Have you ever been addicted?

Oh, come on. Fine, no one’s going to own up to that. So let me rephrase my question…

Have you ever been addicted to a fun game?

Of course you have!

Super Power League 2

Well, Super Power League 2 is a game that should probably be kept a fair distance from me at any given time (if you know what I mean). At least I can admit it.

It’s just a baseball game, but man, the Japanese sure know what they’re doing. With Hudson’s Super Power League 2, not only can you play through a full season (and championship series), the game will actually track the stats of every player. Every the stats, all the player (you think that’s a grammatical mistake, but I actually said it on purpose)! Even the real-life stadiums appear with their real names.

The team and player names are actually real, too. Of course, the game is true to the Japanese professional baseball league (in the mid 90s, when the game came out), so North Americans aren’t terribly likely to recognize most of the players let alone read their name (though Hideki Matsui and Ichiro Suzuki actually appear in this game).

So, maybe, you have to know Japanese to fully appreciate this. I think you can play it without understanding Japanese, but you would end up missing some of the subtleties.

The Addiction Factor

For some reason, I’ve always liked stats, and games that keep track of them. I’m pretty sure that’s why I played NBA Live 2004 to death.

I also know all the tricks with this game. Maybe I’m weird, but I just like winning. Everyone watches me own at a game, and then they go, “it’s time to increase the difficulty, bro.” I’m already playing on the hardest mode!

It’s like people think games aren’t fun unless they’re challenging. Silly people.

Okay, fine, I like challenge too. But I also like winning. And that’s the main thing.

Word to your mother.

Additional Information

Platform: Super Famicom

Developer: Hudson

Release Date: August 3, 1994

Gameplay Modes: 5 distinct playing modes