The Boys of (Late) Summer on DC!

World Series Baseball 2K1 was going to be the best console game ever, but it was rushed--manual fielding was taken out to meet a July deadline. Baseball games aren't action-packed to begin with; without fielding, the game was a snooze.

Its successor, World Series Baseball 2K2, also suffers from being rushed, but to less of a degree. Baseball games generally sell best when released around Opening Day--that is, the beginning of April. WSB2K2 limped onto store shelves in August; by that time, Sega execs were determined to ship it, bugs or no bugs. It's a vast improvement over last year's version, but there are still many areas that haven't been given enough attention.

The most impressive aspect of WSB2K2 is the stadium modeling. All the major league stadiums appear in their fan-filled glory here. Quite a bit of attention has been given to the details; the Metrodome has the "Wall of Champions", and Enron Field even has the silly flag pole on Tal's Hill. A nice touch (in most of the stadiums) is a Jumbotron displaying a picture of the current batter.

The player models and animations are also nicely done; players waggle their bats, tap their cleats, and perform numerous other idle animations while in the batter's box. There are dozens of "signature animations" for both pitchers and batters--meaning that many of the players stand in, bat, and pitch the same way they do in real life.

Player faces are fairly generic; they are more realistic than say, the first two years of High Heat, but not as good as in WSB2K1.

The fielding animations are a bit lacking; when a player positions himself under a fly ball, he just stands still with his arm high in the air. Fielders also won't bother to turn around to face the ball when they catch it if they aren't already facing it; as a result, it appears as if they are catching the ball with their backs or legs. There aren't any double-play pivots, off-balance throws, or the like.

The instant replay feature is simply amazing. You can view replays at full speed, or control the speed of the replay using the left and right triggers. You can move the camera all over the field, move up and down, and zoom in and out. Replays record at 30 frames per second so you get much smoother playback at slow play speeds than in most other baseball games. There is no option to save replays to your VMU, but a VCR hooked up to your gaming station works just fine.

WSB2K2 does fairly well in the sound department, though there are a few shortcomings. Ted Robinson, the voice of Giants radio and the first three High Heat games, makes his debut in Sega's announcer booth. Although it's only a one-man show, Ted manages to keep things interesting and varied for the most part. He gets fairly detailed with pitch descriptions, offering lines such as "That slider is low and away, but it gets a part of the strike zone"; however, he's not so good once the ball is in play. "There's a fly ball" is often repeated, and singles are frequently identified as extra base hits. Overall, the commentary is somewhat lethargic, lending credence to High Heat fans' complaints about boring commentary in the first three High Heat games.

The sound effects and ambient sound are well done. The crack of the bat, organ music, enthusiastic fans yelling support, cheering and booing crowds, and the PA are all authentic-sounding and properly synchronized. If you leave the game idle for a while, you'll hear contest giveaways on the PA and even hear the game's producer (Troy Skinner) called down to the third-base ticket office.

The meat of any baseball game, as any die-hard baseball fan will tell you, is in the gameplay. WSB2K2's pitching and batting interfaces are fairly simple: to pitch, simply select a pitch using the analog stick, move the pitching cursor where you want to throw the ball, and press the A button. The pitch's location is determined by where you let go of the A button, allowing you to disguise the real location from a human opponent by moving the cursor around before and after you let go of the button. Holding the pitch button down longer results in a faster pitch, but drains the pitcher's stamina more quickly. Batting is just as simple. Move your batting cursor where you want to swing, and press the A button. The batter/pitcher interface is very similar to Acclaim's All-Star Baseball 2000 for N64; the cursors and batter hot/cold zones will be instantly recognizable for fans of that game.

Fielding can be a little tricky. On fly balls, the closest outfielder will automatically be selected; move the fielder onto the "catch circle" to catch to the ball. Sometimes the camera will not provide a good angle between the selected fielder and the ball, however, so you can change to a better fielder with the B button. Ground balls are the cause of more than a few headaches. Although the computer will automatically start infielders toward grounders, the ball usually travels too fast for the player to react appropriately. In addition, a ground ball will often scoot within inches of a fielder without the fielder getting a glove on it. The "Dive" function is occasionally helpful, but the infielders' dives are too high, too long, and too slow. Once the ball gets through the infield, an outfielder will automatically be selected. You will frequently find yourself running in one direction with an infielder, then running in the same direction (away from the ball) with the outfielder.

Throwing is fairly straightforward; the A,B,X, and Y buttons correspond to the four bases. Press the button to throw the ball. There is a cutoff man, but there is no way to throw the ball to him intentionally. Sometimes he just happens to catch the ball, and sometimes he doesn't.

With respect to realism, WSB2K2 falls somewhere between Triple Play's home run derby disguised as a baseball game, and High Heat's fairly authentic simulation. The degree of realism is directly dependent on the gameplay mode, the skill of the player, and the difficulty setting used.

There are three difficulty settings available: Rookie, Pro, and All-Star. Rookie difficulty gives the player larger batting cursors, slows pitches down, and reduces the computer player's ability to hit (one-player mode). Pro difficulty is the "norm". All-Star difficulty speeds up pitches and adds "catch-up code" for the computer, allowing it to catch up quickly when it's losing. Pro difficulty, while too easy for experienced players, provides the most realistic results. All-Star, while providing a needed challenge, often causes scores to become unrealistically high. If you want both challenge and realism, you'll have to wait until next year, or pick up High Heat.

The computer's baserunning and fielding AI are strong as a whole, but there are a few irritating glitches. Sometimes computer players don't cover bases on pickoffs. Occasionally computer runners will do something completely boneheaded. The computer doesn't do rundowns at all; it just chases you back to your base and keeps you there. For the most part, though, the computer will take advantage of your mistakes and keep you on your toes.

WSB2K2 offers the standard Season, Exhibition, Playoffs, and Home Run Derby modes, and brings two other offerings to the plate that console gamers aren't used to seeing: franchise mode and online play.

Franchise mode allows the player to become the general manager for his team. You can cut players, sign free agents, draft rookies, make trades, and move players up and down between the major and minor leagues. A good idea in theory, the execution is somewhat flawed. Players have only an overall rating, making it impossible to differentiate between an excellent hitter and an excellent fielder. The problem gets worse later on when fictional players begin appearing as current MLBPA players grow old and retire. Fictional players have a completely empty rating bar until they are drafted. Once they become free agents again, their rating bar returns to empty. After several seasons it is nearly impossible to find the best players and draft them.

Online play also suffers from poor execution. There is no way to control where you pitch or where you swing. Since split-second timing is the key to success in baseball, even the smallest amount of lag will cause huge problems. To top it all off, many people quit in the middle of games to avoid losing.

The best way to play WSB2K2 is undoubtedly offline against another person. Once you know how to hide your pitch locations, all the mind games that real pitchers use are at your disposal. Change speeds, throw the high heat, throw a splitter that falls out of the strike zone on a 1-2 count, and revel in your opponent's frustration and anguish. Hit a two-run, game-winning homer in the bottom of the 9th and watch how quickly your overconfident friend's taunting ceases.

Though it's not always realistic, this is the best game of baseball you can find in terms of pure fun.