All-Star Baseball 2002

"This is Baseball at its worst."

The All Star Baseball series was always top of the line. "the best out there" people would say, but the series' first outing on a next-gen console is less than impressive, in fact, its just horrible.

Gameplay

The play style is very similar to past seasons, pitching and fielding is pretty much the same, just with slightly different controls due to the set-up of the GC controller. The batting has been...umm...upgraded. Well, the system used here is hard to describe because it is so similar to previous systems, yet, so different. It doesn't really hurt the gameplay, but does nothing to evolve baseball gameplay, its just an added gimmick that was added to try to impress people. This is the area that gets the highest score, because it is the same as before, nothing much changed. You still get to play Season, and Homerun Derby, with a simple pick up and play: Exhibition mode...its all there, except for that One-Up: Franchise Mode. Next year folks, Next year.

Graphics

Ugh! How can you stand to look at these baseball players, they look like blocks with dirt all over them. Animations aren't that great, there are no facial expressions, and the fans are still paper cut outs. Some things here are hit and/or miss, such as bat swings. Some are really impressive, while some look nothing like real players. The most impressive thing that has come up in the game is the stadium designs. They look just like the real thing. Safeco Field looks like Safeco Field, Yankee Stadium looks like Yankee Stadium. Its amazing.

Sound

I'll just list all the bad things in no particular order: Bat sounds fake, Slides sounds horrible, Cheering gets repetitive, Announcers say the same things over and over, They also say the wrong things (For Instance: The ball gets hit to the 2nd baseman, yet he says "A line drive to Center Field"). The music is also repetitive. It sounds like they just added all this in last minute.

Lastability

It might last you a whole season, or not. I think it depends on if you like baseball or not. I played thru most of a whole season and I really disliked the game, but I am a baseball fan, and I endured it. I think all baseball fans should at least check it out at a rental place, or simply get MLB baseball from EA.

Final Judgement

Not as good as expected. This is a review of the game after 2003, and 2004 came out....guess what...I think 2002 is much better than 2003. 2004 is a step up, but not enough to catch EA's MLB Baseball series. Only Rent if you are a die-hard Baseball Fan...there might be enough to keep you playing for a few days.
4/10

Reviewer's Score: 4/10, Originally Posted: 05/25/04