Triple Play 2002 (PlayStation 2)

GameSpot editors' review

• CNET editors' rating: 4.0 stars Excellent
  Detailed editors' rating
  Overall score: 8.6 (4.0 stars)

• Reviewed by:
  Ryan Donald
• Reviewed on: 03/20/2002
• Updated on: 05/17/2006
• Released on: 03/11/2002
• Originally published on GameSpot: Triple Play 2002 (PlayStation 2) Review

While the real boys of summer are still working out all of their kinks in spring training, EA Sports has just released the latest installment in its Triple Play series for the PlayStation 2. Triple Play 2002 features a lot of visual refinements and new announcers, but the game's core play mechanics and overall style haven't changed much since last year's game. Triple Play 2002 is an exciting game of baseball that isn't as realistic as some of the other games on the market but should be authentic enough for most fans of the sport.

Triple Play 2002's list of features includes all of the teams, players, and stadiums from the MLB. You have your choice of four gameplay modes: exhibition, season, playoffs, and home run derby. The game's season mode lets you play a 15-, 30-, 60-, or full 162-game season with multiple players. You can use the default roster settings during a season or create your own players in the game's create-a-player mode, or you can even initiate the game's fantasy draft to get a completely new draft of the league. All of the players are tracked in 31 statistical categories throughout the season mode.

Whether you'll love or hate playing Triple Play 2002 almost solely depends on the type of baseball game you like to play, since the game tests not only your understanding of baseball strategy, but also your reflexes and timing. The game's batting interface is a fairly standard targeting system that gives you control of a targeting cursor. To get a hit you have to line up the target with the destination of the pitch and also time your swing just right to make contact with the ball. The pitcher's cursor can be hidden, which leaves you with little more than a guess and a split second, from the time the pitcher releases the ball until it hits the strike zone, to see where the pitch is headed. The size of the batter's targeting cursor is determined by the ability and stats of the virtual batter's real-life counterpart, which makes your chances of hitting the ball realistic for each batter. For instance, when a batter the likes of Barry Bonds steps up to the plate, you'll see that his targeting cursor is very large, which makes it fairly easy for him to make contact with the ball. But when a player such as Randy Johnson, who doesn't have great batting skills, steps up to the plate, you'll see that he has an extremely small target, which makes it difficult to get a hit. The ball physics, specifically after you hit the ball, are a bit more gracious in the game than they are in real life. On the game's easier difficulty settings the computer will let you find the ball more often than not, which results in an inflated number of home runs. On the game's all-star setting, however, you'll be challenged by the computer-controlled pitchers who seem to always find a way to get the ball past your batter, which results in scores and home runs that are more akin to what you'd see in the real league.

Fielding and pitching are also very involving tasks because Triple Play 2002 takes full advantage of the PlayStation 2's analog buttons. The amount of strength a pitcher or fielder puts into throwing the ball is tied directly to the amount of pressure you apply to the button. Also, tapping the X button makes your fielder run faster so you can get to the ball more quickly. These pressure-sensitive actions make you play the game as it should be played and occasionally penalize you for not doing so. For instance, if the batter hits a grounder back to the pitcher, who picks up the ball, in this situation you'd want to casually press the button to make an easy throw for the easy out. However, if you press as hard as you can and send the ball rocketing off, there is a greater chance that the throw may be off or the first baseman may miss the catch.

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