[Irem] Ninja Baseball Bat Man

Arcade (1993):
1-4 players(adjustable as 2 or 4 players in MAME's dip switch settings, the 4 player version doesn't force specific coin slots on specific characters)



Characters:
Captain Jose(red, average), Twinbats Ryno(green, small, fast), Beanball Roger(pictured above, yellow, wide, strong), & Stick Straw(Blue, fairly strong, best reach)

Controls:
Button 1: Attack
Button 2: Jump

-After the 2nd hit of the basic strike combo, any other hit can be replaced by forward & 1 for a different attack.
-2, 1: Jump Attack (Jose can combo this into another attack)
-Forward & 2, 1: Alternate jump attack (Jose can combo this into another attack)
-1 & 2: Special (only drains health if it connects)
-2, forward, away & 1/2, away, forward & 1: Super (drains 1/3 of the health bar)
-Double tap Left/Right: Run
 1: Running strike
 2: Alternate running strike
-Walk into enemies: Grab
 1: Strike(multiple times to combo)
 Forward & 1/2: Throw forward(always a satisfying crack with the baseball bat, actually)
 Away & 1/2: Throw behind
 Down & 1/2: Slam
 1 & 2: Grab special (uses about 1/6 less health. All, but Roger, can combo theirs into a recovery attack[explained directly below])
-Wiggle the joystick/directionals and mash the buttons: Recovery attack (depends on the situation)
-Hold 1, press 2: A unique move for each character (for Jose, add away & 2/away, forward & 2[slightly different move, the former works much more often though] after it first connects to extend the move, which can then be further extended by a recovery attack. For Ryno, 2, 1 & 2 does practically the same thing, and either way you start it, it can be combo'd into Up, Down & 2 while still in the air, which can then be combo'd into a recovery attack)


Character specific moves:
Jose:
-Run, then away & 2 simultaneously
-Run, then away, forward & 2(basically both of these running moves are the same exact thing as the hold 1, press 2 extension moves, only this time, this one is easier to pull off. They can also both be combo'd into recovery attacks)
Ryno:
-2 toward wall(edge of screen), away & 2
-2, Up, Down & 2 (can be combo'd into a recovery attack)
Roger:
-2, Down & 1 (can be combo'd into recovery attack)
-360(I think starting with Up, and either direction from there) & 1
Straw:
-360(Up to away to Down to forward to Up) & 2 (can be combo'd into a recovery attack)


You can strike enemies when they're down, by pressing 1 when close enough. Mostly useful in boss fights.

Thank's to Goh_Billy's guide for a decent amount of it: http://www.gamefaqs.com/arcade/568361-ninja-baseball-bat-man/faqs/53661


Interesting aspects of the game include a car you can get in to run enemies down(you start stage 2 in one), and button mashing bonus stages(trying to crush a living baseball in the characters hands, or punching one(also trying to crush it?]) for bonus points.

Highly recommended. The combat is shockingly deep for such an insane game. It's almost like Konami's presentation mixed with any other good beat 'em up developers gameplay style(derived from Final Fight's basics of course).

The only flaw is that it's quite quarter hungry, and that may be due to a small health bar, for the damage enemies give, but there are difficulty settings in the games dip switches that may help one to survive longer(that or increase the lives per credit).