baseball game, but that's really a good thing. If you can't read Japanese but love baseball, Powerful Pro is still worth a look as an alternative to the limited American GameCube offerings.

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