HardBall III
HardBall III — frequently asked questions
- What platforms is HardBall III on?
- HardBall III was released on Super Nintendo Entertainment System, Sega Mega Drive/Genesis, DOS, Atari Jaguar.
- When did HardBall III release?
- HardBall III was first released on December 31, 1992.
About HardBall III
The third game in the Hardball baseball series. This revision features 256 colour VGA graphics, and announcer Al Michaels provides running commentary while you play.
Summary via IGDB.
Game details
- Platforms
- Super Nintendo Entertainment System, Sega Mega Drive/Genesis, DOS, Atari Jaguar
Details via IGDB.
Every version compared
Prices, contemporary reception and the studio credited for each release
| Platform | Year | Loose | Complete | Sealed | Period reviews | Fake risk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sega Genesis | 1993 | $6 | $13 | $50 | 3 reviews | Low |
Also released on: Super Nintendo Entertainment System · Sega Mega Drive/Genesis · DOS · Atari Jaguar. We haven’t priced or authenticated those versions yet.
Collector value & authenticity
Sega Genesis · PriceCharting sold data · Verified 2026-10-29
Other releases and variants
| Release | Loose | Complete | Sealed |
|---|---|---|---|
| European (PAL) release | — | $37 | — |
What it needs to play
- Some modesSave battery (inside the cartridge) — saves to memory kept alive by a battery inside the cartridge; if that battery has died, saves are lost (MAME cartridge records).
How often it sells
- Loose: about once a month
- Complete: about once a month
- Sealed: about once a year
Prices marked “few sales” rest on about one recorded sale a year, so treat them as a rough guide: the next copy could sell well above or below. Expect to wait for one to come up.
Sales frequency from PriceCharting's completed-sale records, as of 2026-10-29.
Price over time
- Loose
- Complete
A loose copy sold for about $0.01 in Oct 2007, $1.96 five years ago, and $5.85 as of Oct 2026.
Show as table
| Month | Loose | Complete |
|---|---|---|
| Jan 2008 | $0.75 | — |
| Jan 2009 | $0.75 | — |
| Jan 2010 | $0.75 | — |
| Jan 2011 | $0.75 | — |
| Jan 2012 | $0.66 | — |
| Jan 2013 | $0.87 | — |
| Jan 2014 | $1.83 | $3.97 |
| Jan 2015 | $4.99 | $3.75 |
| Jan 2016 | $4.20 | $9.05 |
| Jan 2017 | $3.33 | $3.25 |
| Jan 2018 | $2.72 | $6.08 |
| Jan 2019 | $3.12 | $5.54 |
| Jan 2020 | $3.07 | $7.00 |
| Jan 2021 | $1.97 | $7.34 |
| Jan 2022 | $5.21 | $8.00 |
| Jan 2023 | $3.61 | $15.18 |
| Jan 2024 | $1.66 | $6.28 |
| Jan 2025 | $5.00 | $10.00 |
| Jan 2026 | $4.69 | $14.27 |
| Oct 2026 | $5.85 | $12.77 |
Monthly price estimates from PriceCharting's completed-sale records, sampled quarterly, through Oct 2026.
Release record
| Territory | Date | Barcode |
|---|---|---|
| North America | March 1993 | 015605032080 |
| Europe / PAL | May 1993 | — |
- Region
- NA+EU
- Released
- 1993
- Authenticity
- Low
A complex MLBPA-licensed baseball sim that is cheap to buy and worth testing for its battery save.
HardBall III is a baseball game developed by MindSpan and published by Accolade, licensed by the Major League Baseball Players Association and the sequel to HardBall II. It came out in North America in March 1993 and in Europe in May 1993.
Sega Pro described it in a preview as a complex but well-animated baseball sim.
What the press said at the time
| Sega Force Issue 19 | July 1993 | 64% |
| Joypad | 81% | |
| MegaTech | 69/100 |
“Hardball III Is definitely the best baseball game yet seen on console and is highly recommended lo fans of the sport.”
“It's the most involved version of the sport to come to the Mega Drive and boasts good visuals and excellent speech, but it's lost a large chunk of playability in the conversion process.”
Undated scores are from the review table in the game's Wikipedia article, limited to reviews of the Genesis version.
In the sales charts
In one sales chart, July 1993; highest position #8.
Show the placing
- #8 in the Virgin Mega Drive chart — Sega Pro, Issue 21, July 1993
Sales charts as printed in the magazines of the time.
Also on other platforms
MS-DOS · Super NES · Atari Jaguar
- Atari Jaguar. An Atari Jaguar version, then titled Al Michaels Announces HardBall III and developed by NuFX, was announced in early 1994 but went unreleased.
- Super NES. GamePro praised the Super NES version's options and player stats but felt the rough graphics and choppy movement made it merely above average.
- MS-DOS. Computer Gaming World praised the PC version's glorious VGA graphics and sound card support in 1992.
How the other versions reviewed
| Super NES | Electronic Gaming Monthly | 8/10 / 7/10 / 5/10 / 7/10 / 8/10 |
| Super NES | GamePro | / / / |
| Super NES | Total! | 62% |
These are the other versions’ scores, not this one’s. Ports of this era were frequently built by different studios, so they do not transfer.
Before you buy
Among US carts it sits below the middle, and the risk of a fake is low. The game saves to a battery inside the cartridge; check that a save holds, and note that a replaced battery is a normal repair, not a sign of a fake. A complete European copy usually costs much more than a complete US one.
Watch on YouTube
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