Major League Baseball Featuring Ken Griffey, Jr.

"Anyone for a quick game of baseball?"

At first I thought, ''Baseball on N64? That won't be good.'' After buying it, I quickly got bored of it. But I didn't realize how fascinating this game is. I was too rash and didn't play it deep enough to experience one of the greatest sports games concocted by Nintendo.

GAMEPLAY 9/10
Being a baseball game, many might think, this game will require minimum effort, connect bat with ball, pitch and field a little, and you're done. This is not particularly true. There is an added feature of trading players for players, and injuries, which makes this game closer to the real thing than all of the baseball games out there. The first few times you play this game though, the computer-controlled opponents are-more than-hard to beat.

CONTROL 6/10
A little hard to master, but once you get the hang of it, it's easy. The first time you play it, you may press the wrong C-button and throw it to the wrong base so be careful about that. Also, some controls require fast tapping of fingers, or you will stuff it up completely.

SOUND 5/10
The national anthem of America is heard at the start of a baseball match, and thats practically all of the music you hear for the rest of the game. However, commentators can be heard analyzing the play so far, and someone yelling 'Hot dogs!' can be heard amongst the crowds. Whistling can also be heard, but this doesn't improve the score.

GRAPHICS 4/10
Again, the producers must have spent little time on the graphics. The players are polygonal, and the crowd drawing could've been improved on. You cannot see the player's faces easily but the ball parks are quite great compared to the players inside.

REPLAYABILITY 9/10
You would want to play this over again if you have friends that can come over and verse you. Playing against the computer might be fun at the start, but gets repetitive, and sometimes difficult. A full season will take quite a lot of time in front of your TV screen, but it is well worth it and I guarantee you, you will enjoy it, even if you aren't a true blue baseball fan (and I do admit I'm not)

BUY OR RENT?
If you're not a true baseball fan, I would just rent it. However, since this game has been release for a while, this game is getting cheaper (at least in Australia). So if you want to buy it, go ahead, it's not a waste of money AND provides you hours of baseball entertainment.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 07/12/01, Updated 07/12/01