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Best one to date

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 5 / 5
Date: March 02, 2003
Author: Amazon User

I have played All-Star Baseball since N64 and this is by far the best to date. After the terrible 2002 and the improved-but-rough 2003 installments, this one is a pleasant surprise!

Gameplay:
The best feature is the much, much deeper FRANCHISE MODE, which follows the option/waiver rule--you can't just move players up and down the major and minor as you please-if a player has no more option left, you have to pass him through waiver, and likely some other teams will pick him up. You can also control the 40-man roster, trading block (let other teams know who you are interested in trading), sign long-term contract DURING the season, decide on coaching, scouting budgets, and high-and-low minor leagues.

In-game features:
The main gameplay is pretty much the same as 2003, but many details has been inproved.
INSTANT REPLAY: TV-like angles with more than a dozen to choose from and whenever you want, even to see if a check-swing has gone too far!
CHECK-SWING, REALISTIC ERRORS, EJECTION, CATCHER STOPS THE HITTER FROM CHARGING THE MOUNT, and OFF-THE-LINE THROWS: They probably learned quite a bit from High Heat Baseball, but it looks so much better.
MOUNT VISIT: Shows the condition of your pitcher (rattled, fatigued, etc.) and the coach's suggestion.
BETTER A.I.: It's much harder to get a triple because the CPU finally has learned not to throw everything to the second base from the outfield. CPU's pitching has also become tougher and it's possible to draw lots of walk if you are patient.
BETTER GRAPHIC: It's no Slugfest, but overall it's much cleaner and some faces are really life-like. Also the batter's head will follow the ball in the HR replay.
FASTER PACE: Again, don't expect the pace like Slugfest, but this is much finer gameplay.

Few things to complain about:
SLIGHTLY OLD LINEUP: I wish they could have waited for a month so they could at least include Matsui. If anyone can find Kevin Miller please tell me!
SOUND: Very minimum crowd noise and effect. The commentary is somewhat dry and repetitive. But VERY GOOD voices of the umpires (they are different).
ONLY ONE BATTING/HITTING CAMERA: There are simply no option to change this.
CPU Hitting: is a bit weak and too selective in general.
BASE STEALING: Too easy, as long as the pitcher does not use slide move. And many never do.
EJECTION: You can choose to pitch "bean ball" (usually above the neck) and that pretty much means ejection. But there are quite a few time I pressed the button (R1) by mistake--because R1 was the button to get a closer look at the runner on first for previous All-Star games--and was ejected in the first inning and had to start over. Also if you pitch very inside just twice, it's an ejection. Your hitter might also get hot too easy after being hit, and that also result in ejection. I think it's too sensitive.
LOOK ALIKE: Most players are not so different from each other in the batting box or pitching mount, but so do many other games. And you don't get the ritual dance of Nomar!

Not bad... for a Yankee

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 6 / 7
Date: April 27, 2003
Author: Amazon User

OK, I'm a huge baseball fan, and a Red Sox fan, so here goes...

Not a bad effort. For a benchmark, I use my favorites: Earl Weaver Baseball for the Amiga, and World Series '95 for the Genesis. First off, the graphics are OK, not great. I have to admit that the graphics for World Series 2K2 for the Dreamcast were as good, if not better. However, the strategy is far superior. I love the mound visits, the defensive changes, and the fact that you have to warm up your pitchers. There are a few minor glitches, however. I've hit a few balls that were caught in foul territory, yet I was able to run my baserunners around the bags because the fielder just hung on to the ball. Oh well. Also, there are a lot of pop-up outs. Note to Acclaim -- cut down on the infield flies. They don't happen 6 times a game. Plus, as a Red Sox fan, it's near sacriledge to assign David Ortiz the number 27. That's Carlton Fisk's! You may have heard of him -- he's a Hall of Famer.
So far, I've played some very realistic games. A 10-8 win, a 7 -4 loss, a 3-2 win. Nice, old fashioned nail-biters. The GM features are well done, and are a nice added dimension. Also, it's nice to be able to strike out opposing batters for once. In most games, the computer never swings at balls, and never misses at strikes. However, batting is very difficult on the normal level. Pitches come in extremely fast, and it's difficult to adjust. I guess it will come in time, though. I was surprised that Fenway has the Monster seats, yet Kevin Millar is nowhere to be found.
I wish there was one option that I haven't seen since Earl Weaver for the Amiga -- the ability to DESIGN YOUR OWN STADIUM. I wish a game would allow for this. Maybe someday, before I'm old and gray. All in all, 4 out of 5. Not perfect, but pretty darn good, and I'm a stickler. I traded in Zelda for this, because Zelda was too 'kiddie', and I was itching for some longball. I haven't been dissappointed.

Only for the enthusiast

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 5 / 6
Date: December 09, 2003
Author: Amazon User

This is a great game, but really only one I'd recommend for those who pay attention to detail and can appreciate the "little things", like commentator accuracy, player/stadium authenticity, etc. HOWEVER, don't get this game if you're looking for something you can just jump into and be competitive right away. It's fairly difficult to get your bearings and learn the controls, even if you've mastered past baseball games. Some controls come naturally, but actions like chasing down a fly ball, diving or jumping for a ball, etc, are difficult. As for hitting, you'd be better off getting used to disappointment for a while. Learning the pitch timing isn't so bad, but in an attempt to be more authentic, you pretty much have to guess where the pitch is going, even in rookie mode. They do have an "easy hit" mode where all you have to worry about is the timing, but then all you do is give the opposing team little pop flies and grounders that they'll automatically field without an error. And as for errors, you can forget about the computer getting an error that often. It happens once in a while, but not enough to be realistic. Overall, it's a great looking/feeling/sounding game- just don't expect to rent it and have it mastered without adding up some late fees.

Improvement from 2003....

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 4 / 4
Date: March 20, 2004
Author: Amazon User

This new and improved All-Star Baseball 2004 game is slightly better than 2003. The gameplay has gotten better, the pitching is pretty much the same, the hitting is a lot more realistic and the new different gameplay selections are great.

A new feature to this game is: Scenario Mode, which is where you play a certain part of a game like Mariano Rivera on the mound in the bottom of the 9th with the bases loaded and no outs and your objective is to retire the inning without the opposing team scoring any runs. Like all of the previous All-Star games, you have CREATE-A-PLAYER. This updated feature is so much better than any other one in the previous games. You have over 300 faces to choose from, a lot more batting stances and also when you work on your player's ability points, there is no limit. Remember in 2003 where you only could use 20 points? Well, in this game, there is no limit so you can make your character the best in the game. Tip: Don't give your player all A+'s becase the game will freeze near the end.

The best new feature to this game, which I love is the In-Game Save capability. So if you're playing a game during your season, you can save where you left off during the game, so when you re-load your season, it'll bring you right back to where you were. GREAT! In Season mode, a lot of different things have been added. In the General Manager's offive, there is a numerous amount of things you can do from: trading players, high minors and low minors rosters, disabled list, trading block (you recieve trade offers from other teams for the player you select), and Player Editor. What is Player Editor? Instead of just editing your created player, you can edit anyone in the major leagues as far as ability points, looks, batting stances, etc. For pitchers you change their pitches selection to your favorites. But, don't make it too easy and have all of your team A+. It makes it too easy.

There is a couple things that have gone down or haven't been improved too much. One is the pitching. Yes, it is a lot easier to hit the ball because it has slowed down since 2003. But, it is a lot more diffucult to get strikeouts when pitching. It makes your pitching stats more realistic to real pitchers today. But the cathces still has some flaws in it. Not as often, but you see it happen sometimes where there is a pop-up and the ball is ten feet to the side of your fielder and he still catches it. Things like that.

Overall, this a fantastic game. Many things have been improved, things have been created for better and funner gameplay and it worked. This game is definitely a must buy.

great game

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 4 / 5
Date: March 01, 2003
Author: Amazon User

I went out and bought this game the day it came out. I was looking for the PS2 version of it but the store i went to only had it for gamecube. It is way better then any other baseball title coming out this year. It has great graphics, gameplay, and controls. It has both franchise and expansion modes with many options not found in other games such as minor leagues, contract extensions, and budgeting. the only problem with this game is the amount of space you need. To save a franchise you need at least 240 blocks of memory. not many memory cards have this many blocks.When i bought it i had to buy the memory card 251 to save my franchise. So you should definately by this game but either get it for PS2 or xbox, or make sure you have a lot of room on your memory card.

Where's multi team season mode???

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 5 / 8
Date: March 04, 2003
Author: Amazon User

With all the new games hitting the market in the next two weeks, I didn't want to get burned buying...without checking it out first.
That's what I have done with ASB 2004.

After playing it for 3 hours I would rate it as a 3. Having owned the ASB 2003 on PS2...What I don't like about his series is that they don't give you the option to select all or as many teams to play a season mode. It ABSOLUTELY drives me nuts. Most of the other games on the market allow you to control as many teams you'd like to simulate a season, however in my option they lack the realism in graphics. This game once again for 2004 you can only select one team...boring.

That's currently my biggest hangup, also another one is not allow you to trade players in exhibition mode... what's up with that.
Improvements...the graphics have improved, better realistic environmental lighting, shadows on the field, in the stands, theme music when batters approach the plate... the players faces and mannerisim are realisticly scary like how barry bonds, jim edmonds, sammy sosa camp under fly balls it looks like you are watching a real presentation. I like when programmers look at these details because they should realize gamers look for this too, good job.
Overall the game has included alot of new twists, alot
of the the classic fields, Fobbs field Crosby field,along with some future fieds like what Wrigley field would look like with a double decker uppper deck in the outfileld.
In closing...I think I will wait to play the other 4 games on the market to see if it offers some of the other features i look for in a game before i purchase one. if you don't look for the two options i mentioned above then this game might be the one for you however, Had they included the other options I can't see another game on the market competing with All-star baseball for overall fun.

LOVE THIS GAME

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 3 / 4
Date: November 03, 2003
Author: Amazon User

Game play is GREAT, graphics, stadiums top notch. And beyond that you can play specials such as scenerio mode. This mode puts you in real game situations from the previous REAL season with the same line up, the same everything. You're facing Randy Johnson in the 9th with one out and you're down by 9 runs, go to it. Beyond the game play, they have included 3-d stadium tours of all the parks, many from the past and renderings from plans for Future shea, Fenway, etc. You can have "pickup" fun games where you choose from a Major Leaguers who are just standing around and play at a farm field, urban playground and more. The announcing is top notch with Tom Brennaman and Steve Lyons. The announcing is absolutely dead on right. I buy the new version the minute it comes out each year and play it to death. Buy it for the excellent game play, then be surprised by all the terrific extras. After a while I even unlocked real video interviews with players from the old Negro Leagues. Love this game.

Holy Cow !!!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: April 03, 2003
Author: Amazon User

What a game very good graphics and the future stadiums look good.
I enjoy playing this game even though Im a Red Sox fan . Good game well done !!!!

Not the game for you...

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 3 / 5
Date: July 30, 2003
Author: Amazon User

So I read all the negative reveiws here and at other sites before I bought a new baseball game, but I bought this one anyway. So here are my thoughts!

It is a baseball game. In the academic sense, at least. The graphics are fine, the features are nice, but the gameplay is very weak in key areas.

First, the fielding controls are awful. Getting a fielder to a ball is a challenge, but invariably the player controlled fielders are strangely slow to turn and throw a fielded ball, making it difficult (or impossible) to keep runners from advancing. Second, the computer hits when it wants to. Know that you will be in close games, only to surrender 15 runs in an inning. For fun, I started pitching position players in those instances and actually had greater success pitching them than pitchers. (Try it!) A nifty strategy, but it isn't baseball. Third and last, running the bases is a chore. The controls seem to work some of the time, and the computer seems to make the decision for you the rest of the time. Very frustrating.

Lots of pluses here, but if you're looking for solid baseball play, look elsewhere.

All-Star Massacre

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 4 / 10
Date: November 02, 2003
Author: Amazon User

Let's see...where to begin...I don't think I can take this game any longer. I played it for one night and then returned it to the store the next day, demanding my money back. Thank GOD it was a used copy. I got a credit for the store and bought a much BETTER sports game: Madden 2004.

All-Star Baseball is one of the WORST baseball games to materialize on ANY system. It's all eye candy and no substance with beautiful renderings of stadiums and horribly incoherent gameplay...and don't even get me started on the roster system.

I bought this game, HOPING that my friends were wrong and I was right. Not only were they right, I think I bought them all a drink the next night for being so correct.

I played a total of four-and-a-half games on this thing. The last half game was a game I gave up after the Tigers were kicking my tail 23-0, happily no-hitting me all the way into the 6th inning. In fact, I think I got a total of 3 hits over those 4 1/2 games and no runs scored. If only Acclaim was able to upload its throwing talents into the head of a current Major League Baseball pitcher, that pitcher would be as priceless as fine china.

You can't hit and your pitching can't even hold a candle to the invincible robots playing for the computer's team. It doesn't matter who you are playing, be it the Tigers, the Devil Rays, an elementary school T-ball team, you can't hit. Your players swing away cluelessly because of the incredible "simulation" feel. What kind of game makes you GUESS where the pitch is going to be. You have a 1-in-20 chance that you will guess right and even if you DO guess right, it doesn't help. You either swing and miss or just pop it up weakly for an out. If you get a hold of one and it goes deep into the gap, the computer tracks it down effortlessly as if it's wearing ACME Rocket Skates.

The ONLY time you can ever hit the ball is during batting practice and you STILL swing and miss because the ball flies at you at the speed of an F-16 fighter jet.

Just because you can simulate the feel of baseball doesn't mean you should simulate every aspect. You are making this game for children, too. If they can't win, they're not going to be happy and they are not going to spend hours, "getting used to the gameplay".f

The roster-system is a mess as well. You cannot make trades to save your life. You can't have more than 25 players on your team at a time, they make references to having a "40-man roster" but it's non-existent, and if you have just 1 too many of a certain position-player, even if it MATCHES the real-life line-ups of the team you are attempting to emulate, you can't do a damn thing to correct it so you can play with the line-up you just made.

Forget this game. I can't warn you enough how bad it is and I am begging 3DO to PLEASE hurry up and put High Heat Baseball on the GameCube.

--Matt

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