Review: Tiny details in 'High Heat Baseball 2002'

Platform: PlayStation 2

From...

By Uncle Dust

(IDG) -- "High Heat Major League Baseball 2002" for the PS2 delivers a killer combination of awesome controls and realistic details, proving to be much more fun than EA Sports' "Triple Play Baseball."

"High Heat"'s clean pitcher/batter interface provides more challenge and reward to hitting than a cursor system, making you judge a pitch and not just follow an icon. And the game is filled with tiny details that true blue baseball fans will love. Although the graphics and sounds aren't as good as "Triple Play"'s, they aren't bad either. This spring, "High Heat" beats reigning champ "Triple Play" for the total baseball game that's worth playing all season long -- we'll have to wait and see if Acclaim Sports' "All-Star Baseball" and 989 Sports' "MLB" can compete.

IDG.net INFOCENTER Gamepro.com main page Free daily newsletters Free stuff from GamePro.com TechInformer Visit an IDG site Choose a site: IDG.net CIO Computerworld Darwin Dummies.com GamePro.com The Industry Standard ITWorld.com InfoWorld.com JavaWorld LinuxWorld Macworld Online Network World Fusion PC World Publish.com SunWorld IDG.net search

Graphics: 3.0 -- The visuals aren't bad, but the hard-edged players have jerky animations and some bad collision. The stadiums are pretty weak and have fake-looking backdrops.

Sound: 3.5 -- Totally average commentary and crowd noise could've been improved and expanded, but the realistic sound effects are right on -- much better than "Triple Play"'s exaggerated ones.

Controls: 4.5 -- Nearly perfect controls make the game realistic, with a clean pitcher/batter interface that requires skill. The only thing missing is the ability to cancel a pitch after it's selected.

Fun Factor: 4.5 -- With better graphics and sound this game is easily a 5.0. Even without those improvements "High Heat" is more fun than "Triple Play" and a must for stat-loving baseball fans.

Review: 'Black & White' the best PC game ever?
March 30, 2001
Simple controls help Zone of the Enders deliver
March 29, 2001
Review: 'Pokemon Stadium 2' adds new features
March 28, 2001
Review: 'Dance Dance Revolution' cuts loose
March 26, 2001
PS2 review: 'All Star Baseball 2002'
March 21, 2001

First Look: Triple Play 2002
(GamePro.com)
Warriors of Might and Magic for the PlayStation 2 ships
(GamePro.com)
Review: Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2001
(GamePro.com)
Endurance racing on the PlayStation 2
(GamePro.com)
Review: Oni
(GamePro.com)
Review: NCAA GameBreaker 2001
(GamePro.com)
Review: NHL FaceOff 2001
(GamePro.com)
Sony to double PlayStation 2 output
(IDG.net)

3DO

Note: Pages will open in a new browser window

External sites are not endorsed by CNN Interactive.