"Loads better than the PlayStation version"

My first piece of advice... If you have both a good PC and a PlayStation, then buy the PC version of the TP 2001. It's much faster, has better graphics, and heck, you can put yourself into the game utilizing the game's awesome picture-to-game feature. They both cost the game amount of dough as well.

*Sammy Sosa's High Heat Baseball 2001* may be ''so reeeeeeal'' (to quote Sammy), but who gives a hoot? Triple Play 2001 packs loads of options and has better arcade-style gameplay. Another plus is the 500 Home-Run Club being included. How many other games can you bash homers with the likes of Babe Ruth, Willie Mays, and the ''Original Iron Man'' Lou Gehrig? That's pretty select company.

Speaking of game modes... This game has more of them than 3DO has *Army Men* titles. Here's a not so quick run-down of what you can do: Single Game, Season Mode, Extreme Home Run Challenge, Big League Home Run Challenge, Player Drafts, Online Play (more about my gripes with this later), and Face in the Game. Whiny ol' me REALLY wanted good batting and pitching practice modes... Maybe next year.

Get ready for home runs by the barrel-full. Many games you play will end with a winning blast. I'm currently 2 games into my first season and I've lost both of them by round-trippers. Mariano Rivera just didn't have his stuff, I reckon.

Now for the skinny on the game engine... Players look rather nice, but this is coming from someone whose best baseball game (graphics-wise) is All Star Baseball 2000. Players are recognizable. I wonder if the developers used the ''Face in the Game'' feature to make them? The bases themselves are HUGE, but who cares. Stadiums could use more detail. Crowds are the usual flat color-patches and water-effects in stadiums (like in Anaheim's park) look like trash. Possibly this is a PlayStation port? Oh yeah, when you hit a ball over the fence or foul, it suddenly disappears most of the time. Why?

The four things any great baseball game needs are... good pitching, batting, fielding, and base-running. Triple Play delivers for the most part. Pitching is your basic select-a-pitch and throw, but no pitching cursor is available. I personally like the absence of this feature. No pitcher can throw to the EXACT spot that they chose. Why should I be able to in a baseball GAME? Hold the PlayStation-equivalent of the X-button along with the D-Pad, and your pitch will be thrown in the strike zone to the area you choose. Use the PlayStation-equivalent of the [] button and you pitch will be aimed outside of the strike zone. Some will want more control of their pitches, but I like this system very much.

Batting... Batting is basically ''select a direction and hit'' while pressing either the POWER or CONTACT button to swing. I like this much better than using a batting cursor to hit. I find it VERY easy to master batting cursor systems, so this interface is more than welcome. When you really NAIL a ball, then a ''BOOM'' will sound and it will have a fire-trail following it. The trail looks cool, if you ask me. This option can be turned of though.

Running... Couldn't be better. Two buttons are available: one to advance a certain runner and one to return a runner. Two more buttons either return or advance ALL runners. In addition to these four, two more buttons are used for sliding. It's your choice: go in feet-first, or pull a Pete Rose and dive headlong for the bag.

Fielding... Eeeeexcellent! Powerful or soft-throws, diving, jumping... they're all available and used properly. Just don't get too mad when the computer robs you of a homer.

We gotcha game modes here (in competent-explanation form)! And FYI, the number of innings are changeable in actual team-competition modes. Numbers of innings AND outs are up for editing in home-run hitting contests.

Single game needs zero explanation... Season mode needs little. Number of games you play are selectable, ranging from 15 to 162 regular season games. I've always wondered, why I can't just put my own number of games in. I know they don't exist, but seasons of MORE than 162 games could be fun.

In the ''Extreme Home Run Challenge,'' players aim for the fences, as well as the targets past them. These contests take place in fictional stadiums, as this IS a fictional contest. Giant (and not so giant) bullseye-targets are in the game. Generally, distance and target size determine the points earned. One of the stadiums selectable is an ''in-home'' ballpark. Aim your shots for the television, game console, family pictures, etc. Points are measured like this: home run length in feet divided by two, plus bonus points. This mode is always great for multiple players and probably the best available on-line mode. Regular 56k games aren't too hot. Until cable modems are in more homes, full-action games are somewhat unplayable.

The ''Big League Home Run Challenge'' is pretty much the same, except you only gain points for the length of home runs AND real stadiums are selectable. No more, no less really...

The ''Face in the Game'' feature is awesome (like I said in the introduction). Very decent results are accomplished with this tool. The only thing I don't like is the fact that the face shape cannot be altered. Anyway, you need not alter a picture of someone (or something?) to the size of 145x145 pixels. You then highlight certain areas of the face to be mapped. Grid-like points are used to cover the face, eyes, nose, and mouth. You'll have some fun with this one. No player is better than my ''Sasquatch Slugger.''

Just for the record, the Bloodhound Gang is the ABSOLUTE worst music band ever. They have nothing at all to do with this game in any way, but this must be mentioned. I gotta lead into the ''scored'' categories somehow!

Graphics 8/10

Player models are well detailed, realistic-looking specimens. Stadiums, crowds, and some scenery are just plain garbage compared to the players. The aforementioned ''big three'' look totally out of place in a game as gorgeous as this. HOPEFULLY this will be corrected for next year's version, but my hopes aren't really up for that, because it won't happen. The developers want this game to cater to as many PC users as possible, so... you get the point. The rate of frames, on my 500mhz Celeron, allows for smooth gameplay. Couldn't ask for more really.


Sound/Music 9/10

Either you'll love or hate the game's main title, ''Magic Carpet Ride.'' I like the song, so no complaints here. In-game commentary is provided by ''EA Boy'' Jim Hughson, and the returning Buck Martinez. Why the SAME old phrases have been used since 1998 for this game is sort of beyond me. It doesn't both much, because they were never bad. You can always count on Buckie to say some dumb stuff. He has at least two different phrases where he mentions someone ''hitting that baseball to Duluth.'' Why is Duluth (some city) so important?

Fast balls will blaze to the plate, baseballs will ZOOM out of the park, and players will splatter onto the ground when sprawling for passing balls. These elements add greatly to the game's over-the-top feel. I love it! I love it! I love it!


Gameplay 10/10

You better have read this whole review! But for those who didn't, I will reiterate my feelings. Pitching, batting, running, and fielding all work nicely. An arcade-style game doesn't need the pitching and batting cursors found in more sim-like games. Internet games aren't too much to be desired, but then again, 56k modems aren't either. I'd imagine that cable-connected games are decent, but the technology doesn't have a high-enough installed user base to warrant much praise for the mode. Like I said earlier, stick with home run hitting contests for on-line play.

Here's my major gripe! In order to play internet games, you have to install a patch. An online game without out-of-the-box online support? As Beldar Conehead would say, ''UNacceptABLE!'' Often when trying to connect to a game, some idiot won't have the patch installed and you'll have to search for another opponent. EA gets a major frown from me for this. My goodness, what in the heck were you guys thinking? I'll forgive you next year, but only if this is FIXED.


SUMMARY

Overall, this is a very excellent package. The best new-age baseball game I've ever played, is this. With its load-of-modes, 500-Homer-Club inclusion, and gameplay, etc. this game is a killer title. Just make sure you have a fast-enough computer to take advantage of this. One last little thing... The more you play and the more you accomplish, different rewards are unlocked, like the ability to use 500-Homer players in games and so on. Now go out and buy the game. Phew, this was long. Enjoy.

BEST FEATURE- Everything except stadium graphics
WORST FEATURE- Cruddy stadium graphics

(4/00)

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 04/24/00, Updated 04/24/00