All Star Baseball Review

webdanzer · Post by **webdanzer** » Sat Mar 22, 2003 8:55 pm

I can´t stand the tilt-a-cursor myself!
 
 Just a couple of points:
 
 The classic cursor is not at all the same size for all batters, at least not on the higher levels. Better ´average´ hitters have bigger cursors.
 
 Also you can cover the plate decently with two strikes against you, by fouling pitches off. Even if you don´t cover the ball with the cursor, there is a ´foul zone´ that allows you to stay alive.
 
 I agree the pitching is too easy, though turning turning the pitching cursor AND vibration off make it somewhat harder to hit the corners.

JasonC · Post by **JasonC** » Sun Mar 23, 2003 2:22 pm

Thanks for the feedback. Through testing the various cursors I must have only used the classic cursor with hitters that had the same contact rating. Given that the new 3D cursor was what Akklaim was really touting, I tried to use that for the majority of my gameplay. Ick!
 
 I´ll take your word for it on foul balls, but that was not my experience. I played on the middle level and struck out a *lot*. I just didn´t feel like I had enough time to react. I know I´m not the only one out there who feels this way. I just didn´t feel like there was enough time or visual information to hit the ball.
 
 Thanks again for your feedback.

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Sun Mar 23, 2003 2:27 pm

Jason:
 
 I hear ya, man. I´m not one to complain about complexity in games, as I like a challenge.
 
 But maybe my reflexes have eroded at age 37, because there´s almost zero time to react to pitches in ASB. I know that´s the most accurate simulation of reality, but it´s not much fun unless you´re a baseball zealot, which I´m not.
 
 On the other hand, the beach-ball nature of breaking balls in High Heat finally has caused me to look elsewhere for a baseball fix this year. That´s why I was so impressed with the pitcher-batter interface in MVP -- it has the best "feel" of any I´ve played this year.
 
 Too bad the game starts to break down a bit in the field. Still a very, very fun title.
 
 P.S.: Nice review, as always. <IMG SRC="images/forum/icons/icon_smile.gif">
 
 Take care,
 PK

webdanzer · Post by **webdanzer** » Sun Mar 23, 2003 2:43 pm

WSB is a nice middle ground between ASB and HH as far as pitch speed. I actually love hitting the pitches in ASB, and I can do it and react in time...but I understand I am in the minority. Why there isn´t more of a pitch speed selection I´ll never understand. I´ve always been pretty good at cursor hitting, though.
 
 The most annoying thing about ASB IMO is that unless you are selecting where you want the ball to go by tilting the cursor, far far too many hits are fly balls to the center of the field. I´ve still been getting nice stats and results, but the gameplay along the way to getting them is suspect.
 
 Thanks for the review!

JasonC · Post by **JasonC** » Sun Mar 23, 2003 9:08 pm

PK - interesting that you don´t like the high breaks on balls in HH. I don´t think that it´s so far off from reality though. In order for a big Barry Zito curveball to do it´s thing it has to get higher than the batter´s head. That is what you get in HH. It may seem cartoonish, but that´s how balls really break.
 
 Have you tried using the Low view instead of Low Zoomed? That may give you more of the effect you´re looking for.
 
 I can´t wait to try WSB...
 
 Thank you both for the kind words. It´s nice to get some legiitmate feedback instead of barely intelligible prose from someone who can´t use the SHIFT key.
 
 Jason