Ninja Baseball Bat Man
Four baseball ninjas battle to recover stolen Hall of Fame artifacts.
Ninja Baseball Bat Man is a 1993 beat 'em up arcade game developed and published by Irem. Players choose from four characters tasked by the Commissioner of Baseball to recover artifacts stolen from the Baseball Hall of Fame across various U.S. locations. An HD remake titled Ninja Baseball League-Man: Bases Loaded is scheduled for release on December 10, 2026.
Quick Facts
- Developer
- Irem
- Designer
- Drew Maniscalco
- Programmer
- Shinichi Hamada
- Genre
- Beat 'em up
- Modes
- Single-player, multiplayer
- Platforms
- Arcade
Facts from the source article.
Gameplay
The game allows combos, throws, and dash attacks against enemies. Players can sacrifice health to perform a screen-clearing move when health flashes red. Items include American and Japanese food for health, baseballs and shurikens as weapons, and cheerleaders that either obliterate enemies or drop food. Mini-games occur after each boss before the final one.
Development
The concept was created by Drew Maniscalco, National Sales Manager of Irem America, who licensed it to the company in 1991. He derived the idea from top-grossing films in USA Today, including Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and a Batman film. Drew, a baseball fan, gave the protagonists baseball bats and balls as weapons and dressed them in baseball uniforms; the bat idea may have been influenced by the 1973 film Walking Tall. Irem Japan programmed the game and modified the prototype's look. Drew originally envisioned a 1-player platform game like Super Mario Bros., but added 3 players to compete with successful 4-player beat 'em ups. Gottlieb pinball artist Gordon Morison illustrated character sketches.
Reception and legacy
Ninja Baseball Bat Man was a top arcade hit in Japan and received good reviews, but sold poorly overall, with only 50 of 1042 units sold in North America. Drew was disappointed with the U.S. office's effort. He left Irem America in 1992 for Data East USA, unable to market the game. The arcade emulator MAME later boosted its popularity. Drew now owns rights to non-video game products, while Irem Japan holds video game rights.
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