GameSpot editors' review
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CNET editors' rating:
stars
Mediocre
Detailed editors' rating
- Reviewed on: 07/24/2000
- Updated on: 07/25/2000
- Released on: 07/17/2000
- Originally published on GameSpot: World Series Baseball 2K1 Review
Sports fans have waited three years for the resurrection of Sega's World Series Baseball franchise. Many of the ideas in WSB '98 were so revolutionary that competing titles borrowed its innovations and still spent two years playing catch-up. As you can imagine, anticipation for the DC release of WSB 2K1 has been high. It may be a few weeks late, but World Series Baseball 2K1 is now a reality. Has Sega delivered another killer baseball app that will leave the competition years behind? In a word: No.
At the outset, you have five options: exhibition, quick play, season, playoffs, and customize. Exhibition and quick play let you begin a single one- or two-player game, whereas the season mode lets you play 13/15, 26/30, 52, 104, and 162 game seasons. There is no home run derby mode. The absence of such a mode isn't a major crime in itself, but it seems suspicious that a feature hyped at E3 didn't make it into the final game. Rosters are current as of June 2000, but not entirely correct. For example, instead of Brian Daubach playing first for the Red Sox as he has been all season, there's some guy named Clay Sasse. There aren't any Hall of Fame teams or minor league call-ups, either.
While diverse player selection and a home run derby are subjective needs, stat tracking is an area where World Series Baseball 2K1 really falters. Even the worst baseball games nowadays have plentiful statistics. There's a fine line between too little and too much, but WSB 2K1's 11 team, 16 batting, and 14 pitching categories barely scratch the surface. Sure, you have on-base average and slugging percentage, but where's the combined stat OBA+SLG% that stands as a true indicator of offensive skill? Yes, the game tracks basic stuff like runs, hits and walks, but what about righty vs. lefty comparisons? Strangely, the game doesn't track errors either. Oh well. At least WSB 2K1's customization features are decent, allowing you to name a player, alter his facial and body features, and assign him a number of offensive and defensive skills. Each player has a reserve of points that can be added to various slider bars: contact, power, speed, defense, and arm. For pitchers, there are six pitching styles to choose from, enabling you to dole out points between five possible pitches: slider, curve, sinker, screwball, and their trademark pitch.
Since the season mode seems to be where it's at, let's discuss gameplay. First, the good: pitching. Pitch choice is shown via a circular indicator with hash marks protruding from eight possible sides. The hash marks represent where to position the analog pad for each pitch, and the length represents how effective the pitch is at the time. After choosing the pitch, a fluctuating bar appears, representing both the speed and control of the pitch you're about to throw. For best results, you need to hit the A button when it reaches the top. Once you've done that, you can use the analog stick to control pitch location until the ball is released. It sounds complex, but the entire process is both intuitive and realistic.
Although innovative, WSB 2K1's batting isn't nearly as refined as the pitching experience. You don't press the R trigger to swing, rather you hold it down to tighten up your stance and release the trigger to swing. Swing too soon, and you'll blow by the pitch or loft a pop-up. Let go too late, and you'll strike out or hit an easy grounder. After each swing, the game tells you via a printed indicator how good your timing is, whether "too early," "perfect timing," or "too late." The problem in this system isn't the novelty of it, but how the game incorporates player strengths and timing. For no apparent reason, sometimes a player will take a full second to swing after you've released the trigger, while at other times he'll go off like a cocked cannon. If certain players had a greater tendency toward this than others, it wouldn't be so bad, but the effect seems to be random.
Although Sega chose to use an analog button for batting, there is no way to check your swing or vary the strength of it. Additionally, you can't really control the type of swing (push or pull, for example), nor can you position the batter in the batters box. Also worth noting is the lack of hot/cold indicators for hitters. Not only is this concept a modern baseball video game standard, but it is also falsely advertised as an in-game feature on the back of WSB 2K1's own jewel case. Contrary to what the case states, there simply aren't any hot/cold indicators or scouting reports for hitting. Unless you have expert knowledge of MLB players, you'll never know what pitches are effective against what hitter or which player to use in pinch-hit situations.
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