Minigames have always been a big part of the Like A Dragon series, and Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii has them in spades. Once you make it to the Madlantis area, you will be forced to play one of the minigames before you’re able to continue with the main story. That minigame is the Bang Bang Batting Center, which is pretty similar to the batting cage minigame from previous games, but with a little twist. This page will go in-depth on the Bang Bang Batting Center, including tips for each difficulty..

How to Play Bang Bang Batting Center¶

As mentioned above, you will be able to play this minigame once you get to Madlantis in Chapter 2 of the main story. In fact, you’ll have to play a round of it before continuing on, so you’ll get a little taste of it then. Instead of smacking baseballs, like one would normally do at a batting center, you are hitting cannons to try and destroy as many barrels as possible. You will have two different variations here, ones related to Normal Mode and Endless Mode. Normal Mode will have a total of four difficulties and cost you $100 to try, while Endless Mode is one big round and costs $500 to try.

Normal Mode¶

Normal Mode is designated as the mode you do that involves the various difficulties. There are four difficulties here and in order to unlock more, you have the complete the one before with at least an A Rank. There are only three types of barrels in this mode, which are Normal Barrels, Explosive Barrels, and Arrow Barrels. The goal of Normal Mode is to find the lock on the chest, which is hidden behind the barrels, then hit it with a cannonball to break it. Doing this will open the chest and allow you to move onto the next section. Basically, you need to destroy the barrels to find the lock, then hit it before you use up all of the allotted cannonballs in that round.

Note that you have a targeting reticule you can move around, where you can aim at specific spots. If you hit the cannonball at the right moment, the ball will always go where you aim, but if you don’t, then the ball can veer off its mark. You’ll know you connect flush with the cannonball, as there will always be a little cut-in of you hitting it. You will need to adjust the timing of your swing, too, since the cannon will shoot the cannonballs at varying speeds (it moves). You can also choose three different bats here, although only one is available at the beginning, as the other two need to be bought with the points you accrue from this minigame.

One last thing you have to use is a Special Swing, which you only get one of during the course of playing each time. This Special Swing will make it pretty much impossible to not hit the cannonball squarely (it slows down when you should do it), plus it also destroys all of the barrels on the screen and breaks the lock on the chest. It’s basically a free round, so either use it if you feel you won’t get to the lock, or just use it on the final round for a free win.

Endless Mode¶

The Endless Mode is a little different than Normal Mode, as you don’t have to worry about getting to a lock on the treasure chest. However, you only have 10 cannonballs here, so once you use those up, then the minigame will be over. There is a catch, though, as two new types of barrels will appear during Endless Mode, which are the Cannonball Barrels and Special Swing Barrels. If you guess that they give you more cannonballs to shoot and replenish your Special Swing, respectively, then good job.

The Cannonball Barrels will replenish your cannonballs, or rather, give you back the one you just used (depending on how many you hit, of course, in that shot). This is the way to keep Endless Mode going, but there does seem to be a little randomness to whether the barrels will appear or not. So, there might be some times where you are on your last cannonball and there aren’t anymore of those barrels in sight, so you’ll be done. Similarly, you only get one Special Swing at a time, so that respective barrel won’t really show up until you’ve used it in the first place. If you have like four Cannonball Barrels on screen, then you should definitely use the Special Swing.

All Bang Bang Batting Center Prizes¶

Speak to the NPC that starts the minigame to see an option to exchange the points earned for some prizes. The table below will list all of the prizes you can get from this, but remember that a good portion are limited in quantities.

The most important thing here is the Silver Treasure Chest, as it contains one of the treasures on your list. This will be the Ring of Earth, so the treasure is even more worthwhile, since you can equip it. That’s not counting the big boost to your money and reputation, too. Getting to 90,000 points will take some time, though, so it might not be a good idea to farm much of anything else. If you want the clothes, then go ahead and get them, plus the CDs are always a cheap option.