HardBall II

HardBall II is a baseball video game developed by Distinctive Software and published by Accolade for IBM PC compatibles (1989). Macintosh and Amiga version were released in 1990. It is the sequel to HardBall! which was released in 1985.

HardBall II
Developer(s)	Distinctive Software
Publisher(s)	Accolade
Designer(s)	Don Mattrick Rick Friesen Chris Taylor
Programmer(s)	Chris Taylor Rick Friesen
Artist(s)	Tony Lee
Composer(s)	Krisjan Hatlelid Bernie Vachon
Platform(s)	DOS, Amiga, Macintosh
Release	1989: IBM PC 1990: Amiga, Mac
Genre(s)	Sports
Mode(s)	Single-player

Gameplay

HardBall II maintains the game play mechanics from HardBall! and adds the following features:^[1]

1. Updates and stores stats in "virtually every conceivable category."
2. Stats change from at-bat to at-bat, from game to game.
3. Pickoffs
4. League play
5. Team editor
6. More frames of animation per player.
7. Shift the infield and outfield according to each hitter.
8. Addition of seven different stadiums and five different views.
9. TV Instant Replay feature.
10. Pull-down menus make managing the game easier.

Package contents

Hardball II includes the following items:

• Two Floppy Disks
• Hardball II Manual (60 pages)
• Hardball II Batting Commands Sheet
• Hardball II Fielding Command Chart
• Hardball II Copy Protection Code Wheel

The code wheel contains three wheels. The outer wheel contains the last name of baseball players. The middle ring contains the players' first names. The inner ring contains years. When the rings are properly aligned, cut outs in the third ring reveal the players' baseball stats. These stats must be entered into the program before Hardball II will load.^[2]

Reception

HardBall II sold roughly 100,000 copies.^[3]

In the June 1990 edition of Games International, Brian Walker admired the available customization options, saying that it added a "subtlety" to the game. He called the graphics "excellent", and thought that this would help popularize the game of baseball in the United Kingdom. He concluded by giving the game above-average ratings of 9 out of 10 for game play and 8 out of 10 for graphics, saying, "Quality products like Hardball II can only spread the word."^[4]