GRIFFEY ALL-STAR ‘99	Reviewer: Fabian Blache Angel Studios Nintendo Sports Now 128 megabits t the time of this writing I have been playing these two titles for approximately two weeks now, genuinely (as always) assessing the various gameplay elements that sports games possess. Baseball is a very complex sport by any standard. There is the pitcher, with his AI, complex animations and varying styles of play. There are the batters with their respective AI, animations and varying styles. Then there are the offensive routines and the defensive routines. This list of nuances goes on and on. When all is said and done, their are so many aspects to baseball that it is no wonder why first generation baseball titles possess the bugs and quirks they seemingly always display. It usually takes a developer a second go-round to get the AI issues somewhat (and I repeat) somewhat ironed out. Plunging headfirst into this heat-to-head review we begin with Major League Baseball - Featuring Ken Griffey Jr. for purposes of this review I will refer to this game simply as "Griffey." The game has in place both the MLB and MLBPA licenses. Control of the fielders is good but not great. The default camera angle, and lack of an adjustable one, causes fielding [low trajectory] fly balls to be difficult. The camera pulls into some rather interesting (non-TV style) areas for some captivating views of the ball coming down from great heights into a waiting outfielder's glove and the like, and it follows the ball rather well, but there seems to be little loft to the camera when the ball is hit (regular) into the outfield. The player can, however, manipulate the camera while on the mound to view the runners on first and third; a very nice touch. Other than "jump" and "dive" there is not much to the fielding mechanism in place here. The analog stick is used to maneuver your players around the field and feels solid in use. Griffey will automatically implement use of the cutoff man on long throws from the outfield. There is no speed burst, as the degree to which the analog stick is pushed determines the speed of the ensuing player. Pitching in Griffey is relatively easy. There are the standard pitches available and choosing them is a simple task. There is a pitching cursor that appears alternately that can be used to line up the start location of pitch. The cursor can be moved, and remains visible until the pitcher begins his windup. While the cursor is not visible, the player can still move the cursor until the pitch leaves the pitcher's hand. Once the ball is released the final location of the pitch will be dependent upon the type and strength of the pitch. Pitch strength is pre-selected based upon the stamina and statistical data of the pitcher. Each pitcher in the game has one of five specialty pitches that they can use in lieu of standard MLB pitches; they are the Cut Fastball, Super Fastball, Split-Finger Fastball, Knuckleball or a Super Change. Batting is handled in the now familiar and accepted "cursor method." Using the analog stick, the cursor is moved to surround the incoming ball. At the last moment the swing is then timed to make contact with the ball. As an example, place the cursor on top of the ball at the moment contact is made, and the pitch will be driven downward into the grass for a ground ball. Nail it in the core of the cursor's sweet-spot and the ball will be lined or possibly rocketed deep into the outfield (maybe even for a homer). Confusingly though, the Normal Mode uses no batting cursor and the Arcade Mode does. In most games, when you activate an Arcade Mode, the batting cursor is removed? Options to advance runners, steal and make use of a pinch hitter or runner are all controlled form the batting screens. Griffey is definitely fun to play despite it not having a real simulation feel to the gameplay. From a graphical perspective, the game boasts a very festive color palette and some richly rendered ballparks. With the colors and textures being as lively as they are, the game can quickly become too arcade like for those looking for more of a simulation outing. The crowds in Griffey are very well animated, and the stands are shown "full" to virtually "empty" based upon the standings of your team during the season. Character models are odd at best. Their legs seem somewhat disproportionate with the rest of their bodies. There is a slight Big-Head thing going on here as well. The uniforms are the right color schemes but do not look natural at all. This game obviously is running in a lower resolution than that of All-Star ‘99 Baseball, but the stadiums look good regardless. The grass textures are not as convincing as they might have been, and the patterns in the grass are frequently wrong for the respective ballparks, but this is a minor gripe at best. Those looking for something more lush in this regard may want to look elsewhere. Why Angel Studios have many of the players assuming incorrect batting stances is something I do not understand. Seeing Bernie Williams come to the plate hunched over like Tim Raines is very odd. To make matters worse, the crouched batting animations are excessively exaggerated and make the game seem a bit campy in the process. When batters approach the box, many varying animations are used. Batters will stretch, rut their feet in the dirt, etc. At first and third base the coaches can be found in their boxes replete with signals and encouraging hand clapping. When a batter gets smoked by a pitcher he may even take a moment to argue the call at the plate with the Umpire. The ball in Griffey is animated rather well, although it frequently seems a tad large and caroms off of the field a bit too lively most of the time. When the crowd gets exited, they jump around like people on hoppity-horses, but that is a good thing. There is no lack of visible action in the well animated stands, helping the gameplay along by convincing the player that their fans adore them. The front end of this title is on the cheesy side. Nothing is terribly exciting about the game selection/team selection screens and other interfaces. In game substitutions can be done easily, and there are trades as well. But decidedly missing is a create player feature something many people have come to enjoy. Angel Studios gets points though for making their menus (at least) easy to negotiate. One thing that many baseball games have gotten wrong in the past is where the ball goes off the bat, or put simply "ball physics." So many games have absolutely no foul tips behind home plate or down the baselines. Griffey does, and it is a welcome addition to the gameplay. It is terrible to go through an entire game and never see a ball lurch upward over the catcher’s head or barreling down the sideline foul. This bodes well for the ball physics engine and counter-balances the proclaimed tendency of the ball to rebound too much off surfaces. There is no lack of visible action in the well animated stands, helping the gameplay along by convincing the player that their fans adore them. The sound effects are not much to talk about here. Except for the nicely animated crowd everything is simply average in this area. Also, to quickly discuss another aspect of the feedback mechanisms in Griffey (sound being one of them) the Rumble Pak is used extensively in this title, almost too much. Even when the ball rebounds off the walls, the Pak jumps to life. The programmers went a bit too far in using this device, which should be left initiating feedback responses to catching and hitting balls. Not a failure here, just an area that could use significant improvement. One other thing is that Griffey (himself) sounds ridiculous with his frequent breathy comments. Junior can swing the heck out of a back, but a voice-over man he is not. Iguana Acclaim Now Cartridge ameplay in Iguana's unquestionably beautiful title (All-Star ‘99) is a mixed bag that directly relates to the animations found in the game. Starting with the pitcher, one could say things are quite nice in this area. The pitcher's animations are fluid and very convincing in presentation. The ball coming out of the pitcher's hand is easily trackable and the follow-through on the pitch is clearly evident. Selecting the pitches is easily accomplished and very intuitive. Cold and hot strike-zones are displayed for each batter warning the pitcher where NOT to throw the ball too often. Setting pitch location is accomplished via a pitching aid marker (or cursor) and it can be toggled off and on at will. Playing against a friend, the pitching marker can remain invisible, and the Rumble Pak is then put to a significant use. Being that the marker defaults to the center on each subsequent pitch, the player has a frame of reference. If the pitching aid is turned off, the Rumble Pak will advise the player when they have reached the outskirts of the batter's strike-zone by shaking the control pad to indicate that the cursor is making contact with the fringe markers of the zone. The strike-zone will also turn red (from green) to indicate this as well. While this may signal to an opponent that the current marker location is an extreme portion of the strike-zone, it in now way gives up the target spot of the intended pitch, and the cursor can still be moved within the zone or beyond that point. The strike-zone indicator box (the fringe I referred to) will go back to a Green status once the pitching aid is moved off the strike-zone fringe. If the pitching aid is taken way outside the strike-zone, the fringe will turn Green again as well, so long as the pitching aid not in close proximity to the fringe marker. Hiding the pitching cursor in this way makes for good multi-player games, and All-Star ‘99 Baseball supports up to four players. When your pitcher tires, and he will with use, the player must warm-up relievers. A slick display directly above the pitchers stamina bar shows two slots for two bullpen hurlers. When they are ready the indicator lets the player know before they can burn out on warm-up pitches. Batting uses the now classic cursor based system as well. The size of the cursor varies dependent upon the batter's abilities and statistical data. When power hitting the cursor becomes significantly smaller, and with the level of complexity that exists in the batter interface, is somewhat ridiculously small. Then nice thing about the normal cursor in All-Star ‘99 is that it moves well, and coupled with the zoom camera batting view makes for a very compelling experience. The power on bunts can actually be increased, and as with Griffey, the base running controls are found when at the plate as well. The only blemish in the batter interface is the poor frame rate on the swing. When it comes to the sheer drama of the pitcher/batter duel All-Star ‘99 baseball is much more challenging and palm sweating than Griffey. Once the pitch leaves the pitcher's hand one of the four visible strike-zone fringe markers will turn red as a precursor to what general quadrant the pitch will enter. The timing is still split second, and this method in no way gives up too much info prior to the ball crossing the plate. The fielding camera can be adjusted to one of three heights and the batting camera can be adjusted to one of five, including a snazzy but not very playable Offset camera. Fielding is where things are a real mixed bag. The analog controller works well and varying degrees of speed can be attained dependent upon how far the stick is thrust in the intended direction. Fielders can jump and dive, as well as, throw from the knees, on the run and underhand balls on close plays at the plates. There even seems to be a crow-hop move as well, although it is difficult to discern due to the games choppy transitional animations. Players move fluidly so long as they have the ball, but when first obtaining possession of the ball, the animations are poor. The jump motion is so fast one can barely see it happen. The same holds true for picking up grounders and snagging line drives. This causes some bad reads on the ball when it gets past the infield too quickly. Often times on such plays, it will be hard to make the right break on the ball. This could be an AI issue as well. If only Iguana had been able to keep the level of animation detail consistent throughout all aspects of this title, it would then probably boarder closer to greatness. A nice new feature is the fact that double plays can be turned much more easily due to an innovative command buffer. In All-Star ‘99 the player does not have to wait for the ball to arrive in the second baseman's glove before entering the command to throw the ball to first base. Therefore, there is little delay in tagging the bag and launching the ball to the awaiting first baseman. The same holds true for any other multiple base throws. The AI is an area of concern. Base running is too aggressive many times, leaving players stranded between bags on easy plays. Occasionally, the runner on third will not get back to the bag at the end of a play and the game pauses until you throw to third for the out. The bad reads on balls by the outfielders may well be part of poor programming in that regard, with computer controlled players not following the play as well as they should. These are not (so much) bugs, but improper programming issues that would have to have been re-written from the word "GO." Aside from these shortcomings, All-Star ‘99 is still a hefty good game of baseball. Aesthetically, this game is uncanny. Running in the N64 high resolution mode, All-Star ‘99 looks luscious and uncommonly convincing. The stadiums, which are all real (as the game has both MLB and MLBPA licenses) are the best ever in a baseball title bar none; right down to the cut of the grass. The field textures do a very good job of making the player feel they have entered a Major League ball park. There is no fuzziness to be found on the field, though distant buildings and such are a bit blurry. That is not a problem however, since the rest of the graphical presentation is so keenly sharp. Crystal clear images of players adorned in ultra-realistic uniforms will please even the pickiest graphics freak. The bats looks good, the diamonds looks good and the fields look good. Players are adequately proportionate, although most have feet so small it would be hard for them to stand. Despite that small error in player design, these are some of the most convincing player renders ever done in a sports title for the home. There are even rain, dust, broken bat and airborne hat & mask animations. There are home plate collisions, outfielders climbing the walls, sliding catches, broken bats and flying mask and glove animations in addition to some great lighting effects. Players sport very correct batting stances and the animation of the stances and bat waggling are superb. When the ball is hit foul down the line, the batter/base runner does an about-face and trots back to the plate to retrieve his bat with so much realism, that the first time it is witnessed it can give one goose bumps due the eerie level of realism. Many sports video game reviews have encompassed the words, "This game looks so real that if you squint just a bit, you'd swear it was a live broadcast." In All-Star '99, you need not squint one iota to be caught mistaking this game for footage of real live baseball, and that is no exaggeration. Besides watching the current batter and on-deck batter walk up to the batter's area stride-for-stride, with no variance in gait, everything All-Star ‘99 does relative to presentation in the transitional segments is top class. It is only the transitional animations in fielding that are lackluster and not on par with the rest of All-Star's performance. The ambiance of the crowd is not near the caliber of that found in EA's Triple Play or Sony's MLB series. In fact, it is not even on par with Griffey. The crowd in All-Star ‘99 is very quiet most of the time, and not vibrant when they have cause to be rowdy. The phrase repertoires of the commentators, John Sterling and Michael Kay of New York Yankee fame, arelimited by the N64 cart format. Sound quality in All-Star ‘99 is poor at best, with very unrealistic samples being used by an already inadequate sound set-up in the N64. This game needs a major overhaul in this area without a doubt: Perhaps next year. The statistical data base is quirky, as it tends to only track the stats of the games the player participates in. I have yet to discern where the problem is there, but have never been very big on the statistical side of baseball games. It is the thrill of the duel that draws me in. Regardless, with All-Star '99 embracing much more of a simulation style of gameplay, it is unfortunate that the statistical data is not more comprehensively compiled. Players sport very correct batting stances and the animation of the stances and bat waggling are superb. The front end menus and sub-menus are very easy to read in this game, and after a few stints trying to sub-out players, the un-intuitive nature of the lineup screens is soon replaced by a sluggish manageability. Things like the Ball Landing Target can be toggled off and on as can Injuries and the aforementioned Pitching Aid. The game even has multiple control configurations to play around with. One thing of note is that very little Batter Information appears on the screen. So frequently, if you miss the announcement of "who's at the plate," you have no idea until you see the back of their jersey on a practice swing or pause the game to visit a line-up menu. Minor are most of these issues, but for purists they can be very aggravating. CONCLUSION: The overall experience that is Griffey is a good one. With nicely done stadium dimensions, presentation and with clean transitions from inning to inning and batter to batter the game shines. If you can overcome the non-simulation aspects of this title, the somewhat easy gameplay, the fact that only two can play and the lack of a thorough statistical data base, there is a solid game of baseball to be found here that is fun to play. In the meantime, All-Star ‘99 is a graphically impeccable and extremely playable game of video baseball. And while graphics "do not the great game make" they do factor some into the appeal of the game. The AI shortcomings in All-Star ‘99 are frequently overshadowed by the engrossing pitcher/batter duel and smooth fielding mechanics of the title. The arcade mode is infinitely more forgiving, but detracts from the well balanced simulation aspects with which Iguana has managed to endow the game. While both games are fun in their own right, and both bring different levels of relative realism to certain aspects of the genre, it is All-Star ‘99 in the long run that seems the odds on favorite amongst many gamers. What All-Star ‘99 does well, it does with a degree of purity not found in many sports titles, especially on the N64. Many games have emulated the style and gameplay of Griffey, but not many can bring forth what All-Star ‘99 has managed to produce. Hence, All-Star ‘99 nudges Griffey out of contention for best baseball game on the N64 by a slim margin. -- Fabian Blache These games were furnished for review by GAMEWARE, Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Gaming Age Online is Copyright © 1997. All Rights Reserved.