The gameplay has its highs and lows, as I see it.  I really like the
batting interface, but I've decided the pitching interface, though
very similar to BOT9's (PS-X) or WSB (Genesis/32X), isn't as
preferable as TP 98's.  I guess what I like about TP 98's pitching
cursor system is that its so fine-tuned and delicate.  I really like
being able to control aftertouch, despite my initial reservations --
it comes down to one of those accuracy/gameplay tradeoffs, and I've
opted in favor of the latter aspect of the game, in this case.

The ball is very live, like in last year's version.  Mores o,
actually.  Balls get fouled back and fouled down the lines with
regularity ... this game gets the part of baseball right more than
most any baseball game I can remember playing (except for an
occasional oddity, which I'll explain later).

The baserunning controls are pretty good, although runners break for
the next base on *less than* two outs even when the ball is obviously
going to be caught, barring a major error;  and when there *are* two
outs, strangely, the runner, if not manually controlled, usually heads
back to the base from which he had a leadoff on an easy-out flyball.
The fielding controls for when a CPU baserunner gets caught in a
pickle are really cool ... a shoulder button is assigned to a middle
man.

Fielding is pretty well-done because there are multiple views to
choose from on-the-fly, and a nice ball spot shadow that, once under,
causes a fielder's ground marker to change to a bright yellow color.
The throwing and diving buttons are on separate buttons, unlike in TP
98, and this facilitates better jumping catches (trust me, you'll see
what I mean if you rent or buy it).  BTW, the grunting sounds players
make when they jump for a ball are a little over-the-top, but you get
used to them in no time flat.

The batting interface is best played on Veteran or All-Star because
those involve the use of variable-sized square cursors.  But these
aren't just any old cursors, no!  Instead, they have little
cross-hairs in the center which turn bright yellow when you train in
perfectly on an incoming ball.  Lemme tell you right now,
downward-breaking balls are bloody hard to hit.  Switching between
Normal contact and Hard contact is a matter of tapping a button,
which, upon doing, makes your cursor smaller and changes a little sign
overlay to read, "HARD."  Playing on Rookie sets you up with a
timing-only batting interface, which is cool, if the cursor system
isn't your style, or is too challenging for you to really have fun
with.

The graphics aren't much to speak of, in my opinion.  I was expecting
much more.  The polygonal players look a little awkward to me because
they're too thick in the midsection (IMO);  have tiny ankles;  huge,
bulbous calves;  and have squished heads.  Player uniforms don't look
right:  they don't seem to have the right color scheme, in some cases,
and they also have weird leggings -- like the striped tube socks your
mom used to force you to wear.  The crowd textures are comparable to
muddy shag-rug material, and seemingly mapped to be seen best at a
great distance, which doesn't make sense, since they end up looking
awful from the pitching perspective, or when a ball fouls back or down
the line.  From the primary batting/pitching views, stadiums look
blocky and painted in watercolor ... last year's looked *much* better,
to me.  The overall look of the batting/pitching overlays and onscreen
menu information is excellent -- the best combination of maximum
information and minimal clutter.

The animation is pretty good, actually.  Initially I was turned off by
the so-called signatures moves, but then I noticed that there were
actually quite a few ... they're just less exaggerated than, say,
Bottom of the Ninth's same.  However, the transition/pre-stance/warmup
swing animations all seem quite generic, and that's where Bottom of
the Ninth has MLB '98 easily beat, regarding signature
stances/pitching styles.  But Randy Johnson's style is intact;  Nomo's
looks good (but it's better in TP 98 and BOT9, IMO).  And Griffey's
bat motion looks nice;  Ripken's lazily shouldered bat is intact.  But
again, you won't see Rodriquez's Catholic chest-crossing ritual which
he undergoes before each and every pitch, as you do in last year's
Bottom of the Ninth, because that's pre-stance stuff;  nor will you
see Knoblauch's arm-wrapping ritual which he uses to measure out his
fingerings on his bat.  This sort of thing makes me positively
intoxicated, which is one of the main reasons BOT9 still holds one of
the highest levels of adoration from me.

The sound in MLB '98 is pretty good, I'd say.  Especially the distinct
shouts or psych-out taunts from the crowd (which only come out once in
a while if you go through your pitch/batting work quickly ... so it
doesn't become annoying).  The announcer messes up on names regularly.
You'd think finding someone who actually watches baseball once in a
while and has a broadcast-quality voice wouldn't be such an impossible
task ....  The commentator, on the other hand, would've gotten the
highest marks from me, if it weren't for the TP 97 and 98 series --
they simply destroy all comers in the area of gaming commentary ...
though not having to suffer through TP 98's dumb-dumb observations by
Buck M. over and over has its distinct merits (whether I find him
tolerable often depends on the score, if you know what I mean).

The menu interfaces are really intuitive and simple (except for the
create player screen, mainly because same buttons have different
functions, depending upon context -- never a wise design choice when
another one is possible).  I like that the saving/loading process is
limited to simple yes/no options -- no complicated menus to deal with
.... you save your game or you do not; you load your game or you do
not.  That's that.

Here are some problems I personally encountered with this game:

-  Creating a player and then trading him into the lineup after a
season has begun restarted my season on two separate occasions (but
not my season stats -- go figure).

-  After putting my created *PITCHER* into the game, the announcer,
who apparently has a serious drug problem, introduced him as a First
Baseman.  Ironically, I had named him "TheSultan ofSwing."  Just
kidding.

-  At the end of the game, my Shortstop was credited with a base on
balls, which I know for a certainty my pitcher, Hideo Nomo, had earned
(it was the only one of the game, and nobody had been hit by a pitch,
as I recall ... Hideo wasn't credited with anything, though he had
made it to base).

-  My at-bat Second baseman hit a deep foul fly to the right side of
the field.  Of course, as you would expect, my Right Fielder made the
catch and it was counted foul, allowing my 2nd baseman another crack
at the ball.  Dohhh!  What's wrong with this picture?

-  When you go to trade someone to another team, but then decide you'd
rather not, guess what?  You can't!!  Even though you would like to
follow the onscreen directions, which indicate 'triangle' to back out
of the menu, that option doesn't exist.  (Or it didn't for me on two
consecutive attempts.)

But anyway, I really like the subtle signature styles of many of the
players, the good controls, the great batting interface, the smartly
designed batting/pitching overlays, and the "live" ball physics.  In
addition, baserunners run out first base, the camera can be adjusted
on-the-fly, the in-game loading times are unnoticeable, and distinct
crowd speech is flavorful.  The camera views save from game-to-game,
also.  Gappers for multiple bases are a regular thing.  You don't have
to worry about getting thrown out at first from deep Centerfield, ala
TP 98 (if you don't tap rapidly, or use an ultra-slow or injured
player, that is).

I don't like the batter's body design, though pitcher bodies look
excellent;  maybe the problem (if it's not just an errant perception
I'm having) was that they modeled the bodies to be standing upright,
instead of adjusting them to look just right when in a batting
stance).   Other negative impressions of MLB '98 include:  the generic
pre-swing stuff, the announcer's sometimes gross name
mispronunciation, the stat bugs, and the awful crowd and stadium
textures, IMO (last year's were much cleaner-looking, I believe).

Overall, I'd give this one a try if TP 98 didn't float your boat,
gameplay-wise.  Only one or two more baseball games are coming out
this season, so if you don't like what's been available up to this
point, and you don't mind a few stat bugs (some of which are pretty
serious), then take a good hard look at MLB '98 -- it's a heck of a
lot of fun, and I'm glad I own it.  But don't be expected to be wowed
the way you were with TP 98, if you were wowed by it, that is.  Next
up:  BOT9 '97.  Don't let me down, Konami.  I expect great things from
you this year.

P.S.  I forgot a couple of fielding details.  You can throw from your
knees if you tap a button while diving or just beginning to get up
(it's easy to do).  To throw hard or light, you simply press the X
button a longer or shorter duration.  There's a noticeable difference
in ball's arc.

P.P.S.  A couple of individual differences details.  Players are
noticeably different in their running speeds, jumping ability,  and
throwing power.  The same is true, of course, of batting and pitching
skill (pertinent attribute info is available in the in-game pause menu
under Roster).

Ricky Wayne Brown
brow0130@ix.netcom.com