"A good baseball sim :)"

Overall review

Triple Play Baseball is certainly one of the best baseball game sims that I've come across, considering the last one that I played was RBI4 a year or so ago...at the time, my computer couldn't handle the more modern games with 3D graphics.

There are a few glitches in the game, but, on my present system, they are barely noticeable.

Graphics 9/10

OK, for the most part, the graphics are top notch with a few exceptions to note:

*The crowds and dugout personnel are pretty flat looking, but, that's really not much of a concern, unless EA would have been willing to dedicate more than a gigabyte of hard drive space towards moving fans (which would have been distracting)

*there are a few times when there is a glitch, especially in the Extreme Home Run Contest that takes place in the ''living room'', but, on an extremely fast machine (like 1.8 GhZ), those glitches appear and disappear in 0.25 second. In other words, barely seeable and have no impact on the overall gameplay.

Another reason why the graphics didn't get such a good rating is that the body models are basically the same. I know that Babe Ruth was heavier and shorter than his EA counterpart and the face just doesn't look like the actual Bambino.

Controls 9/10

Well, the game manual suggests a gamepad be used, but, a regular multi-function joystick like Logitech's Wingman Extreme works just as well, once you get used to the controls.

I haven't needed to use the mouse in this game, but a word of advice for regular joystick users: Be careful if you want to aim your hit. Do it too soon and, if you got a runner on first, he's easily picked off, turning a run possibility into a ''d'oh!''

Sound 9/10

OK, this should be a 10/10, but, the announcers, especially in the Extreme mode, have a rather limited selection of what they can say and, sometimes, the game totally blows the calling. There have been several times when the game announcers thought I knocked it out of the park, but, the ball falls far short for the out.

During an actual game, though, the announcers will pipe up and give some interesting stat.

Also, in Extreme mode, picking the ''Under Construction'' stadium results in a huge laugh if you hit one down the right field line and clear the wall (or anyplace to the right of the seagull) The ball hits some poor guy, resulting in scream of pain and a Wrigley Field type response when the ball is tossed back onto the field. You also hit a ''parked car'' on the roof of the building as well as a toilet (on the roof and some porta-johns on the field.)

Manual 6/10

The docs are well written, but, sadly, the graphics are very poorly done...the game screens just are terrible with horrible resolution

Final assessment 9/10

Everything, except the manual graphics, rated very high, including the things that I haven't mentioned. All in all, a good buy.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 01/07/03, Updated 01/07/03