Well, me and my fiance were walking through our local mall the other day and 
passed Software, Etc.  They had BOTN playing in the window. My fiance, who 
normally doesn't play my PSX much said that that would be a game she would like 
and since I thought it looked pretty cool as well, I bought it. The demo is 
really neat to watch, as we did for 15 minutes or so while I read through the 
instructions. Then we got down to playing.

Graphics
The graphics in BOTN compared to other games is like comparing Tekken to Mortal 
Kombat. The players are rendered in 3D which means that they don't have to rely 
on pre-programmed animation- then can move any way they need to, and they do. 
Each player has his own stance at the plate, many of which baseball fans will 
recognize. When Nomo pitches, you see him do that funky reach thing that he 
does. There are several stadiums and two domes you can play in, each fully 
rendered.

Sound
Digitized sound effects and ambient crowd noise which is in Surround Sound if 
you are so equipped makes it feel like you are down on the field. The ump makes 
the calls after each pitch, and an announcer makes it sound like you are 
listening to the game on the radio. He has a lot of different things to say, 
but I still think his vocabulary is too limited. When a new player comes up to 
bat, the stadium announcer says his name, and for some of the more popular 
players, the crowd will cheer louder.

Playability
This is not a game which you can just sit down and play. The controls are 
complex, but make sense once you learn them. It will also take a little 
practice to learn how to bat and field effectively.  Once you learn everything, 
though, you really have a lot of control over almost all aspects of the game. 
Fortunately, each part of the game (batting, fielding, pitching, running) can 
be set to various degrees of automation until you feel comfortable taking full 
control.

Completeness
There are over 700 players with names, pictures, and stats. Each player 
performs close to real life. Players can get hot and slump, pitchers can get 
rocked during a big inning making them more likely to throw shaky pitches. All 
the cities are here, but the team names were not licensed so those aren't.

Other Stuff
There are several different modes in the game. Player vs. player, player vs. 
computer, a spectator mode where you can watch com vs. com, (mercifully) a 
training camp mode, which I think is the nicest feature of the game. You can 
practice all aspects of the game with any player(s) you want to hone up on your 
skills. A season mode where you can play a 13, 26, 52 or full 162 game season 
with stats that are maintained for every player in the league, box scores, and 
"top ten" lists for each stat. (3 blocks of memory card space required to save 
seasons). A general manager mode lets you trade players between teams and make 
"dream teams."

Pros
All the players are here
Games take about a half hour to play
Lots of control over game aspects
Training Camp mode

Cons
Controls take time to learn
Haven't found out a way to make com vs. com games all play out at once during 
season mode (you have to individually go through and mark each one as played 
and look at the results display for each one)
No replay function. With the calculated graphics, one would think that replays 
with user selectable camera angles would be a great way to show off the PSX's 
capabilities.

All together I love this game and I'm sure it won't be gathering dust any time 
soon. My fiance had a tough time, more because of the controls, but she'll 
learn. Overall, I highly recommend this game, whether you are a die-hard 
baseball fan a sports game fan, or just want a solid, well produced game to add 
to your collection.

Dave Krug
krugdm.add@notes.abbott.com