Xbox
Released in 2003 by Sega
Grade: B+
This is a well-rounded, good-looking baseball game. It comes up short from full-blown MLB authenticity, but not in a way that gets in the way of it being fun.
Where it falls in the series
It’s the second on Xbox and the first on PS2. Although it’s the last with the World Series Baseball name, the series continued with ESPN Baseball, then simply Major League Baseball 2K5. Xbox versions lasted through 2K7, PS2 versions lasted through 2K12, and the series finally called it quits after MLB 2K13 on PS3 and Xbox 360.
Praises and gripes
The game looks as good as you could expect for 2003, with colorful, well-sculpted players and fairly smooth animations. Some of the ballpark details aren’t quite right, but overall, you get a feel of MLB baseball here.
The action is more-or-less realistic. Pitchers have deep arsenals, hitters can swing for contact or power, and fielders play fundamental ball.
When pitching, you select a pitch type, locate the pitch, and fire away. Just hold the button to put a little extra power into the throw. At the plate, the default setting lets you move an oval cursor to represent your bat and press a button to swing. I found the cursor to be awfully sensitive and stiff, which is my main gripe about this game. If you can handle it, you might try upping the complexity to include a power meter that you hold down as the pitcher winds up. Or, if you’re a wuss like me, you can opt for simple timed hitting, where you just swing without moving a cursor at all.
The batting view is easy on the eyes and at the optimal angle for watching the ball. Unfortunately, there’s little movement on certain breaking pitches. Change-ups and splitters are especially tough to hit if you’re looking for a fastball.
The pitching-batting duel seems fair. Playing against the CPU, I like how I saw different pitching patterns, and how the CPU hitters caught onto my habits, making nine innings an adventure on both offense and defense. There’s a good mix of grounders, liners, pop-ups, fouls, home runs, strikeouts, and walks. Final scores are usually realistic. Purists may complain that you don’t see any wild pitches or foul tips, though, and 2-seam fastballs are missing from the game entirely.
The action in the field is fluid and simple to control. You may notice some odd calls on the basepaths and outfielders sometimes taking bad routes, but other than that, you get fair results for most situations.
Games don’t take too long to play, moving quickly between pitches, at-bats, and innings. I’d love an option to cut it down even further, but that’s a minor complaint. The ESPN-styled presentation is nice, showing you helpful info without cluttering the screen. You get a grid showing a hitter’s hot and cold zones, diagrams of the previous pitch locations, and quick explanations for missed swings.
I like how the options allow you to adjust batting styles, errors, pitch speed, batting ability, and AI, all independently of one another. If you decide to hunker down with the game for a while, you can tweak the settings to your ability as you go.
It’s a good game. There are better baseball games out there, but if you have some nostalgia for this era, this game certainly isn’t a bad choice, measuring up well with the EA and Sony baseball offerings of its time.