MLB Slugfest 20-03

"Extreme baseball done right."

I have played all of the major baseball games that have been released for PS2 this year, and none of them even compares to the sheer level of fun found in MLB Slugfest 20-03. The gameplay is remarkable, the graphics are unbelievable, and the commentary will leave you rolling on the floor.

I'm sure almost everyone reading this review has played NBA Jam, NBA Showtime, NFL Blitz, or NHL Hitz. Their style of play has been known to be fast-paced, hard hitting, rule-breaking, and a lot of fun. Midway doesn't disappoint with its latest installment to the group, MLB Slugfest. The game is very fast, and the action is intense. Just because you hit a blooper over the second baseman's head, don't assume that you're going to get to first easily -- you can get thrown out at first from right field without a problem if you're not using turbo.

Like the other games in the series, each side has a turbo meter. Using turbo improves every aspect of the game - pitching, hitting, throwing, running, catching, sliding, and of course, tagging. Turbo gets replenished every half-inning, so if you have two outs and a full turbo meter, there's no reason not to use it. When a batter hits safely and doesn't get out running the bases, the next time he comes to bat, he'll be smoking. When a smoking batter hits safely, he gets on fire. He will remain on fire until he is called out, either from running the bases, or from not hitting safely in a subsequent at-bat. Being on fire carries over to the field as well, so if the other team's left fielder gets on fire, you better run out those bloopers over short. Being on fire basically means that player can use turbo all the time without depleting the turbo meter.

The pitching aspect of the game is nothing special -- unless you're playing against a human opponent. I have played many games against human opponents, and each one of them have been a pitcher's duel. Every pitch is well-thought out, and every hit is a challenge. Each pitcher has four pitches available (from the pool of Fastball, Changeup, Curveball, Slider, Splitter, Screwball, and Knuckleball), and each pitch gets even nastier when used with Turbo. The Fastball (typically about 100 mph) goes up to 115-119 mph with turbo. The Changeup (about 70 mph) drops to 58-63 mph with turbo. Pretty much every pitch becomes more exaggerated and more nasty. It's hard to hit a turbo pitch unless you are sitting there waiting for it specifically.

Each player has three numerical stats, each ranging from 1 to 10: Batting, Power, and Speed. These stats go up when a player is on fire, and go down when a player gets beaned, depending on where he was beaned (in the head means losing batting, the body lowers power, and the legs reduces speed), although if the batters get beaned too often, he'll get pissed off, turn on fire, and charge the mound and beat the crap out of the pitcher. If this happens, hit stats go up instead of down, so beaning a batter too often is bad news.

Hitting is very intuitive -- time it, aim, and swing. You can swing for power, for contact, or you can bunt, and you can also use your turbo on your swings to make your hits even more powerful and effective. Once on base, all of the traditional controls are available to advance runners, but you also have the ability to attack fielders, which can allow you to take a base even when it's defended. Using turbo speeds up all of your runners, and makes these attacks more effective.

Each team has an AL and NL lineup and three pitchers (two starters and one closer). There is no pinch-hitting, so pitchers always have to hit in NL parks, and there are no bench players. Players seem to roughly have the same pitches they do in real life, with obvious exceptions (several pitchers have the Knuckleball, most notably Roger Clemens, but Steve Sparks doesn't).

Things like the Knuckleball, however, just illustrate a very important point. This game is not realistic. If you want realism in a baseball game, this is most definitely not the game for you. The realism has been willingly sacrificed in exchange for fun. The game sports a season mode, but it's only 54 games (roughly one game representing each series the team played this season). I find, however, that I don't mind this. Not only do I really have no time to play 162 games, but it also fits the motif of the game. Games are only 7 innings (although this is customizable). Although I do find that scores in the 7 innings are usually very reasonable 9-inning MLB scores, so there aren't too many 26-5 games (except, perhaps, the first game you play against the computer).

The graphics are phenomenal. Many players are recognizable (probably even more than I realize). the crowd in the stands is very well done and actually looks like individual people. Player animations are diverse and fun, like player walk-ups, hit-by-pitch animations, home run celebrations, etc.

The sound effects are very complete, but the announcers are phenomenally hilarious. Tim Kitchel returns (from other Midway sports games) to do the play-by-play, and Jim Shorts joins him as color commentary. Jim Shorts is absolutely hilarious. The two announcers go back and forth on random topics from eating hot dogs, to the umpires using the restroom. The commentary is very well executed, as well, as Tim will interrupt Jim to make a play-by-play announcement, and when he's done, Jim will just continue with whatever he was talking about, or Tim will respond.

The bottom line: This game truly is the NBA Jam of baseball. If you enjoyed NBA Jam, NFL Blitz, etc, and think you would enjoy this type of game for MLB, you will enjoy this game - buy it. If you're not convinced, go ahead and rent it - but you'll only end up buying it anyways. It's just that good.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 07/28/02, Updated 07/28/02