Customer Reviews

All-Star Baseball 2002

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I have owned 4 or 5 baseball games during the last few years and I always play the 162 full season. When I first started the full season with ALL STAR 2002, the batting was almost impossible (it was worst since I only play in "all star" mode), but my team ERA was under 2 most of the time. For about the first 20 games, my team (Boston) was a few games above .500, and after that I was able to win 2 out of 3 easy.

FOR THOSE WHO SAYS THE GAME IS TOO HARD AND UNPLAYABLE, it's because you didn't try hard enough. This is the only baseball game in any systems that offers the most realistic timing from the pitcher's mount to home plate--which is very very fast! But I now have 3 players on my team hitting above .400, which is absurd, but not as much as when in N64's ALL STAR 2001 my Sammy Sosa hit 85 HRs and 255 RBIs!

Overall:
--great players and ball park details
--good crowd sound effect and fine but repetitive commentary.
--great image when you hit a homerun
--detailed record tracking (includes Who's HOT, Who's NOT)
--Challenging but playable
--finally it's possible to pitch a complete game! (even if your stamina gone to 0 and your pitches are not sharp anymore, you can still pitch effectively and not just result in injury as in 2001)
--lots of more realistic and new poses when catching and fielding
--detailed fielder's positions and selections of pitches.
--various camera angles on the replay

the bad:
--the notorious "freeze" of an outfielder after the ball hit the wall directly, thus requires another outfielder's rescue. Result: a triple or inside-the-park homeruns. (Hey, since CPU is effected by the same flaw, often it helps you to score too)
--Terribly scary and difficult to field the ball (I turn the AUTO on most of the time)
--The game will mess out your lineup from time to time to give players "some rest." This is done to improve the fact that many bench players on CPU's side never get to play, but it can be annoying.
--The lineup is OLD!!! After so many great players retired after the 2001 season, this game's lineup can at time seems really out of date.
--No multiple angles in the gameplay itself
--No injury, farm system and unequal trading.
--it's still a bit easy after a while

Let's face it, the baseball games in the market really fall behinde other sports and in many ways baseball is the hardest one to make. This is a great game for anyone who wish to live the magic of baseball even if there's no chance of doing it in real life. I am sure the next ALL STAR will be better and I acknowledge the many flaws this game has, but it is the best for now.

I think this season was baseball's best ever, and All-Star Baseball re-creates it perfectly. The season starts in Puetro Rico (like it did in real life this year) and the all-star game has unique banners and logos on the field just like it did during the season. The All-Star game uniforms are identical to the ones they wore in the homerun derby last year. The mascots dance around in the stadium. This game is for the TRUE baseball fan. Only someone who watches the little details of the real baseball season can fully appreciate this gem. The batting/pitcher interface is the best I've played. You can angle where you hit the ball. If anyone dislikes this game, they probably don't like baseball.

The graphics are stunning, this is a beautiful game except for: 1) it's not just a little buggy, you'll notice it the first time you play. At least once a game when a fly ball will come down you will have no control over the fielders. The ball just drops and the runner will often go all the way home while you try to make SOMEONE chase the ball. One play per game like this costs you the game. 2) Unlike all the previous versions, the computer NEVER steals a base, ever. 3) Unlike the previous versions you can not pick off a runner who's leading. The runner ALWAYS makes if back to base. 4) The computer team is home run happy. If they fix these items in ASB 2003 I'll be very happy. I've played hundreds of games of ASB 99, 2000, 2001 and now 2002. After playing the Gamecube version of ASB 2002 with its beautiful detail I can't go back to ASB for 64...so this Gamecube version is THAT nice looking. But the bugs happen all the time and even though they are often in your favor (where you hit to the outfield and the computer players don't chase the ball) I'd rather not win that way. Detail is rich, with even planes going overhead at Shea every 10 minutes or so. A shame they didn't catch these very obvious (you'll see!) problems. Looking forward to ASB 2003. Kudos to the design team for a beautiful looking game.

Recently, I received All Star Baseball 2002. I did not have high expectations for this game because I did not like the game for nintendo 64. So I opened it up and popped it into the system. I guess I was getting greedy already playing Madden 2002 and games of that sort. The game met my expectations but did not pass them. The only reason I enjoy the game is the detail. There are a huge number of different batting stances in the game making no two hitters hit alike. (like Ken Griffey Baseball where there are 4 stances!) I disagree with some of the stances, like Paul O'Neill and Tino Martinez but it was very realistic. Throwing in the field is a pain in the neck. No usage of the C pad or joystick with "A" but they make a diamond with the remote resembling the bases! (B-3 A-home Y-2 X-1) My brother said that the game is "good and all, but it should be better with Jeter sponsering it!" The game is the same game as the one on 64, so if u want it, get it cheaper for 64! But if u want detail and speed, keep it for the cube! Personally, I like it better for the cube because of the detail

I finally got a Gamecube and this is the first game I bought. All I can say is WOW!! The N64 version rocked, and this new version is WAY BETTER. The graphics are the best I have ever seen in a video game. The players look REAL. The stadiums look REAL. The animation, the mascots, etc...all look real. The hitting has a new improved 3-D icon we are already familiar with, and the pitching now lets you choose up to 6 different pitches, while other pitchers only have 2 to choose from. I LOVE IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This game has wonderful graphics right down to the mascot. However, glitches in the game make it hard to really enjoy the game. Such as players running through walls to catch foul balls. Batting and pitching are pretty simple. If you can get past the glitches this game is fun and entertaining. Trust me this game does not play on didactic platitudes.

I'll start off by saying that the graphics are really good for this game. But, there are major flaws. First, the hitting is darn near impossible. I'm in the middle of the season and I'm second to last in the ML in hitting. It's really hard to time the ball and predict where the ball is going to end up. But, the flip side is that the pitching is good. I'm leading the ML in that. It's not hard to get strikeouts and the strike zone for the most part is fair and you will get the pitch called if it even hits the corner of the plate. Autofielding is not bad expcept that when a ball is hit against the wall, the other outfielders end up fielding the ball instead of the outfielder where the ball was orginally hit and the runner will end up on third. I would have given it more stars, but the lack of hitting is really flawed and terrible in this game.

Not very realistic at all. If playing against the computer and you are ahead your players start to make errors on routine plays. At times some players won't even make a play on the ball. Even your relief pitchers leave the ball hanging over the plate when you are ahead. Also the commentary just plain stinks, it is very repititious which quickly becomes boreing. I suggest you wait for a different baseball game and rent this one until then.

If this was a N64 game I would have no complaint. They should have spent more time programing it for game play. Who cares that the rosters are accurate and the stadium renderings look real?

I rounded the bases while the fielders stood a looked at the ball, the game locked up when I tried to score on an infield error. And who needs to hear for the fourth time in the game what Bob Brenly thinks about a players ability. Just shut those guys up all ready.....

Perhaps I was too generous with three stars.........

Nintendo, by way of the good folks at Acclaim, have come up with a winner for baseball fans and gamesters alike with "All-Star Baseball 2002," for the GameCube, which features cutting edge graphics and current rosters for all thirty Major League teams.

Once you get the basics down-- and there's a "batting practice" mode to help you do just that-- you can opt for playing a single "Exhibition game," or a complete 162 game season, with the further option of playing on a "Rookie," "Veteran" or "All-Star" level. Or you may just want to play a single series, an All-Star Game, a World Series, a Hall-of-Famers Game or have a Home Run Derby contest; all options from which you can choose.

When at bat, you can choose the "Easy hitting" mode or go for the visual aid that helps you connect with the ball and/or adds power to your swing. On the mound, you decide which pitch you want to throw, and you can opt for the feature that enables you to aim your pitch with pinpoint precision.

When your favorite team makes a trade or signs a new player, you're covered: Make a trade with another team or sign a player from among the free agents. And to add that new guy, there's the "Create a Player" feature that allows you to customize your new acquisition from the ground up.

Once you start, there's plenty of action, Big League style, and announcers Thom Brennaman and Bob Brenly are on hand to call the play-by-play and offer some info on all the players and how they play the game. Bunt, steal a base, scale the outfield fence or dive for the ball; you can do all of this and more with the Nintendo/Acclaim "All-Star Baseball 2002" for the GameCube, the one that puts you right down on the playing field for an experience that is just this side of virtual reality.