Gaming Target - GameCube: All-Star Baseball 2004

Written by Kyle Williams on April 09, 2003

Full Review: I will never figure out the theory behind model years.

Baseball. America's pass-time. Where the boys of summer can earn a pass to Cooperstown.

Love it or hate it, you probably have some feeling about baseball. Maybe you grew up going to the spring training camps with your grandpa. Maybe you get bored waiting for something to happen on the field. Everything can change when you take control of the action though. Videogames have become the bridge to a whole new world of action for our society of armchair quarterbacks and joystick jockeys. So, when it comes down to it, the question is really, "Which baseball videogame is for me?" Is it Acclaim's All Star Baseball 2004? It just very well may be.

As far as fundamental baseball goes, All Star Baseball 2004 will take you deep into the Ninth Inning. The pitching and batting interfaces, which are perhaps the most important aspect of any home baseball simulation, are intuitive and allow anyone to start playing right away. Actually being successful with the batting interface can be a little bit more of a challenge though. ASB 2004 features a batting practice mode that is the first step towards being a successful hitter but what it really could have used is a batting coach. One that would drill you through the motions of the different pitches, both in the pitcher's delivery and the ball's travel. At least there are the "easy" and "zone" batting modes for you to cut your teeth on.

Once the ball is in play, you need to stay acutely aware of everything that is happening on the field, just like in the real game. It can be easy to get yourself in trouble with the baserunning controls, accidentally sending one runner when you intend to send another, so it is imperative that you plan ahead and maintain your awareness of the situation. On the other side of the plate, timing your fielder's dives and jumps can become your biggest asset. The computer seems to be able to pull off fantastic plays at the drop of a hat, so you will need to learn those same skills in order to compete. Fortunately, all of your fielder's "actions" are controlled through the 'R' button and you don't need to worry about accidentally pressing the dive button instead of the jump button.

For the novice player and manager, All Star Baseball 2004 offers tips to help you refine your game and learn the interface. For new situations, Derek Jeter will pop up and let you know how to select your swing type, plan ahead for your throw to first, initiate a steal, and control your baserunners. These tips are very useful when you are just getting started but you will quickly find that it is best to turn them off and play the game without the interruption of a tip. There were a few times when Mr. Jeter popped up to tell me how to plan for a throw and as a result I couldn't locate my fielder and get him to the ball. The managing tips are a lot more vague than Derek's playing tips but do offer you a small bit of insight into some of the nuances of the mental side of the game. If you aren't a baseball veteran, it will probably be best to leave them on for a while.

All Star Baseball 2004 has gameplay modes for every occasion that you could ever imagine. You can start out with Quickplay for a, as the name suggests, quick foray into exhibition baseball. Next, you can recreate your favorite post-season play with the Series mode, a best-of-seven tribute to the fall classic. Your next step down the road to Cooperstown is the Franchise mode. Now a staple of any videogame sport series, Franchise mode will let you recreate your own full season (or seasons) by putting you in charge of every aspect of your team. If you don't like any of today's teams you can create your own expansion team, building off of an expansion draft in which you will pull from some of the best and brightest of today's teams to stock your own coffers. You can even see which big name star is costing you the most money!

Of course, not every occasion is going to call for one of the more traditional gameplay modes mentioned above. That is why Acclaim Studios Austin has included several bonus modes for you to pass the time with. As I mentioned before, you can head off to batting practice to hone your swing. Once honed, you can take your swing out to the Home Run Derby for a little longball competition. Those two options don't leave you with a lot of variety though. That is where the Pick-up game and the Scenario Mode come in to play. In Scenario Mode you will sit down with specific situations that you must overcome in order to unlock future levels and, in turn, player trading card points. These scenarios range from breaking a perfect game with the bottom half of your batting order to driving in a set number of runs before making the third out. These are short little mini-games that are perfect for a five or ten minute gaming session. If you have a little more time, you can sit down with the Pick-up game. Basically, the Pick-up game is like playing kickball in a school yard. The GameCube randomly picks two players for each position from all of the currently available rosters and lets you pick your team from the available crew, alternating picks with your opponent until you have two complete teams. In all reality, the variety of gameplay options is ASB 2004's strongest point.

All Star Baseball 2004 also has a host of unlockable items for you to sort through. You will find that, as you play through games as normal, you will acquire player card points. You can then spend those points on packs of six player cards, much like the trading cards you can buy in real life. Most of these cards feature players from today's teams, but others capture alternate uniforms, stadiums and historic teams. If you manage to find one of these special cards you unlock the corresponding special feature. There are more than 300 of these trading cards to find, some of which will require you to link your trusty Game Boy Advance (with a copy of the GBA version of the title) to your GameCube so that you can trade the cards back and forth. The Player Trading Cards add a little bit of extra spice to this baseball package and gives die-hard complete freaks something to shoot for.

With how well the rest of All Star Baseball 2004 is put together, I was really disappointed with the overall sound and video package. As a plus, the character models, animations and stadiums are all put together very well and are accompanied by some authentic field sounds. Unfortunately, that is where the aesthetic praise ends. The biggest visual problem is that many of the in-game animations, while well crafted, don't mate up with the rest of the action. There are many times where your left fielder will appear to throw the ball to third but the ball will fly out of his hand at a 90-degree angle towards first. Also, the ball rarely meets up with a fielder's glove or a batter's bat, especially in the instant replay. Speaking of the instant replay, it is unwatchable when it goes into slow motion. The animation stutters so much that it makes Stuttering John sound like James Earl Jones. However, all of this pales in comparison to the play-by-play commentary. The voice work itself isn't bad, but there are many times when what they say doesn't match with the on field action. One occasion that sticks out in my mind is when they said I had bases loaded and my player had just scored from third, leaving only runners on first and second. I just don't understand how that kind of faulty scripting could make it out the door.