Customer Reviews

All Star Baseball 2003

5 star:		(47)
4 star:		(33)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(16)
1 star:		(17)

 

 

General/Summary: This is quite possibly one of the best looking baseball games that I have ever played and the gameplay goes hand in hand with it. At first I thought that this was just another mediocre baseball game but then I started to realize what this game is about. The detail in this game is amazing, the options and extras are very nice because it adds alot more life to this game. I'm sure the only reason anyone would read this is to find out if it is better than High Heat 2003 or Triple Play(ugh), well I used to own High Heat 2002 and I have the demo of 2003 and I would say that without a doubt All Star Baseball is better. In HH(the demo) it was way to easy to strike the opposing batters out, and i'm guessing that anyone who knows any kind of pitching strategy could easily win with 20+ k's. All in all All Star Baseball is actually more of a sim than High Heat
Gameplay: The gameplay is great. It reminded me of the MLB series from 989 for the Playstation. When you choose your pitch each button is assigned to a certain pitch, so x might be fastball and square might be change-up.(each pitcher has the right pitches that he has in real life) Then you would move the cursor to where you want in or out of the strike zone and press x to throw it. You can also throw pick-offs too first, second, and third,, simply by pressing the corresponding button, and you can also do a mid-windup pick-off which I was quite pleased with. All you have to do is wait till the pitcher is half way through his windup then you press the base, which base he's able to throw to depends on if he's a right hander of a left hander. If the batter hits the pitch then you move your fielder to the red circle and wait for him to catch it. If it's a ground ball you have two options. You can go to the circle and let him pick it up and then throw or you can push the base button before he has the ball to make one fluid play. This is referred to in the manual as "future throw". There is also two ways to bat in this game, you can use the easy batting or the regular batting. The regular batting is where you have a cursor and you try and line it up with the ball cursor, you can tilt the cursor to hit pop-ups or grounders or pull it or go with it. Then there's the easy batting which is just like high heat, you just time it right and swing. This is what I used because I find the batting cursor too hard. You can also guess the pitches on regular batting. If you guess right your cursor gets bigger and the opposite happens if you guess wrong. There are also player cards in this game which is quite fun. Basically you get points for doing things like a double-play and you buy packs containing six cards. The more cards you have the more cheats you unlock, it's really fun. If you're an arcade fan then play this game on rookie and pitch like you don't know the difference between a fastball and change-up, but if you're a sim fan then just use the right strategy, you might want to play on a harder level, but I played a one to nothing game on rookie so I actually think that this is more of a simulation than High Heat 2003

Graphics: These graphics are amazing, the stadiums are very accurate, and the actual field very much resembles the real field. It seems like they've used the 3D cyber-scan on every player because pretty much all of them look like their real life counterparts. You can know who someone is just by looking at their back because of their body build. The animations are also very good, when you're fielding a ground ball you see the player catching it, bringing it up to his chest then starting to throw it just like in real life. Every know and then you will notice the ball magically going to the player even though he's two feet away from it but it doesn't happen very often, and when it does it's not that distracting. My favorite part is the replays, you can't do a manual replay but there is one for every play, and it's simply amazing. When you hit a line drive and you see the ball flying by the people in the crowd you can't help but feeling that it's real. Speaking of the crowd, they're just your typical videogame crowd, flat paper like, but they do move and if you see them straight on then they look quite good.

Sound: I have heard better but not much. The announcers are almost always right and they'll usually tell you the stats of the player from last season in his first at bat. I remeber I was the Blue Jays and I was playing the Yankees and Carlos Delgado hit a game winning home run in the 11th inning. The next game the announcer said "He came up big yesterday with a homerun to win it." I was astonished to hear it. The crowd reacts nicely to what's going on. In the later innings they'll get louder if it's close or if it's a blowout they'll quite down. If a big play is made they'll get louder for the appropriate amount of time and then quite down again. Basically they react to the situations very well. I'm pleased that the sound doesn't take anything away from this game, although it doesn't add that much. I hope this helps in your decision.

Two words...Franshise mode...finally somebody got it right thank you Akklaim Sports. The player detail is absolutely beautiful. The replays after each play make it almost feel like you are sitting in the stands or from the TV camera replay looks like you are watching an actual game. Expansion mode is also very fun with some very creative expansion nicknames and logos added by the software people along with some citys that should have teams such as Hawaii, Norfolk, VA, Puerto Rico, Oklahoma, Vancouver B.C. As far as the gameplay there is only one flaw that I have seen and that is sometimes when you are fielding the ball your player chasing the ball might make a catch that looks like the ball would land at least 5 feet away from where he was standing. But other times you will watch balls bounce off of players gloves and watch squibbers get under the diving infielders. Overall this is the best baseball game ever made for ANY system. The realistic feel and no 17-15 games make it that much more realistic. I have played four games with scores of 8-5, 8-3, 2-1, and 3-2. I cant get myself away from this game because every time I turn off the playstation 2 i just yearn to turn it on and play even more. Triple Play is dead...come on EA Sports add fantasy mode and i might give you a chance again but right now All Star baseball 2003 from Akklaim is the king of baseball video games. BUY THIS GAME NOW !!!!

I have played baseball video games for years, and this is easily the best ever. Terrific graphics, uncanny realism, so many options. The graphics are superb: players look like themselves, bat as they really do, pitch as they really do. The stadiums even include the local mascot (eg. Paws in Detroit) and the proper sky line in the background. Besides the regular teams, they include "Cooperstown Legends", a team of Hall of Famers like Mays, Musial, Kaline. They also give you old stadiums to choose, like the Polo Grounds, old Yankee Stadium and Tiger Stadium.

The game play is tough, but enjoyable. I have a hard time hitting, but it's fair. Players overrun the bag at first, break up double plays and make sliding catches in the outfield. There are instant replays after almost every play, but they're from a different angle and enable you to see the ump ringing up a batter or a first baseman stretching to pull down a high throw. When you hit one out, you see the ball land in the seats and bounce around.

But the best part is the realism. Pitchers tire as they do in real life. In my old games, I could keep a reliever in several innings with no signs of fatigue. This game, a closer is only going to last three or four batters.

You also can break your bat when you get jammed. If you gun more than one at a batter's head, you are ejected. Batters will sometimes even charge the mound. Then they get tossed. Stealing is much easier to do than my old game (where no one could steal) but is no sure thing. It's fair. Most games are 5-3, 7-4, 3-2, just as they should be.

A game takes about one hour to complete. One is also able to play a baseball trivia game, HR derby or take batting practice. In BP the pitcher/coach has a bucket of baseballs and is protected by a fence, just like it was real. In games, you see the relief pitchers throwing in the bullpen and pinch hitters taking practice cuts as they come up to the plate.

Drawbacks: Fielding is tough, so I just let the computer do it, but the fielders break late on the batted ball, so they're forever making over the shoulder running catches. Steve Lyons (the color man) often says the same stuff. But the biggest fault is that when you actually get the cursor right on the ball, your hitting is not what you'd expect. The best place (so it seems) is to swing just under the thrown ball to get an extra base hit. All in all it's a 5* game. I highly recommend it.

All-Star Baseball 2003 is a fabulous game. Although I've never played any games from the High Heat series, this blows Triple Play out of the water. All the different modes of play alone put it ahead of all the other games (nobody else even has a franchise mode!!). Fielding and Pitching is very well represented. Only a slightly odd looking catch will happen every now and again, but this is just a minor glitch. I've seen a couple of people complain about the hitting being difficult. If you don't want realism, then buy Triple Play. The scores are normal for a real baseball game 4-2, 5-3, 2-0, etc. It's realistic, so therefore hits don't happen all the time. There are bloop singles, line drives off the wall, hard grounders past the infielders, everything is represented. Without a doubt, buy this game, you won't regret it!!!

Ive been waiting since the idea of franchise mode for a baseball game to include it, and its finally here. With Trades,Free Agents, and best of all, a farm team, this game provides the most options to create a roster. Also, the addition of the 15 and 60 day DL creates even more chances to mimic reality. Players get better, or worse, depending on age. Perhaps one of my favorite aspects of this game is the Stadium and Throwback jersey options.. I was overjoyed to see another game at Tiger Stadium, and the chance to try and homer over the centerfield wall at the Polo Grounds. The graphics are beyond comparison, and the gameplay, contrary to other reviews, is quite good. Hitting SHOULDNT be easy, because the homer happy Triple Play series is extremly irritating. The Pitching interface requires you to mix your pitches and hit your spots. Anyone complaining about those two aspects is seriously missing the greatest joys in this (or any) baseball game. I would recommend this game to anyone looking for a baseball game to spend thier summer playing.

This game is the best baseball game u can buy today. It has all the teams, all the stadiums and more. Graphically it doesn't quite match up with EA Sport's Triple Play, but it does offer many other features that EA doesn't provide. A couple features from the gameplay.
- The part i liked most about being at bat, is the way it keeps track of your previous at bats. It tells you where you hit the ball on the field, what kind of pitch you hit and where the pitch was located in the strike zone.
- The batting is a bit difficult but if you use the batting practice mode, you'll get better in no time.
-The feilding in this game is great. The advance bas throw is amazing. If you are used to playing Triple Play it might take a bit of getting used to it, but sone you'll be turning Double Plays with ease.

Here are a couple from the franchise mode:
- Expansion: Let's u choose from many big citys/towns/states from across the US, including: Sacremento, Jacksonville, Virginia, DC, and even Alaska.
- Farm Team: I have waited years for a good game to have a farm team. No more players living forever. Now when your all-star players retire, you have a brand new crop of players to replace them. This is one of the most difficult parts of the game. You must use your best judgement in when to bring up your young players and when sending them back down to the minors would be better than them sticking it out in the bigs.
- History: This game is great at keeping you up-to-date on the past. It keeps track of all-time records both career and season records. It also keeps track of how many Gold Gloves players, ROYs, and MVPs your team has produced over your 20 year season.
- Signing players: Just like if you have ever played Madden 2002 you must resign your players. You can even decide to go out on the market and steal someone else's star player.
- Problems: One thing in the franchise mode is the schedule. You play the same schedule for 20 consecutive seasons. That just makes it a bit boring when u look at match ups.

Overall= Best Baseball game for the PS2 on the market

All Star Baseball 2003 is the best baseball game I have ever played. The Expansion and Franchise modes are great, new players from the minors come up as the years progress, and players retire. The greatest thing is that its the only baseball game that lets you continue on to the next season. Teams move out of thier stadiums and into new ones. The graphics are unbelievable, and the players are easily recognizable by thier faces. This is not one like the Triple Play series, where every game is decided by a score of 20-19, and in this game scores are frequently 3-2. There are recreations of classic stadiums such as Forbes Field in Pittsburgh, The Polo Grounds in New York, Tiger Stadium in Detroit, and Classic Yankee Stadium. There is a great new section that deals with player cards, and some can increase the amount of cheats, stadiums, and players to choose from. The Create a Player has many different options including, high socks, glove colors, and bats. Overall, This is an awesome game.

The only baseball game I have ever played for PS/PS2 is the TP series. I owned every one since 97, but this year I thought the series was growing very stale, especially in the commentary department. As a TP user, the controls in ASBB neary frustrated me to the point of immediately putting the game on ebay after a few hours. But once, you get used to the controls it is very easy. For example, when fielding, you can hit the base you want to throw to before the fielder gets the ball, so as soon as he gets it, he immediately throws to the base with no delays. Also the batting cursor is very adjustable so you can hit it exactly where and how you want to.

The graphics are very life-like and the animation is very realistic also. I have not seen more realistic facial renderings in a game before. When a player comes up to bat, you can tell who it is just by looking at him, instead of reading the text.

The music is pretty bland and the commentary is ordinary, but at least you don't get burnt out on the same 12 generic one-liners like in Triple Play.

The only thing keeping me from giving the game a five star rating is the options and features. Under season mode, you can only play a full or half season. Unlike triple play, which allows short seasons of 13 to 20 or so games. This is important to me because I don't have the time to play a full or even a half season, especially in franchise mode, when I am anxious to get to trades. Also, you can not play a game of less than 9 innings, which would be nice for when you don't want to invest the hour it takes to play a game.

All in all this is a fun game with great gameplay, but be warned, it is nothing like Triple Play, so expect to take some time to get used to the new controls. Thanks for reading!
Go Mets!

This game is without a doubt the sinble best baseball simulation I have ever played, and I have played a lot of baseball games. Notice, I said simulation, that is becuase this game provides you with the closest thing you can get to the real thing. Players move like a real human would, they are not lighting fast as soon as you press in a direction, but rather are fluid and show more "reacting" cababilities. The pitcher/batter interface is amazing, it really looks like your watching a ballgame on tv. The graphics, well, they are second to none, smooth, fluid and true to real life. Franchise mode is great, you can manage minor league prospects, create players, stadiums and jerseys. The franchise mode is not as good as Madden's is, but Madden's style is going to be pretty hard to beat for a long time. But seriously, if you are looking for a baseball simulation rather than a baseball game, look no further.

4 stars...that's right, 4. Why? See cons for the reason. Let's talk graphics, I own the PS2 & GameCube versions and I have to edge to PS2. Some may think I'm crazy, but there's just a slight more stability than Nintendo's. Both are beautifully rendered and attractive. Though...let's get a little more realism in the gameplay. An umpire or base coach diving out of the way is cool, but how many players sit huddled up after an out? Also, a tie at a base goes to the runner...go to MLB's official site and lookup the rules if you don't believe me. And just how many people really trip over the first base bag? That's just a funny aspect. Replays are nice, though watching your batter hit a home run without connecting to the ball is always laughable. Ok, so I'm nitpicking, so what...this game is fun and needs a little tweaks. You can do worse...Triple Play 2002 & High Heat Baseball. The announcing can be repetitive, but not as much as the other 2 I mentioned. Well, maybe I should include the fact that the announcers are...A-1 friend's of Bob Brenly & George W. Bush...no slap at either, just a lot of commentary on it...for what reason I'll never know. On the informative side, they offer a lot of info on the game, plus quick-witted commentary which seems to be off the top of their heads as the game progresses, until...that is...you get to 97 games in and you've heard it all.

Minimal advertising folks! TP 2002 is loaded with Coca-Cola and various other ads, I forget what High Heat has. Anyway, here's what you wanna know.

Pros:
-Good Announcers
-Great Graphics, with all the puns I mentioned
-Solid gameplay
-Besides the goofs I mentioned, the diving players, home run take-away's and sheer rush to get the out keep the realism.
-Go ahead...hit my batter...your ejected
-Oh, you hit me? Well I'm coming out to the mound...not explicit fighting, but...ejected
-Easy batting mode and realistic scoring
-Stats are very detailed, manageable, and you have a farm team, create-a-player...what more could you ask for?
-Franchise mode...spring training (after completion of a year), retirements, trades, and on and on...
-PS2 version .... Hey! you can save a franchise mode and use 1 memory card for this and other games...GC cannot.

Cons:
-Derek Jeter will destroy your pitchers...period..."Mr. November" (Glad I am a Yankees fan)
-Expansion Mode...unless you like that sort of thing...it's dull, really not that customizable. Draft is laughable and the logos, stadiums, forgetaboutit.
-Batting mode...play easy because normal is tough...hey, that is a con for some...but...it's actually a pro for the baseball hardcore...yeah!
-That it takes too long to get through 20 seasons...haha

For this year...this is the game in baseball. Period.

(...)ROBERT ELDRIDGE