World Series Baseball 2K1

"Machines can do a better job than you"

Sega Sports has been known to make great sports games ever since its Dreamcast debut of NFL 2K. After an excellent NBA 2K followup, Sega Sports set out to make a baseball game. Choosing to use their old baseball franchise, World Series Baseball, Sega made World Series Baseball 2K1. Instead of being released around the same time as other baseball games, WSB's release date was repeatedly delayed. Optimistic baseball fans figured that the frequent delays were used because Sega was implementing some great new ideas to the game. WSB2K1 was finally released in the summer of 2000, right in the middle of the current 2000 baseball season. Baseball fans rushed out to buy the game and were promptly disappointed as soon as they put the game in their Dreamcast system. World Series Baseball 2K1 did not live up to the hype.

There are many reasons why you see copies of World Series Baseball 2K1 in used game stores. Compared to other baseball games of its time, WSB2K1 just does not compare. The most noticeable problem is the lack of fielding. That's right - the computer does the fielding for you. That wouldn't be such a problem if the computer actually did a good job, but most of the time its fielding is horrible. Infielders let ground balls weakly roll right past them. Outfielders wait until the last possible second before they run and try to catch the ball. Players make unusual and unnecessary ballerina-style catches for simple popups. Worst of all, the fielders seem to be set in slow motion. Outfielders will throw the ball horribly slow back to the infield. To be frank, the computer's fielding is horrible.

Baserunning isn't so great either. Sometimes you have to bash the buttons on the Dreamcast controller just to get a runner to go from second to third. And just like the fielders, the baserunners are painfully slow. Hits that would normally be doubles or triples in real life are reduced to just singles in WSB2K1. It is almost a rarity to hit a triple in the game. Ridiculous.

Sadly, World Series Baseball 2K1 is full of little annoyances that should have been taken care of during development. For example, when you attempt to steal a base and you are caught stealing, the game will record that as a successful stolen base. Also annoying are the horrible replays shown after some plays. Normally, instant replays show the entire play, focusing on the best part. In WSB2K1, however, it shows only a small part of the play and what it shows is usually the least important part. Sometimes on instant replays of easy singles, instead of showing where the ball was hit, it shows the player slowly running to first base. Thankfully, these awful replays can be turned off by just pausing the game and selecting the option there. There are still some other little problems like players diving for obvious foul balls, and crowds that cheer for the wrong team, but they are bearable.

One of the few bright spots of World Series Baseball 2K1 is the neat batting system. The usual batting box and cursor are there, but the main difference is how you swing the bat. Instead of pressing the A button to swing, you must hold down the R trigger and then release it when you want to swing. It's kind of a reverse-type batting system, but it works very well. The batting utilizes the idea of ''practice makes perfect'', because the more you use it, the better you get. Before too long, your games will be arcade-ish slugfests with 30+ combined hits in a game. One things for sure, WSB2K1 is definitely not a sim game like NFL 2K or NBA 2K.

The pitching system is easier to learn than the batting system, but it's really nothing special. Just select your pitch, give it some power, and aim. Much like the rest of the game, the pitches look incredibly slow, but it works out with the way the batting system is used.

There are a few different modes of play in World Series Baseball 2K1, but none of them are truly great. There's an exhibition mode which is ideal for multiplayer games, a quick start mode for when you are hungry to play a game and don't care what team you are, a season mode for when you want to see how good you can do with your favorite team, and a playoff mode for when you want to just skip through the season and go directly to the playoffs. There's also an option to customize the game by editing a team's lineup, making trades, and creating players. WSB2K1 lacks both a franchise mode and online play, which would have ramped up the game's overall replay value. Just like Cubs fans say, ''there's always next year''.

Visually, World Series Baseball 2K1 is very impressive. You won't mistake the game for real life because of all the game's boxes and stuff on the screen, but the graphics are amazing. Players look just like their real life counterparts. When the game shows a closeup of a player's face after a base hit, you can easily tell who that player is just by his face. The game's star players also have their own realistic batting stances and pitching motions. There is a ton of little detail in the game as well. Balls bounce realistically, dirt flies in the air when a ball bounces off the warning track, pitchers scrape their shoes on the pitching mound, the list goes on and on. Other than the ridiculous fielding animations mentioned earlier in the review, WSB2K1 is an excellent looking game, easily the best of its time.

As for the sound, well, it's decent. The commentary is nothing special, with the game's unknown play-by-play guy just making generic comments about what's going on on the field. The crowd's noise is a disappointment, as it sounds nothing like a real baseball game. Crowds cheer for the wrong team, make annoying whistle sounds after base hits, and deliver ridiculous ''boos'' after the visiting team scores. The game's menu music is tolerable at best.

All in all, World Series Baseball 2K1 is a huge disappointment. While still decent on its own, if you compare it to other Sega Sports games you will understand how disappointing WSB2K1 is. With the lack of fielding, an overall slow game, and a bunch of little annoyances, the bad aspects of the game outweigh the good. Only get this if you're desperate for Dreamcast baseball. It's just not worth it otherwise.

Best Feature: Amazing graphics.
Worst Feature: Horrible CPU fielding.

Final Analysis:
Graphics 9/10 - excellent, apart from the ridiculous animations
Sound 5/10 - generic commentary, annoying crowd
Gameplay 5/10 - flawed
Control 6/10 - neat batting system, but unresponsive baserunning controls remain
Replay Value 6/10 - season mode will keep you busy for a while
Challenge 7/10 - several difficulty levels, but still not the hardest baseball game around
Overall 5/10

Reviewer's Score: 5/10, Originally Posted: 06/27/02, Updated 06/27/02