Ken Griffey, Jr.'s Winning Run
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Ken Griffey, Jr.'s Winning Run | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Developer(s) | Rare |
| Publisher(s) | Nintendo |
| Platform(s) | Super Famicom/SNES |
| Release date | NA June 1996 |
| Genre(s) | Sports game |
| Mode(s) | Single player, multiplayer |
| Rating(s) | ESRB: K-A (Kids to Adults) |
| Media | 32-Mbit cartridge |
Ken Griffey, Jr.'s Winning Run is a baseball video game developed by Rare for the Super NES that is named after the baseball player Ken Griffey, Jr.
The game features the 28 MLB teams in existence at the time. You can play in a franchise mode, exhibition (single-game) play, and a home run derby mode, which particularly suits Griffey.
The game's title is derived from the final play of the 1995 American League Division Series featuring the Seattle Mariners and New York Yankees. On a play that is sometimes credited with "saving baseball in Seattle," Griffey scored the game's winning run all the way from first base, on a close play in the bottom of the 11th inning.
Due to the lack of a Major League Baseball Players' Association license, Griffey is the only player in the game to use his actual name. However, one of the fun and largely unknown parts of this game is identifying other MLB players based on the phony and sometimes pun-laden names given to them by developers. For example, the prolific and temperamental Albert Belle is transformed into "Frank Liberty" (Liberty Bell?). One team is composed entirely of comic book authors and illustrators, such as S. Ditko, F. Miller, and A. Moore.
[edit] Trivia
- An ironic note about this game is that it was programmed by a British company, Rare, but was never released in the UK due to the non-existent interest in baseball in the UK. It was also one of the first video games to use computer generated, 3-D animation.
- Furthermore, the development team never played baseball in their life before the game (or indeed after it).[citation needed]
- There are several secret codes or controller keystrokes that can be entered at various times in the game. One of them unlocks an option to play with two teams that were nonexistent at the time - the Tampa Bay Devil Rays and another team representing what would become the Arizona Diamondbacks, although both teams were named right around the same time that the game was designed.
- Originally, the game's designer - Oliver Davies - created pun names for almost every player but some of these were then changed for more colourful names such as Bolt Lightning, Sly McGee, etc.
- When playing as the pitcher, not pressing any buttons for a period of time will force the umpire to stand up, turn around, tap on the glass tv screen, and say, "Play the game kid!"
