Once you have inserted a coin into the cabinet of Namco's Japan-only 1996 baseball arcade game Super World Stadium '96 the text "PUSH 1P OR 2P" will appear upon the screen (as with its eight predecessors, it allowed two players to play on one credit); regardless of which Start Button you press, the game will proceed to a menu from which you will have twenty-nine seconds to select one of four new three-script texts: 1-ri de asobu (1人で遊ぶ), which means: "one person plays", 2-ri de asobu (2人で遊ぶ), which means: "two people play", 1-ri de asobu kōshiki-sen (1人で遊ぶ公式戦), which means "one person plays official game", and 1-ri de asobu tōnamento (1人で遊ぶトーナメント), which means "one person plays tournament", before proceeding to the team selection screen. You will then have forty-four seconds to select one of the twelve returning (and five new) teams by pushing the joystick up, down, left and right, before pressing the first button to confirm your choice - and like all eight of the previous games, if you had only pressed that 1 Player Start Button, you will now have to select another team for the CPU to predetermine the behaviour of, but if you pressed that 2 Player Start Button, the second player will now have to pick another team to take control of (which, as in all eight previous games, is too bad if that first player happened to have chosen the team he wanted to take control of). The twelve returning teams are also real, and their namings now reflect their 1995 lineups; however, the five new teams are fictitious and were created specifically for this game, which makes the game the first World Stadium title to feature fictitious teams since 1991.
The game will then proceed to the new position selection screen, as the timer in the top-right corner of the screen continues counting down; it displays the Kanji texts senkō (先攻), which means batting first (1P), and kōkō (後攻), which means after the attack (2P) with one player from the first player's chosen team in his home outfit (holding his bat), and another one from the second player's chosen team in his away outfit (wearing his mitt) beneath them. Either player can push their joystick to the right to change the player from the first player's team into his away outfit (swapping his bat for a catching mitt) and the other one from the second player's team into his home outfit (swapping his catching mitt for a bat, and both Kanji texts' positions will also be swapped) then push it back to the left after doing that to change them back to how they had been before, before pressing the first button to confirm their choices - and the game shall now proceed to its new defensive-half selection screen, which displays the flags of the Central and Pacific Leagues with the Kanji texts DH-sei mu (DH制無) which means no defensive-half system (Central League flag) and DH-sei yū (DH制有) which means defensive-half system (Pacific League flag) above them, so once you have pushed the first button to confirm your choice (after either player pushes their joystick to the right to select the latter option if they wish), the game shall proceed onto its new team lineups screen. All 136 of the players' names again have their abbreviated positions next to them, but the name next to the number 9 will once again always be tōshu (投手), which means "pitcher", with a "P" next to it, given that the game has not proceeded to the new pitcher selection screen yet; however, when it does, the timer in the top-right corner of the screen will still continue its counting down. You will now have to select one of your chosen team's five pitchers (the static images of whom are no longer displayed on the screen, as you push your joystick up and down to highlight them), and if you had only pressed that 1 Player Start Button, the CPU shall automatically select the first of its team's five pitchers to predetermine the behaviour of (it is not bothering to create the illusion of random selection any more) - and all 85 pitchers' names, for that second time since 1991, also have either the Kanji characters hidari (左) or migi (右) next to them, which indicates whether they will pitch while facing the left or the right. The game shall now proceed to the stadium selection screen and you will have to select one of the game's six new stadiums for your match to take place in (the second of them has also been renamed from "Kōshien", while the fifth of them has been renamed from "Dome"), which all have different "centre" and "both wings" measurements (given in metres for all six of them, and that Urban Stadium is also based on the Kōrakuen from the first three WS titles):
| Stadium | Name | Chūken (中堅) | Ryōyoku (両翼) |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Hillside (ヒルサイド) | 120.0m | 95.0m |
|
Trad (トラッド) | 118.1m | 96.0m |
|
Urban (アーバン) | 120.0m | 90.9m |
|
Kaihei Dome (開閉ドーム) | 122.0m | 100.0m |
|
Air Dome (エアドーム) | 122.0m | 100.0m |
|
Seaside (シーサイド) | 122.0m | 99.5m |
...and after you have pressed the first button to confirm your choice, the screen will fade out before fading back into a shot of the sky above your chosen stadium. The camera will then pan down to the field of the stadium as all eighteen players (and all six umpires) run out and take their positions on it, and both of your chosen teams' logos will then fly into view from the left and right sides of the screen as a "VS" appears between them; that Hillside Stadium features an advertisement for Starblade, that Trad (Kōshien for old players) Stadium features six advertisements for Great Sluggers, Outfoxies, Tekken, Xevious, Mappy and Dig Dug (however, back in the NS2 era, it featured an advertisement for SOS), the Urban Stadium features two advertisements for Mappy, a third for Pac-Land and two murals of a Pooka and a Fygar from Dig Dug, and the Kaihei Dome Stadium features advertisements for Pac-Man, Ace Driver, Galaga, Outfoxies, Mach Breakers, Tekken, and Midway Games' first unauthorised Pac-Man sequel Ms. Pac-Man. The match will then start, and it is also worth noting that the Hillside and Urban Stadiums first appeared in the aforementioned Great Sluggers, which plays similarly to this series.
The view will now change to a shot of the centre of the stadium's field, as the Katakana text purei bōru (プレイボール), which means "play ball", flies into view from the right side of the screen and disappears off the left one; the score will now be displayed up in the top-right corner of the screen (with the batting team's initial underlined in red) under the number of 1 and the two Kanji characters of kai omote (回表), which means "front time". The statistics of the No. 1 from that first player's team will again be displayed in that bottom-left corner of the screen below that team's initial - and the statistics of the chosen pitcher from that second player's team will also be displayed in the bottom-right corner of the screen below the team's initial. The first player must use his joystick to position his batter inside that batting box, and the second player must push his joystick to the left or right to position his pitcher upon the pitcher's mound, then press his first button to throw the ball; he must now push the joystick to the left if he wants the ball to curve horizontally, down-left if he wants it to curve vertically, right to shoot horizontally, down-right to shoot vertically, down to fork and up to be a speed ball. If the other player's team's current batter failed to hit it, the Katakana text of sutoraiku (ストライク), which means "strike", will appear upon the screen, with the speed at which that ball travelled in kilometres above it, as a yellow circle appears next to the letter "S" on the left side of the screen - and you both then have to repeat the pitching process, but if the other player's team's current batter fails to strike the ball again, the Katakana text sutoraiku (ストライク) will again appear on the screen, with the speed at which the ball travelled in kilometres above it, as a second yellow circle appears. You will both then have to repeat that pitching process again, but if the other player's team's current batter fails to hit that ball once again, the Katakana text battā auto (バッターアウト) which means "batter out", will appear upon the screen (with the speed at which the ball had travelled in kilometres above it), as both yellow circles next to the letter "S" disappear and an orange circle appears next to the letter "O" below it and the other player's team's next batter is brought in; he will have different statistics. Those text boxes that were introduced in Super World Stadium '93 will also reappear on the left side of the screen: Heisatsu-da (併殺打), which means: "hitting double play", Hitto (ヒット), which means "hit", Niruida (二塁打), which means: "two-based hit", Sanruida (三塁打), which means "three-based hit", Honruida (本塁打), which means "home run", Gifurai (犠フライ), which means "sacrifice fly", Gibanto (犠バント), which means: "sacrifice bunt", Shikyū (死球/四球), which means "dead ball" or "walk", Uchifurai (内フライ), which means "fly in", Uchigoro (内ゴロ), which means "grounder in", Sotofurai (外フライ), which means "fly out", Sotogoro (外ゴロ), which means "grounder out", Funige (振逃げ), which means: "shake relief", Shissaku (失策, which means "mistake", and Yasen (野選), which for a second time only means what it is read as.
The first player must press the first button to make his batter swing and the second button to make him bunt; once he has struck the ball, the view will change to a shot of your stadium's field as it flies up into the air. If the ball does not land within the white lines, the umpires (of which there are six) will hold their arms up and the Katakana text fauru (ファウル), which means "foul", will appear upon the screen and it will be counted as a strike - this will also be signified by a yellow circle appearing next to that letter "S", once the view returns to the image you see above. Also, if the current batter hits the ball so hard that it flies out of the stadium, the Katakana text hōmu ran (ホームラン), which means "home run", will appear upon the screen with the distance that the ball travelled in metres next to the Kanji text hikyori (飛距離), which means "flying distance", and the Katakana (or Kanji) text for where the ball landed (レフトスタンド: "left stand", バックスクリーン: "back screen", ライトスタンド: "right stand", ラッキーゾーン: "lucky zones" for the Trad Stadium, and 場外: "curb", for all of the stadiums except for the Kaihei Dome and Air Dome Stadiums), below it; the current score will then be displayed upon the screen (the teams are still represented by their logos), as a window rotates into view at the bottom of the screen showing your chosen team's players running around the bases as their mascot(s) cheer them on (and if you'd chosen to take control of either the Yomiuri Giants or Hanshin Tigers, you will have the chance to see their secondary mascots, "Sister Giabbit" and "To Lucky"). If the ball landed within the white lines after your chosen team's current batter hit it and one of the other players on your chosen team caught it as it fell back down to the ground, you will have to press the first button to make him throw it to one of the other players while pushing the joystick up and down to indicate which player you want him to throw it to; once you have done so, all the umpires will either hold their arms out, and the Katakana text of sēfu (セーフ), which means "safe", will appear on the screen if the player was safe, or they'll hold their right arms up, and the different Katakana text of auto (アウト), which means "out", will appear on the screen if he was out (yet again, this will also be counted as an out, and it will be reflected by one orange circle appearing next to the letter "O" once the view has returned to that screenshot you see above). The radar of the field which now appears down in the bottom-left corner of the screen shows the positions of that other team's players (indicated by the moving hats, which still match the colours of their own) - and when your team is batting and the other player's team is pitching, push your joystick up and press the first button to tag out a runner on the other player's team who is attempting to steal a base (they can still be seen in the windows, on the left and right sides of the screen). Once you have done so, the runner will run out of sight from the left side of the screen, as the other player's team's chosen pitcher throws the ball; once your team's current batter has struck on the ball, the view will again change to a shot of the field as it flies up into the air, but the other player's team's chosen pitcher will then run off the pitcher's mound, and onto the catcher's plate. You will now have to push your joystick to the left and press your first button to make your chosen team's runner start running, then push your joystick up, and press your second button to make him run back again - and once three outs have occurred, the view will cut to an overhead shot of your chosen stadium (in all except that of the Hillside Stadium, there will also be crowds cheering) with a scoreboard at the top of the screen and a list of the next three batters on the right side of the screen (or the left side of the screen, if it is the first player's turn to bat again). The match will then continue; "Raina", the secondary mascot of the Seibu Lions (who had previously appeared in that team's "FAVOR" screens of Super World Stadium '92 Gekitōban and '93) has also been rendered specifically for this game, so if you choose to take control of that team and manage to hit the ball so hard that it flies out of the stadium, you will have the chance to see her cheering the players on as they run round the bases for the first time as the window rotates into view.
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The Yomiuri Giants' secondary mascot, "Sister Giabbit".
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The Hanshin Tigers' secondary mascot, "To Lucky".
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The Seibu Lions' secondary mascot, "Raina".
It will now be the first player's turn to pitch and the second player's (or the CPU's) turn to bat; the score display will also have the initial of the second player's team underlined in red as a result of this, and the text above will now read as the Kanji/Katakana of kai ura (回ウラ), which means "back time". The game continues until preset number of innings (depending on what that arcade owner has set "CONTINUE1" and "CONTINUE2" settings in the game's options menu to), have been played (you then have to insert another coin and press either Start Button within 15 seconds, to continue your game each time) - once nine full innings have been played, or the losing team are down by ten runs in the bottom of any inning (however, if both of your teams have the same amount of runs after nine full innings have been played, your game will continue, for up to three extra ones, and if either of the two teams scores thirty runs, the game will automatically be called, for the 2nd time since 1991), the Katakana text gēmu setto (ゲームセット), which means "gameset", will appear upon the screen before it fades to black. The screen will then fade back into a shot of your chosen stadium's exterior with the Pacific League's mascots running past at the top of the screen and the Central League's ones running past at the bottom; the Katakana text of supōtsu (スポーツ), which means "sports", will then fade into view in the centre of the screen, while the additional Katakana text of Namuko (ナムコ), which means "Namco", and nyūzu (ニューズ), which means "news", zoom into view above and below it. Two of the match's umpires will then push both of your chosen teams' logos into view, from the left and right sides of the screen (in front of the picture of your chosen stadium from the stadium selection screen) as the number of runs that they scored appear below them - and the umpires will then jump into the air as they retreat back off the left and right sides of the screen, causing the logos to vibrate beneath them. The screen will then fade out to a shot of one of six female reporters who are either standing in front of a sakura tree, standing beside a telephone box, sitting on a swing, sitting on a motorcycle, sitting at a table, or sitting on a pier; the amounts of runs that both teams scored during the top and bottom of each inning will be displayed at the top of the screen, along with two rotating trading cards in the bottom-right corner of the screen that display the teams' managers (the one for the winning team will be smiling and the one for the losing team will be frowning) on their fronts and their logos on their backs (however, if you chose to take control of the Sixties, Seventies, Eighties, Nineties or USA, the trading cards will display their logos on both sides given that the five new teams don't have managers) as the following three-script texts appear on the right side of the screen (they will change each time the two aforementioned trading cards rotate and the fourth one of them is again different for all six stadiums - but the second one of them has also been expanded to include those five new fictitious teams):
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Hillside Stadium "win" report.
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Trad Stadium "win" report.
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Urban Stadium "win" report.
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Kaihei Dome Stadium "win" report.
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Air Dome Stadium "win" report.
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Seaside Stadium "win" report.
The faces of the Yokohama Baystars', Chūnichi Dragons', Hanshin Tigers', Chiba Lotte Marines' and Kintetsu Buffaloes' new managers (Ōya Akihiko, Hoshino Sen'ichi, Fujita Taira, Ejiri Akira, and Sasaki Kyōsuke - to give their full names), also appear upon the front sides of the rotating trading cards:
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The Yokohama Baystars' new manager, "Ōya".
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The Chūnichi Dragons' new manager, "Hoshino".
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The Hanshin Tigers' new manager, "Fujita".
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The Chiba Lotte Marines' new manager, "Ejiri".
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The Kintetsu Buffaloes' new manager, "Sasaki".
The screen will then fade out to a shot of the mascot of the winning team walking into view from the right side of the screen and falling over; the mascots of eleven real-life teams (primary ones in the case of the Yomiuri Giants, Hanshin Tigers, and Seibu Lions) will then run into view from the left side of the screen and chase him back off that right side of the screen, only to be chased back off that left side of the screen even faster by a group of 144 identical clones of the aforementioned mascot of the winning team (the twelve existing scenes were modified to feature the new dragon-like incarnation of "Slyly", but two others featuring the Sixties'/Seventies'/Eighties'/Nineties' and USA's mascots were animated, specifically for this game). Eight baseballs will then fly towards the centre of the screen, transforming into the letters that spell out the familiar text of "GAME OVER" as they hit it - and the game will then go back into attract mode, before displaying its current team positions, and statistics (which are an expansion of those ones from Super World Stadium '95).
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The Sixties' mascot gets chased off the right side of the screen.
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The USA's mascot gets chased off the right side of the screen.
However, if both teams have scored the same amount of runs after up to three extra full innings have been played and the Katakana text gēmu setto (ゲームセット) has appeared on the screen, the screen will fade out, before fading back into the new-for-1996 "Namco Sports News" opening titles as usual; two of the match's umpires will then push both of your chosen teams' logos into view, from the left and right sides of the screen (in front of that picture of your chosen stadium from the stadium selection screen) as the identical amounts of runs that they scored appear below them as usual. The umpires will then jump up into the air as they retreat back off those left and right sides of the screen, causing the logos to vibrate underneath them as usual - and the screen will then fade out to a shot of two reporters (one male and one female) sitting at a desk in a studio. The identical amounts of runs that both teams scored during the top and bottom of each inning will be displayed at the top of the screen as usual, along with two rotating trading cards on a T.V. on the left side of the screen that, again, display the teams' managers (both of them will have a neutral expression on their faces) on their fronts and their logos on their backs (but again, if you chose to take control of the Sixties, Seventies, Eighties, Nineties or USA, they will display their logos on both sides); the female reporter will, as with SWS '95, start by speaking that three-script text "Nihon no puroyagu no shiai kekka wo otsutae shimasu" as usual, but once the two aforementioned trading cards have rotated for the first time, the male reporter will then speak this following three-script text (for all six stadiums):
Once the two trading cards have rotated for a second time, the female reporter will then speak this following three-script text (again, for all six stadiums):
And once the trading cards have rotated for a third time, the male reporter will then speak the following three-script text (once again, for all six stadiums):
Once the trading cards have rotated for a fourth time, the female reporter will speak that three-script text "Soredeha matāshita", as usual; the screen will then fade out to a shot of the mascot of the first player's team (even if they didn't win) walking into view from the right side of the screen, and falling over as usual. The mascots of eleven real-life teams (again, primary ones in the cases of the Yomiuri Giants & Hanshin Tigers, and Seibu Lions if you did not choose to take control of the Sixties, Seventies, Eighties, Nineties, or USA) will then run into view from the left side of the screen and chase him back off the right side of the screen as they usually do, only to be chased back off that left side of the screen even faster by a group of 144 identical clones of the aforementioned mascot of that first player's team as usual. Eight baseballs will then fly towards the centre of the screen, transforming into the letters that spell out the text "GAME OVER" as they hit it; the game will then go back into attract mode as usual, before displaying its current positions and statistics.
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Hillside Stadium "draw" report.
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Trad Stadium "draw" report.
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Urban Stadium "draw" report.
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Kaihei Dome Stadium "draw" report.
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Air Dome Stadium "draw" report.
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Seaside Stadium "draw" report.
