Baseball Stars 2

"A great arcade style baseball game"

I played this game a long time ago and I can't believe people give it bad ratings.It is a great game,arcadey to the max,with fake teams and players.Fake does not mean bad.

Graphics:8/10
Not bad for it's time.The players are big,good looking and animate very well.The field is colorful,but a little bland and the crowd looks like in any game for it's time.At least the crowd has pretty good animations as they cheer wildly.They are very few models for players,a bad thing so expect to see many familiar faces multiple times.They have the typical strong,muscular guy,the skinny blonde guy,the bearded strong guy and the same models on black skin,red hair,blonde hair and black hair(I believe there is an oldie gray haired and white haired people but not sure).At least they animate very well and look cartoony and colorful.

Sound:7/10
Good sound effects,like the crack of the bat,make for a good SFX experience.The music is very repetitive,but pasable as it keeps you in the action.

Control:10/10
As in many baseball games it's really easy on you.Fielding is troublesome as you lack a turbo button,but overall they are pretty good.Nothing that can't be mastered in 15 or so minutes.

gameplay:9/10
The meat and potatoes of the game.The main mode is the Tournament or small season or whatever.You have exibithion too.You choose between 6 world teams like USA,Italy and Korea,Each team has their own statistics and fake players.Once you start playing the controls are faily simple.One button to hit,another one to bunt and one to call for time.Once you call for time you can substitute players and UPGRADE the bat.it just turns bigger and more powerful(specially with power guys)and almost gurantees a hit(Or HOME RUN with the Power boys).Pitching and Fielding are easy.You have pitch aftertouch(control the ball after it has been release)but not many pitch options.Very good overall in both single player or two player(the more the merrier)

Buy or Rent:Buy this game if you like arcade baseball or baseball in general.It's great on both single and two player,even if the single player mode is short.Like NBA Jam and arcade sport games,this game will hook you even after you beat it a couple of times.Better than Baseball Stars Professional and right in there with 2020 Baseball.It has to be cheap now(I buyed it for $50 about a gazillion years ago)so try it....you will either love it or hate it...Hopefully like me,love it.If not....post your review and opinion so people have multiple viewpoints.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 07/16/02, Updated 07/16/02