World Series Baseball 2K3

"This is baseball."

It is impossible to approach a sports game review without comparing it to other titles. After all, a product can only be ranked according to its place amongst its competitors. With that in mind, we must also realize that bias is impossible to ignore when comparing four to five returning franchises since all of the baseball titles have been around a minimum of five years. World Series Baseball in 1994, Triple Play in 1996, and both All-Star Baseball and High Heat in 1999. Microsoft's title is original and Midway's Slugfest doesn't really apply due to its radically different nature (like comparing Halo with Metroid: Prime - similar, but they're not the same genre or essentially comparable). I approach this game with my bias resting on the laurels of All-Star Baseball. A fan since 1999 when the game came out, I expect every baseball game to live up to its excellent 2001 title. That series, unlike World Series Baseball has slowly descended. World Series Baseball, on the other hand, just keeps getting better.

Noteworthy Features:

- The genre's deepest franchise mode complete with coach hirings, minor league scouts and prospects, and stats up the wazoo.
- Player-specific animations and crowd taunts (a ton of them).
- Big League Challenge (Home Run Derby) tournament mode.
- Several Historic Major League Parks (Shibe, Crosley, Griffin, Pologrounds, Forbes, and another one, I think).
- Numerous jerseys per team

Comparable Rating (applicable only in sports franchises)
-The portion of the review where you rank the game in terms of its quality with certain elements with competing titles.

Graphics Rank: #1
Easily. World Series Baseball has some incredibly sharp players and jerseys. Helmets shine (almost too much), players move naturally, and you don't get that 2d crowd effect that most games seem to have.

Gameplay Rank: #2
I have to say that simply because High Heat prides itself on gameplay and still has not been matched. World Series Baseball is right up there, though, with its very deep physics and AI engine. The computer is aggressive this year (thank you, God) and the defense is stellar (on the harder difficulty).

Features Rank: #2
An underrated element in most games. World Series has the single best franchise mode, but the game's depth stops there (minus the gameplay engine itself). All-Star actually has more features this year, and MVP Baseball's Home Run Challenge is quite good. But, World Series' Big League Challenge measures up and with this game's franchise versus MVP's franchise, WSB takes the cake easily.

Sound: #1
Is there really a battle there? I think the real rank lies in who is the least amount behind. WSB rules with its standard sound effects that the player-specific taunts and commentary. Hud and Ted Robinson are easily the most engaging to listen to (that is, until Inside Pitch and Joe Buck/Tim McCarver come along).

THIS GAME:

GAMEPLAY (35 points)
There's no doubt that World Series Baseball plays well. The animation and fielding engine is spot on, the pitching mechanics are beyond par, and the hitting interface offers numerous choices (the Power Pro choice a very good one). What does this game NOT do? Well check swing appeals would be nice (that's a small thing). Smarter batter AI would be swell (that's fairly significant). Other than that, I find World Series Baseball to be very very real, providing ground balls when they're appropriate and pop ups on fastballs up. And the placement of the batting icon does not guarantee a good hit (like it tends to in All-Star). Instead, timing, power meter (with Power Pro on), AND swing timing. Very nice.
32/35 points

GRAPHICS (30 points)
Anyone who can find a chink in World Series Baseball's armor has quite the eye. This game looks better than it plays (if that's possible). Wrinkles in the uniforms, player-specific SWINGS (yeah, you wanna see Bagwell's hitch, Griffey's sweet cut, and Sammy's toe-tapping and you will), and stadium models that are as crisp as they are deep. Pitchers move with fluid motion and the television camera (on defense) is WAY too good-looking. This game is cross-platform? What?!?
30/30 points

REPLAYABILITY (20 points)
The franchise mode almost holds this up on its own, but the collective sum of the parts is lacking. Big League Challenge is an excellent tournament-based Home Run Derby (throwback to the old Home Run Derby formula) but there are little to no other things in the game.
27/30 points

SOUND (15 points)
In sports games, for the most part, sound is not a huge issue. The sounds are fairly generic in all sports games and there is little to add to the already archaic formula. World Series Baseball, though, goes miles beyond the call of duty by adding in player-specific crowd taunts. Did I say the sound was perfect? I didn't? Its perfect.
15/15 points.

TOTAL = 94/100
MATHEMATICALLY CHALLENGED TOTAL = 94%
NUMERICALLY CHALLENGED TOTAL = 9
COMPLETE MORON TOTAL = A

I was an All-Star junkie and World Series Baseball's effort last year left me wanting more. I was unimpressed with the game's engine and shoddy replays. This year pulls together better replays, better graphics, better gameplay, and an even DEEPER franchise mode. Hands down, the best baseball game on the market today. Pick it up and approach this game the exact same way you'd approach Sega Sports' NFL 2k3. You won't like it right away, in fact you'll hate it. But after you give it a chance and play for a few hours, you're hooked and don't ever want to go back to another game. Visual Concepts proves that they are worth every penny.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 04/08/03, Updated 04/08/03