Triple Play Baseball

McGwire hits one deep, the fielders do their best to prevent the run from being scored - the ball is thrown home.  It's a race to the plate, BOOM!  The catcher gets plowed over and loses the ball.  Count it!

Unfortunately, this type of action isn't too common in baseball.  Though it's fun to watch when you're at the ballpark with a hot-dog in one hand and foam finger on the other.  We all know that it's the most boring sport to watch on TV, admit it!  Developing a baseball video game isn't an easy thing to do.  What can you add to a game to make it interesting, yet still have all the realistic characteristics of baseball?  That's a good question, one that I haven't found an answer to.  Maybe they could add some occasional dugout-clearing brawls?  A little obnoxious, but at least that would allow for some variability.  EA Sports'™ newest (and first) baseball release for PS2, Triple Play Baseball, is a solid game, but it doesn't do much to stick out in the pack (sorry, no brawls in this one).  The ability to knock down the catcher when racing for home is virtually the only unique feature that I noticed, and it's rarely used.

There are four different game modes in Triple Play Baseball, which are typical of most sports games: single game, season, playoffs, and big league challenge.  Most of these are pretty self-explanatory, but I'll elaborate on the big league challenge.  Basically, all the big hitters of the league take part in a homerun contest (either one-on-one or in tournament mode), and well, that's about all there is to it.  I was disappointed that EA Sports™ didn't include the extreme challenge game mode that was available in Triple Play 2001 (PSX).  This mode allowed you aim at targets; a cool feature used to test your accuracy and distance hitting abilities.  Also dropped was the home run legends mode, which allowed you to go up against some of the best hitters ever to step to the plate.  By taking out modes such as these, the game looses any possible sense of variability.  In other words, it's just plain old boring baseball if no such modes are available and this happens to be the case.

My biggest complaint is regarding the playability of the head-to-head mode.  The pitching cursor can be seen by both the pitcher and the batter and this makes it hard to throw an unexpectedly placed fastball.  You are able to throw confusing curve balls and change ups, but otherwise it's hard to fool your opponent.  I was hoping if the game was put into all-star mode that the visible pitch cursor would disappear, allowing you to throw surprise pitches more easily, but no such luck.

A new fielding aid has been added to the game, allowing you to more easily get to the ball after it's been hit.  It allows you to judge the distance you are from the ball, which is clearly represented by a series of arrows.  The best part is that you are able to turn it off if you don't like it; something that I wish you could do with the pitcher-batter interface.

Of course all the rosters are up to date and you are able to make trades, sign free agents, and create new players.  Most of the players look at least somewhat like they do in real life; something EA Sports™ traditionally does a great job with.  All 30 of the ballparks are also accounted for.  Graphically, each of these parks is a great rendition of the actual park in every aspect.  Some of the parks have the large video monitors, which are visible in the background.  These monitors are actually active in the game and they look pretty darn cool.  Even the members of the crowd have received a notable upgrade.  They are no longer simple patterns of colored pixels.  Instead, they look more like people and they even move around!

Overall the graphics are very smooth and detailed.  Compared to Triple Play 2001 (PSX), the graphics are very noticeably better in every respect.  The astounding graphical quality makes Triple Play 2001 look like it's in 8-bit mode.  The players' shadows are realistic and even the flags above the stadiums blow in the wind.  Attention to detail was not overlooked and the results of this are obvious throughout the game.

This game boasts great new play-by-play scripts, which feature Sean McDonough, and Buck Martinez takes care of the color commentary.  All other aspects of the sound are great, from the realistic sound effects to the soundtrack, which notably features: Chuck D, Vitamin C, Utah Saints, and Fastball.

The controls are almost too easy.  Some may be disappointed that you are forced to use the analog stick, both when batting and when pitching.

When batting, you move the batting cursor (the spot that you'll swing) with the left analog stick.  The X button is swing and the circle button bunts.  You are able to turn the batter and also to move the batter; these are done with L1/R1 and R2 + analog stick respectively.  Neither of these adjustments seems to make much of a difference, but they're available just to make you feel good.  Surprisingly though, you aren't able to change the height of the batter's stance.

The batting is reflex-based, so be ready to react in a hurry.  When you're on the mound, the controls are just as straightforward.  First you select the pitch type, then move the pitch cursor to the desired location, and lastly press X button to pitch.  The pitch button is pressure sensitive and this allows you to vary the speed of your pitches.  While fielding the ball, you have a few options: speed burst, jump, dive, and of course, climb the wall.  This simple controllability allows for anyone (even the semi-uncoordinated) to pick up a controller and join in on some baseball action.  Undoubtedly, this simplicity may disappoint some baseball video game veterans.

For comparison purposes I busted out Triple Play 2001 (PSX), and without a doubt, the old version was a lot more fun to play.  Although I can't say that the graphics were nearly as pleasing as those found in the new PS2 version, it's still a better overall game in my opinion.

EA Sports™ always seems to amaze me with their newest game developments, but I cannot say I've been amazed with this title.  Frankly, it's just an average baseball game.  Don't get me wrong though; overall it's a fairly solid and straightforward game, which many people are likely to enjoy.  It just doesn't have anything (besides the awesome graphics) that makes it stand out from all the rest.

The newest release of Triple Play Baseball definitely shows progress in graphics, but the game play seems to have taken a major hit.  The new pitcher-batter interface makes the game a lot less fun than previous Triple Play releases.  I'll give EA Sportstm credit for trying to make a unique and functional interface, but it still needs much refinement (just an option to play without it would do fine for me).

Triple Play is rated "E" for everyone.  It requires 276KB of memory on a PS2 memory card.

Gameplay: 6.5
Lacking originality, and I could do without the new pitcher-batter interface.  Overall though, the game play is quite realistic.

Graphics: 8.5
No real problems here; the textures are as smooth as butter.

Sound: 9.0
New play-by-play scripts, realistic sound effects, and a sweet soundtrack.

Difficulty: 8.0
Three different levels of difficulty: rookie, pro, and all-star.  Rookie help you get used to the game, while all-star will present you with a decent challenge and provide for more realistic game play.

Concept: 6.5
It's a baseball game.  Not much exciting in this one.

Multiplayer: 5.5
Without a doubt, multiplayer is an extremely important aspect of all sports games.  This game's multiplayer abilities don't provide for an exciting experience, and just to reiterate, the pitcher-batter interface is no good (especially in head-to-head mode).

Overall: 7.3