Well, all the hype has come and gone and the games have all been out a while. As someone who made a conscious effort to take each game for an extended test drive, I thought I would give my opinionated overview on how this year ended up.....and welcome anyone who would like to throw in their 2 cents as well. I took everything into account when ranking these games and really gave it some thought....but I know personal tastes will vary greatly. Here goes:
Number 1: Baseball Advance, GBA (214 games played).
Pros: HANDHELD! I can play this while the wife shops for shoes, while the kids watch Blues Clues, on my lunch break, whenever. This was also the only game this year that truly did somthing innovative with the gameplay. The metered-batting system is simply the best advancement I have seen in videogame baseball in a few years...and although the guess pitch lock-on is a little too generous, its simply a blast to hit in this game and its hard to go back to the simple "push button to swing" approach. Fielding is fun, although too generous as well. Although it may be a hardware limitation, the fact that you cannot see your outfielders until the ball gets closer to them is fantastic....as it forces you to learn to read the ball and react. Also features a player "health/fatigue" symbol which greatly effects their play. Great graphics and individualized players.
Cons: No general manager aspects. No 2 player. Much like WSB, the computer A.I. baserunning and challenge are suspect. I am not convinced it really matters where you throw the ball as a pitcher and its nearly impossible to log more than a few k's per game.
2. WSB, Xbox (49 games).
Pros: Great new franchise aspects. Great graphics. Solid sound. Best 2-player game. Top notch animations......and the gameplay just feels right (its fun to play). Pitching is quite fun using variable speeds with the button presses and the pitching icon off. Several tweak options in the pitching/batting interface. Also no memory card required.
Cons: Suspect A.I. in baserunning and hitting, general lack of challenge. No in-game injuries. Suspect strike/balls ratio. Lacks alot of baseball's little details(errors, bad throws).
3. HomeRun King (12 games).
Pros: Best graphics. Arguably the best gameplay. Most enjoyable pitching. Price only 20 bucks. CPU actually provides a challenge.
Cons: Lack of extras. In game sound effects are great, but the announcing is horrible. I have a feeling this is a dead series, which is a shame as it could evolve into the best game with all the extras. It is simply too bare-bones.
4. High Heat, PS2 (17 games).
Pros: Best simulation, hands down. Many would argue this is the best game, and I wouldnt fault them a bit. This game screams polished with all the little nuances that real baseball provides. If your a sim freak, this is your game.
Cons: Poor graphics for a next gen system. As the longest running franchise I expected a little more. I do not enjoy the pitching/batting interface as I do the other titles....it seems unnatural to me. It simply doesnt have the fun factor of the titles above....but its a great game.
5. ASB, all consoles (29 games).
Pros: Details, details, details. Expansion mode. Like most of these games the ball physics are improving all the time. The strike zone is realistically implemented. Perhaps the best A.I. and play variation.
Cons: I simply did not enjoy the gameplay, as much as I wanted to because of all the extras. I feel the pitch speed is too fast for a videogame vs the slow cursor, but respect others feel differently and would rank this game number 1....again, I respect that. I really felt the graphics were well below the 2 sega offerings. Ball warping was really apparant. No way to vary pitch speeds, and even with the icon off it doesnt have the same "good feel" as pitching in HR King or WSB. This game tries to be a simulation but cant match high heat, and it tries to be fun to play but cant match the sega offerings.....so its kind of stuck in the middle.
6. ASB, gba (6 games).
Pros: Full general manager aspects.
Cons: It pales to baseball advance in every other area. Everything feels very generic. I went 2 straight games without the computer throwing a single "ball".
7. TriplePlay, All systems (1 game).
Pros: n/a
Cons: I honestly cannot see a single area this game outshines any other. This is one of the few times I can remember in videogames that a game gets progressively worse for 6 straight years with the possible exception of 1999. Any hope it had of appealing to the arcade crowd probably went out the window with Midway releasing Slugfest.
***MLB Slugfest, all systems.
I have not yet played this game, but plan to when it is released on the xbox system.
Well, that is it. Again, I realize preferences vary and would welcome people giving their ranking of games they have played. Next year certainly will bring new hype and hopefully some very solid baseball gameplay. I personally think Sega has the inside track to make somthing really special whichever direction they go.......should be interesting.
Number 1: Baseball Advance, GBA (214 games played).
Pros: HANDHELD! I can play this while the wife shops for shoes, while the kids watch Blues Clues, on my lunch break, whenever. This was also the only game this year that truly did somthing innovative with the gameplay. The metered-batting system is simply the best advancement I have seen in videogame baseball in a few years...and although the guess pitch lock-on is a little too generous, its simply a blast to hit in this game and its hard to go back to the simple "push button to swing" approach. Fielding is fun, although too generous as well. Although it may be a hardware limitation, the fact that you cannot see your outfielders until the ball gets closer to them is fantastic....as it forces you to learn to read the ball and react. Also features a player "health/fatigue" symbol which greatly effects their play. Great graphics and individualized players.
Cons: No general manager aspects. No 2 player. Much like WSB, the computer A.I. baserunning and challenge are suspect. I am not convinced it really matters where you throw the ball as a pitcher and its nearly impossible to log more than a few k's per game.
2. WSB, Xbox (49 games).
Pros: Great new franchise aspects. Great graphics. Solid sound. Best 2-player game. Top notch animations......and the gameplay just feels right (its fun to play). Pitching is quite fun using variable speeds with the button presses and the pitching icon off. Several tweak options in the pitching/batting interface. Also no memory card required.
Cons: Suspect A.I. in baserunning and hitting, general lack of challenge. No in-game injuries. Suspect strike/balls ratio. Lacks alot of baseball's little details(errors, bad throws).
3. HomeRun King (12 games).
Pros: Best graphics. Arguably the best gameplay. Most enjoyable pitching. Price only 20 bucks. CPU actually provides a challenge.
Cons: Lack of extras. In game sound effects are great, but the announcing is horrible. I have a feeling this is a dead series, which is a shame as it could evolve into the best game with all the extras. It is simply too bare-bones.
4. High Heat, PS2 (17 games).
Pros: Best simulation, hands down. Many would argue this is the best game, and I wouldnt fault them a bit. This game screams polished with all the little nuances that real baseball provides. If your a sim freak, this is your game.
Cons: Poor graphics for a next gen system. As the longest running franchise I expected a little more. I do not enjoy the pitching/batting interface as I do the other titles....it seems unnatural to me. It simply doesnt have the fun factor of the titles above....but its a great game.
5. ASB, all consoles (29 games).
Pros: Details, details, details. Expansion mode. Like most of these games the ball physics are improving all the time. The strike zone is realistically implemented. Perhaps the best A.I. and play variation.
Cons: I simply did not enjoy the gameplay, as much as I wanted to because of all the extras. I feel the pitch speed is too fast for a videogame vs the slow cursor, but respect others feel differently and would rank this game number 1....again, I respect that. I really felt the graphics were well below the 2 sega offerings. Ball warping was really apparant. No way to vary pitch speeds, and even with the icon off it doesnt have the same "good feel" as pitching in HR King or WSB. This game tries to be a simulation but cant match high heat, and it tries to be fun to play but cant match the sega offerings.....so its kind of stuck in the middle.
6. ASB, gba (6 games).
Pros: Full general manager aspects.
Cons: It pales to baseball advance in every other area. Everything feels very generic. I went 2 straight games without the computer throwing a single "ball".
7. TriplePlay, All systems (1 game).
Pros: n/a
Cons: I honestly cannot see a single area this game outshines any other. This is one of the few times I can remember in videogames that a game gets progressively worse for 6 straight years with the possible exception of 1999. Any hope it had of appealing to the arcade crowd probably went out the window with Midway releasing Slugfest.
***MLB Slugfest, all systems.
I have not yet played this game, but plan to when it is released on the xbox system.
Well, that is it. Again, I realize preferences vary and would welcome people giving their ranking of games they have played. Next year certainly will bring new hype and hopefully some very solid baseball gameplay. I personally think Sega has the inside track to make somthing really special whichever direction they go.......should be interesting.
Comment