After playing around with the game quite a bit (5 games on rookie, 10+
on starter and 2 games of Spring Training), I think I have a pretty good
feel for the game. Here are my impressions:

GRAPHICS:
Graphically the game is decent. There are some very nice
animations and the batters and pitchers, with their signature moves,
look pretty terrific. Watching McGwire bat and Nomo or Clemens hurl
is a real treat; it looks just like the real thing. Of course not all
the players have signature moves; Ron Gant for one does not show his
crazily awkward pose at the plate. But there are supposedly over 200
hundred in the game, and from what I have seen they are very well done.
It certainly adds some feeling of immersion to the game.
 The stadiums are okay, if not as stunning as they have been in the Triple
Play series. For one thing, the crowd looks horrible when seen up close;
they seem to be just flat drawings laid over the texture of the stands. For
the most part they are pretty accurate, though I wish these game companies
could get my hometown stadium correct; Busch stadium does NOT have blue walls
anymore (it hasn't for at least 4 years), plus it has tons of neat features
(the largest hand-operated scoreboard in the league, a section of the
stadium flies flags for the Hall-of-Famers,etc.) that are not in this game.
Sony Sports needs to send someone to St. Louis to get a current picture of
the stadium...
 Overall the graphics, while not ground-breaking, are quite good and
certainly help the player feel immersed.
GRADE: B

SOUND:
Vin Scully does the play-by-play and while he is nowhere near as verbose
as EA's 2-man booth, he does a fine job. He doesn't get very excited in the
game, but then again he doesn't in real-life either. The play-by-play is fine.
 The game sounds are good. The crack of the bat, the thump of the ball
entering the glove, etc. is all done quite adequetly. There is typical
baseball organ music, done well. The crowd cheers mightily for the hometown
team and boos the visitors.
 The sounds are not anything special, but are more than good enough.
GRADE: B

INTERFACE:
For once Sony has made a good clean interface worthy of being compared
to an EA Sports game. It is done with very little clutter. An animated bat
smacks a ball as you choose where to go in the game. It is not confusing in
the least, nor is it as sterile as Sony's past efforts have been.
GRADE: A

OPTIONS:
The game comes with your basic options, plus a new feature or two. You
can play exhibition, season or playoff games. There is also a Spring Training
feature where you must nurture a player through spring training, playing well
enough to make the roster. Then you must continue to play well enough to keep
him on the big league roster. It is a fun challenge, but if he should get sent
back down, your season abruptly ends.I imagine if you have played alot of
games, this would be quite frustrating.
 A draft feature is enabled where you choose full 25 man rosters for 1
or 2 teams. This is really a neat feature, but it does have some drawbacks.
For one thing, the computer teams pick all their players based on the highest
available salary. It seems no matter what they will take the highest-paid
player with their next pick. As you well know, many major league players are
overpaid bums and many solid players are underpaid. With this system I was
able to draft the following players on a single team: Mark McGwire, Chipper
Jones, Alex Rodriguez, Manny Ramirez, Ray Lankford, Matt Stairs and Delino
DeShields. My 5 starting pitchers were (get this): Greg Maddux, Curt
Schilling, Hideo Nomo, Chan Ho Park and Ismael Valdes. My closer was Mariano
Rivera. Needless to say this team was far better than any team the computer
selected.
 You can create players using a fairly intricate system. You can customize
them in many ways, including how they wear their socks, what color bats and
gloves they use and which batting stance they have. My only gripe here is that
like alot of games, you only have so many points to distribute to each player.
This aggravates me to no end;  it keeps me from making truly stud players,
like some of my favorite legends (Ruth, Foxx, Musial, etc.) This should
ALWAYS be up to the player and not some preset limit.
 Stats are VERY well done, especially for a Sony game. They are really
catching up to EA with such stats as average with runners in scoring position.
There are also lots of postseason awards (even World Series MVP!).
 On a down note, I don't see any way to save your Home Run Derby records.
Half the fun of that is trying to shatter your buddies record for most (or
especially longest) homeruns. If it's possible I have not found it yet. At
least HR's seem harder to hit than in TP99.
 You can also realign divisions in season play. The game lets you save user
records for exhibition games only. And you can randomly choose teams for an
exhibition game  if you'd like.
 Apparently there are NOT injuries in the game. And unlike last year there IS
an instant replay feature.
GRADE: B+

GAMEPLAY:
This is what it all comes down to, right? Triple Play 99 may have tons
of glitz, but for me the gameplay is SERIOUSLY lacking. Thankfully MLB99
does not drop the ball here. To me, the best playing PSX baseball game up
to this point was the original Bottom of the 9th. It used a fantastic hitting
cursor, assigned each base a button on defense and included the fun (though
not really necessary)signature moves. To me, MLB99 is like Bot9's glitzier
cousin; it retains all those great features, takes them a few steps further,
than adds some glitz to complete the package. While it still has some warts,
the game plays very well.
 For starters, there is Total Control batting and fielding. TC batting enables
you to guess the type and location of the pitch before it is delivered. Guess
right and you are given a bigger cursor and a bit extra power. Guess wrong
and the cursor shrinks making it tougher to hit. You don't have to use
TC hitting; if you'd rather just use the cursor alone, you can do so. Those
who do not like the cursor are a bit out of luck; you CAN play without it but
only on the Rookie setting, which after a while will become far too easy to
play very often. Using the cursor adds alot as far as I am concerned because
you determing not only the timing of your swing but also the angle. You can
intentionally hit grounders or fly balls if you get very good.
 Total Control fielding allows you to make some dazzling plays, especially
throws. I am not sure if it serves any real purpose other than to look cool,
though I did rob Barry Bonds of a HR by leaping at the wall. One cool thing
is that once players catch a ball they cannot immediately throw like all the
other games; they have to catch their balance and set themselves. This can be
frustrating, but it is much more life-like.
 Unlike the Triple Play series there are extra-base hits galore. Doubles and
even triples can be hit on occasion. Balls will find their way to the gap and
end up at the wall. Home runs are not impossible to hit, but are not too
frequent either. The balance seems good on the Veteran skill level.
 Stolen bases are tough. I have not been succesful yet in about 5 tries.
I may be doing something wrong. The computer has not tried to steal on me
yet. I have not drawn a walk yet, either.
 The computer AI is for the most part good, certainly better than TP99.
For one thing the game uses pinch hitters very well; no more pitchers batting
for themselves when traling late in a game. The baserunning is improved
as well; not perfect but improved. Most of the time a speedy runner will
score from second on a single. I have not had the occasion to see if a
runner will tag from 3rd on a sacrifice fly, but it would be a huge oversight
if they did not. Relief pitching is handled decently, though the computer
tends to bring in his closers in too early and leave them in too long. A
pitcher getting hammered will not stay in there too long usually, though
sometimes the computer does leave guys in who are getting absolutely shelled.
They usually come out when they come up to bat.

 Now for the problems: For one thing, there is apparently
no way to do a double-switch, a serious oversight especially for this
National League fan. Why almost all baseball games omit this is beyond me.
 Also, the pitcher NEVER fields a ground ball hit back at him; it ALWAYS
goes through. Some games let the pitcher field everything; MLB lets him field
nothing. There has to be some middle ground.
 Another thing is the much-touted home plate collisions. Talk about
frutrating! Don't EVEN throw the ball home for a play at the plate unless
you are POSITIVE the ball will get there before the runner. If it does not,
the catcher will be trampled by the baserunner and the ball will go to the
backstop. Any baserunners will get at LEAST 1 free base and usually 2. This
is supposed to be a really neat thing to look for; trust me, you won't think
it is so neat when the runners are circling the bases as you desperately
try to track down the ball. And what is with all the pick-off attempts by the
computer? I mean come on, Mark McGwire ain't going anywhere, yet the computer
will sometimes throw over to first 3 or 4 times in a row. It gets frustrating
to say the least. Even when the bases are loaded, the computer will repeatedly
throw over to 1st (or 2nd or 3rd).
GRADE: A-

OVERALL: MLB 99 is a much better playing game than TP99, in my opinion. It
has some niggling problems and is missing some features I'd love to have
(HR Derby records and double switches to name a couple), but overall the
game is a nice and almost complete baseball package. For me it is the best
baseball game released on the Playstation to date.
OVERALL GRADE: B+

--

 Jim S.     
Serious fan of:
*St. Louis Rams       *Michigan Wolverines       *"JAWS"
     *St. Louis Cardinals        *XTC        *MST3K