World Series Baseball 2K1
Reviewed by Dale Kulas
The Game
Back in 1994, Sega released one of the most innovative
baseball games ever, that being the World Series Baseball
games. It stuck around on the Genesis for the '95 and '96
sequels, and then got brought over to the Saturn for 3
titles: WS BB, WS BB 2, and WS BB '98. Those 3 titles were
proclaimed the greatest baseball series ever. (Trust me, they
are!) It had some of the most unique and innovative features
in baseball games, like easy to handle pitching and batting
and fielding, and so much more. So when I heard the same
people behind the Saturn series were making this game I just
had to get it. Right now some people are bashing this game
silly, but don't get your opinions mixed up until you read a
review from some one who actually knows the game. Now get
ready for the truth behind World Series Baseball 2K1!
Graphics
Alright, once I saw the game's opening FMV using the game's
own visuals. I was amazed, that the game looked that dang
real. The game looks so great during actual game play for a
second you think you're watching the actual thing on tv. The
players face look so real, with so much detail, and heck
even the faces move, like you can see them chewing gum or
smiling. The home run celebrations just look fantastic. The
game also uses real batting stances too. The game has some
really nice camera angles during the game, like the catcher
talking with the pitcher with bases loaded, a nice span on
the team's dugout when they have 2 outs and no men on bases,
and a couple other. So overall there's a really nice job in
the graphics department. The pitcher-batter interface for
the game looks superb where you got a great view of the game
and all the info is nicely laid out for you. Oh yeah, one
great thing the game does (might be annoying to others) is
that when a player's stealing a base, and the catcher's
throwing the ball, the camera will somewhat slowdown like in
the Matrix fight scenes to see how close you are as if
you're safe or out. I really like it.
No for the bad points about the graphics. Those special zoom
outs during game play of the dugout and all, they repeat all
too often, and there's not to many of them. Also the Action
Replay's look really awkward and only last a few a few
seconds. It seems that in most other games, that after game
out's and pitches animation scenes last a little longer than
in this game, but that's probably because the game's engine
is based on the World Series Baseball '99 arcade engine. Oh,
yeah there is no Instant Replay mode, well there sort of is,
and you can only do it by pressing start when one of the
action replays are shown.
Sound
You got all your regular sound effects in here like the
bat's hitting the ball, the sliding of the ball players,
etc. All is really well done and sounds like the real thing.
The announcer is ok at best, I don't even think it's a real
announcer, some hired guy like in the NBA & NFL 2K games,
but he sounds all right, all he only does is call
play-by-play, just saying what the count is after every
pitch, and who's throwing the ball to who. He announces all
the player names, and even announces some made up players by
just announcing their initials. Overall he sounds all right,
but I just wished he had some enthusiasm, and threw in some
comments about the game like the commentators in NFL & NBA
2K did. Also it sounds really odd when Action Replays are
shown, because since there's no voice over during it, some
special little tune plays during it, which makes them really
annoying to watch.
Game play
Well, like I said before, the game is based on the World
Series Baseball '99 arcade engine, so the game moves at a
really fast rate, like it takes me 30-50 minutes to finish a
9 inning game on the average. Any ways the game controls
great. At first the controls might seem a little awkward to
you, but once you get into the game a while, you'll get them
down. Unlike most other baseball games today, you can't
control the fielders, instead when the ball is hit the
player nearest to the ball runs and get it. But you have to
decide where to throw it by pressing a direction on the
control stick (down for home plate, right for 1st base, up
for 2nd base, and left for 3rd base) and the A button
simultaneously. Some people argue this element takes away
from the game, but I really like it, and half the time I
can't even make out where the fielders are so I'm glad they
automatically run for the ball, the only bad part about it
is so far is that occasionally, the fielders will miss an
easy catch or something like that, but this was probably one
of those arcade elements of the engine that made it into the
home port, and while it may seem odd at first, you will
adapt to it after a while.
The pitching interface is innovative and well done,
depending on the attributes for the pitcher, a bar with
lines coming out to it in 8 directions are the available
pitches you have, it doesn't label which pitch is which (and
that's a good thing so you're opponent won't know what
you're doing) but you'll get 'em all memorized after a
while. Any ways, after you select your pitch, there's a
gauge meter that appears and you press A on it to determine
how fast your pitch is. The batting interface might seem
awkward to, you hold the L trigger to bunt, and hold the R
trigger and move the control stick to determine where you
want to swing and release the R trigger to swing, seems
really odd at first, but it does fit the game well, and you
will get use to it. What's really great in here, is that
each player's batting stance represents the strike zone they
have, making it really challenging in the game to get strike outs.
The game has a few modes of play to choose from. For those
who don't feel like goofing around with options and all,
there's quick start, which automatically chooses a team for
you, and gets you into a game. Great mode learning the
controls in my opinion. Then there's exhibition, where you
can monkey around customizing weather or not to have replays
on, the inning length, camera angles, etc. Next, there's
playoff where you automatically skip all season play and be
on your to the World Series. And finally there's Season
mode, where you can pick the length of your season, have the
All-Star game, go through all the stats you can imagine, and
be on your quest for the World Series. There's also a
customize option where you can create players, and make
teams pitcher and batting line up adjustments. I really
wished there were some more modes of play here like Home Run
Derby, which was usually in all the past World Series games,
and maybe a practice mode could've helped out a lot too. To
me, it seems like the developers purposely did this so they
got some noteworthy stuff to mention they added in next
years game. Developers love to do this (I. E. no NFL team
license in first Madden game for N64), and it really takes
away from the fun of the game.
Replay Value
Like I said, some veteran gamers will automatically seem
ticked off at the no controlling of the fielders option and
will automatically turn this game down. Also I find the lack
of a Home Run derby and batting practice modes really
annoying. But the game itself is really fun to play, I
remember playing 1 and a half to 2 hour games of Griffey or
All-Star Baseball, and I really love the fast rate of the
game, so Season mode won't seem like a pain to play. Also
the game can be played with up to 2 players, so you can go
against your friend for an all out slugfest. And the
create-a-player mode is one of the best I've seen in
Baseball games today. So for what the game lacks in modes,
it makes up for in excellent game mechanics and customizing
features.
In Brief
+: Great Create-a-player mode, Really fast Arcade-like play,
easiest to learn Pitcher-Batter Interface I've ever played
-: Can't control fielders will turn off baseball gamer
veterans, no home run derby mode, the action replays in here
really stink
The Final Ratings Rundown
Graphics: 9. 4
Sound: 5. 1
Game play: 7. 5
Replay Value: 7. 0
Overall: 7. 2 out of 10
Final Analysis
This game seems a lot like an Arcade game, so maybe sim fans
should stay away from the game, or at least give it a rent,
because as of this review, this is the only baseball game
out on the system. It has a couple of important flaws in the
game, but it's still a blast to play, and I'm sure fans of
other arcade sports games like Showtime or Blitz will really
like the game. Either way, you owe it yourself to at least
give this game a rent. I just hope next year's version will
be a hell of a lot better with the Home Run Derby and
batting practice modes added and maybe some online play too.
OR
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