VR Baseball 97 (PlayStation)

GameSpot editors' review

• CNET editors' rating: 1.5 stars Poor
  Detailed editors' rating
  Overall score: 3.6 (1.5 stars)

• Reviewed by:
  Kraig Kujawa
• Reviewed on: 04/03/1997
• Updated on: 05/02/2000
• Released on: 03/31/1997
• Originally published on GameSpot: VR Baseball 97 (PlayStation) Review

Interplay's VR Baseball '97 resembles a bad Hollywood movie: It had a long, delayed production, topped off by an enormous budget, and the final product ended up being neither entertaining nor worth the price of admission. One of the most ironic things about VR Baseball '97 is that it has been in production for about two years, yet it looks very rushed. The finishing touches that usually make a game feel complete (intuitive menus, crisp animation, and finely-tuned game control) are conspicuous by their absence. VR Baseball '97 is pastiche of features, graphics, and other little things that just don't mesh together.

Perhaps the best example of this is the game's graphics. The players look pretty good - that is, as long as they stand motionless on the field. Heck, you can even move the 'free float' camera anywhere on the field you want, enabling you to see the players from an infinite number of camera views. That's all fine and dandy, but players have to move. And when these do, they are jerky - thanks to the exceedingly poor frame rate during many parts of the game. In addition, the polygons break up on the field. The menu, scorebox, and substitution interface also look utterly amateurish and uninspired.

Even worse, VR Baseball's gameplay is sluggish. In baseball terms, the game is too full of errors to be enjoyable. The whole flow of the game limps along at a snail's pace: Players move slowly as the screen jerks along trying to keep up (you should see the camera trying to follow a flyball). The most important and exciting confrontation in baseball, the pitcher/batter duel, is completely frustrating to play. The batting animation is completely choppy, and what's most unforgivable is that you don't even see the bat make contact with the ball (though for some odd reason the Home Run Derby doesn't have this problem). Instead, you only see the bat coming close to making contact, hear a bat cracking sound, and then suddenly you see the part of the field where the ball will land. This is akin to playing a boxing game that doesn't show a fighter landing a punch.

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