Review by: Barry C. Dowell  

Ok folks, I know this one has been out a while already, but it
took me a while to go out and buy a copy of this years version. 
Finally, after owning and playing the game for a while (I don't
like to review things that I haven't played -- or seen played --
at least once, and more often if possible) I'm ready to come back
and do a review of this year's version of Triple Play.

Some of you may remember that I reviewed TP '97, and gave it a
solid A rating, though I took off points in some areas.  This
year's version shares just about all of the same pluses and
minuses that last year's version did, and below is a detailed
list of my thoughts in all of the appropriate areas.

I've owned just about all of the baseball games that have been
available for the PSX (except for a few of the very late comers
to last years lineup), so it's pretty easy to compare and
contrast to most of the games that I've seen.   This year I also
have the advantage of having seen a few of the alternatives at
E3, and knowing what's coming from some of the other camps
(including Sony's MLB game, and the update to Konami's different
but still fun Bottom of the 9th) so I can compare a bit against
those.

Please also note that the author makes this review freely
available to anyone that wishes to reproduce it, or any other
reviews that this author has written.  My only request is that
you leave the review attributed to myself, that you please note
where the review was obtained from originally, and lastly that
you leave contact information for myself in the review, incase
someone has questions or differing opinions.


On to the good stuff.....

I get to again say that here is the next in a line of baseball
games for the PSX.  Last year I noted that this one was by the
former sports game producing champs, Electronic Arts.   In last
year's contest, EA took the baseball crown (it was perhaps the
only area where Sony's sport division lost out to EA) thanks in
large part to Sony's very late and somewhat unspectular entry
into the market.  Of course it didn't hurt that Triple Play '97
was one of the most graphically pleasing and easiest played
baseball games ever released.  It also, of course, included just
about every statistic imaginable, and offerred both simulation
and arcade mode options that would satisfy just about all
baseball video game playing fans.

I bought Triple Play '97 last year while waiting impatiently for
MLB Pennant Race.  TP '97 was a great game, but it had some
things that eventually turned me off on it, regardless of the
large number of pluses it otherwise had.  Later, of course, MLB
Pennant Race finally came out, and it too wound up disappointing
me in some areas leaving me wishing that I would at some point
still find the perfect video Baseball game.

This year, Triple Play '98 came out, and of course people
instantly started raving about how good a game it was.  My son
has really become quite the sports fan in the last year or so,
including becoming rather addicted to playing EA's NBA Live '97. 
Finally, thanks in part to this, I was able to convince the wife
that a purchase of TP '98 would be beneficial to the child as
well as myself.  ("It's more for him than me.....") 
(Unfortunately for this reviewer, I didn't have a lot of
disposable income when the game first came out, so it took a
while for me to finally collect enough pennies to go pick up the
game.)   


Game play....

As always, I have to be up front with everyone and note that I am
not the worlds best game player, and that being the case,
normally I'm looking for games that are as easy to play as
possible.  Personally I like Konami's Bottom of the 9th Baseball
just for that reason - it's easy to play, yet still fun, and
competitive for my skill level.

Being able to manage a team only, instead of having to bat and
hit and field is also an option I look for as I really like my
baseball games to involve all of the strategies of the games --
things like squeeze plays, defensive positioning, statistics,
injuries, errors, player attributes and fatigue effects in the
game, and the ability to trade or draft players are also
important to me.

To get higher marks from this normally pessimistic reviewer, the
game also needs to include realistic ballparks (after all
different ballparks have different characteristics, such as some
being "hitter" parks, and some being "pitcher" parks) and have
graphics that don't distract from the game or leave you thinking
you are playing the game on an Atari 2600 (such as Bases
Loaded Double Header did).

Lastly, just for fun, I want my baseball game to include a
Homerun Derby and batting practice if possible, where I can slug
the ball, practice my slugging and hitting, and get use to
playing the game, adding value for my bucks.

Last year, Triple Play 97 did very well in these areas, though it
didn't include a practice mode.  This year, once has been added
to help placate folks like myself that demanded such an option.

Unfortunately though there were other areas that EA didn't seem
to pay attention to the demands.

First, one of my complaints last year was about the differences
in the difficulty levels that were available.  When I went from
Rookie level to Pro level, I expected the game to get harder. 
For example, I expected that hitting would be harder, pitching
strikes to be more difficult, and catching balls in the field
would be more difficult.

Last year's version cheaped out, and basically simply turned off
all of the automatic options (auto fielding) as you went from one
difficulty level to the next.  This year's version shares that
same fatal flaw.  Unfortunately EA doesn't seem to "get it". 
They need to make the game harder by making the pitches faster,
the hitters quicker, the runners faster, and the fielding more
realistic.  That is how to make a difference between "Rookie" and
"Pro", and "Pro" and "All Star".   They also need to leave the
automatic options available even on the Pro level.  (By all
means, those options should be off on the All Star level, but
should be off on the Pro or mid-level difficulty settings).  If
you are like me, you don't want to have to field the ball, but
you still want the hitting to be harder, and the pitching to get
better as you up the difficulty levels.

Some other problems with the game are continued from last year. 
Last year it was far too easy to find that a ball that was hit to
the outfield and rolled all the way to the fence was a single at
best because just about all of the fielders have cannons for
arms.  Trying to get a double out of this game is darn near
impossible, and a triple is virtually unheard of.  Trying to work
the base paths for extra bases on hits is just not possible in
this game.  Very unrealistic, regardless of the game settings. 
Any game that allows you to get thrown out at first base when you
smack the ball to the outfield is just not realistic.


How's this year's version look??

Graphically this year's version looks quite similar to last year. 
How can that be, you ask, given that last year's was sprite
based, and this year's is totally polygonal based?  Well, last
year's game was indeed a visual tour de force, and this year's
version is just that as well.  Both versions were among the best
visual treats you'd ever find in this genre, and this year's
version is very well done, even allowing for the "blockiness" of
the polygonal characters.

The characters in this year's version could look a little better
than they do though, as most all of them look very similar, and
it's hard to distinguish one player from another.  This is
something that I remember, even with the blockiness of the
characters in Bottom of the 9th, was very well done.  Because of
the "signature moves" and the attempts to pattern characters
after their real counterparts, I would give the crown in that
regard to Bottom of the 9th.

Just as last year, a minor nit can be picked about the relative
sizes of the players in TP '98,
where this reviewer noticed that for instance the normally
hulking Frank Thomas looked realitively similar when standing at
the plate to say Jeffrey Hammonds, and that is a bit
dissappointing considering the attention to detail that was
obviously given to the game.
(EA does claim that they include signature pitching and batting
styles this year, though it's very difficult to percieve this as
a change this year).

On the plus side, the game includes so many camera angles and
points of view for the game play, including a high medium and low
camera angle and points of view ranging from always batter,
always pitcher, home team (whether batting or hitting) or away
team.  In all cases the game play is smoothly followed, with the
focus always on the track of ball when the ball is in play.  This
remains the best baseball game I've seen so far in this area, and
it makes the game that much more enjoyable to play and follow.

(Note that this year's Bottom of the 9th includes the same
general graphics as last year, but as said above, the players are
more easily distinguishable, and look in ways truer to the real
thing).

The stadium's in this year's version are completely rendered, and
look very nice.  This is something that everyone has come to
expect from these games though, and unfortunately really doesn't
set one game apart from the others anymore.


Some the games extras...

MLB and MLBPA licenses are again included, so all team logos,
uniforms and colors are here and are accurate, which add to the
graphic realism of the game.  All major league stadiums are
included.  There are still some minor differences between the
real thing and the virtual stadiums in TP98, but those
differences are minor, and overall the programmers and graphic
artists at Electronic Arts (EA) deserve high marks for their work
on this game.

As mentioned earlier, having all of the real MLB stadiums
reproduced in this game is a big plus, where the intricacies of a
ball park change the entire strategy of the game.

The game also includes just about every stastistic that you can
imagine, and options to turn on or off just about every thing in
the game  (though as noted above, some things are automatically
turned off as you increase the difficulty level, which I still
think is totally un-cool!!!).

One other area that lots of folks raved about with this year's
game is the attention to detail that is demonstrated by the level
of attendance for each game.  Depending on how your team is
doing, and the teams historical attendance levels, and other
factors, the number of fans that show up for your games changes
as your season progresses.  If your team is competing for the
playoffs, your attendance is generally higher, while if you go on
a losing streak, the fans start to decide you just aren't worth
it.  This is a cool feature, but it still doesn't make up for
some of the other areas that still need improvement.


Can it Rock and Roll?

Well, actually, it's more of an organ jam than Rock and Roll, but
it's still very cool.  The sounds in this game are excellent. 
The announcer and color commentary are well done, with no
noticeable drag or delays. While the announcer still may
occassionally miscall the play (for instance saying that its hit
to the short stop when its more like a flyball to center field),
this still seems very realistic, and hey, even great play by play
guys make mistakes when calling a game (just ask people that get
to listen to Mel Proctor call a game and announce that it's high
and deep, waaaaayy back, oh, caught at the warning track!!
).    This year also includes the addition of a separate
color commentator, though he sometimes makes statements that he
comes right back and contradicts himself just a few seconds
later.  

There are several choices of background music, and the sounds are
all separately controllable.  There are also cool background
sounds, such as "Lets go ... team name" and things like that in
the background.


Some other features and options...

TP '98 still doesn't allow for controlling the batting "sweet
spot" the way you can in some othe games, such as BOT9 or some of
the other games that are out there.  It would be nice if EA could
figure out the need for this one.  It's just not that realistic
to find that the batter automatically zones in on the ball no
matter where the pitch is located.  The other game companies
seemed to have figured this out, and it's much more realistic to
play that way.

Of course the pitching controls could also be better in that area
as well.  Again, other games let you aim the pitch at a certain
spot, and though they add in the ball physics that affect the
location as the ball travels through the air, etc., you still can
pretty much spot the ball where you want it thrown to.  EA gives
you some control over the pitch location, but since the hitters
all zoom in on the pitch anway, it's not like it makes any real
difference.

One area that also changed from last year, is in the batting
stance department.  Last year, you could completely vary your
hitters stances and positions within the batters box.  You could
choose from a normal stance (the default), an open stance or a
closed stance.  By choosing between the various stances you could
try to pull the ball, or hit the ball to the opposite field. 
*The stance options seem to be completely gone this year*, though
there are still choices of swing types including a normal swing
which allows you to check the swing if necessary, an aggressive
power swing (no chance to check the swing though!), and a bunt
swing.  All of the swings can be directionalized either left or
right, and you have options of trying to hit either fly balls or
grounders.

The "speed bursts" in both the field or when running the bases
remain in this years version.  They still take a bit of getting
used to, especially when and where these bursts can be used, but
they add an extra level of realism to the game.

Trading, free agency, injuries, and player creation are also
great features.  Player creation is still available which allows
you to create a player, give him various mixes of attributes (the
attributes have to be divided between several areas, so you can't
create supermen [unless you use somf of the various cheats], but
can create super category players).  After creating players, they
can be drafted as free agents and used on your teams.

This years game also includes Interleague play, expansion teams
and drafts and more.  As well as boasts about new smarter AI
players and improved AI & strategy.


Game playability?

Any game that goes to the extremes that this one does in the
options and features area wouldn't be complete without easy game
play.  For the most part this one has that base covered too. 
Though my complaints about the differences in the various
difficulty levels are noted above.

Player controls are more than adequate, but will take a little
getting used to before you'll feel proficient at all of the
options.


Statistics information and Memory card usage.

Like most other EA games (such as NBA Live), this game keeps
stats for everything.  If you want to know about it, it's gonna
be there.   They even include information about player streaks
(who is on a hot streak or who is on a cold streak) which can be
useful when deciding what players to substitute into the game. 
The down side to this, and to the abundance of options and
features discussed above is that there is a price in the use of
memory blocks.  While not as bad as some alternatives, which can
use anywhere from 2 - 15 blocks on it's own, the 1 - 5 block
memory requirement is still something to be considered.

One other downside of the use of the memory card is that it is
required for season play since there are no other season play
facilities in the game (unlike some other games which provide a
password feature as an alternative to requiring a memory card).


How about some instructions?

The documentation for this game is thorough and complete.  Over
34 pages of documentation that explain every option of the game
are included.


End recommendation--

This game is well done, and deserves at least a good long look
from a rental store, or a purchase from your local dealer if
Baseball is something you want to play on your PSX. This game
does include serious eye candy, but still lacks in some areas
that would have pushed into being the end all and be all baseball
game.

For me personally, if my son wouldn't kill me if I got rid of the
game, I'd probably trade it in for another N64 game, and wait for
another baseball game to come along (like this year's BOT9) but
for now it's staying in the collection.


Until I can afford to pick up another program for my favorite
game system -



Rating: 8 - 9/10 


Barry Dowell


Vital Statistics

Genre:  Sports/Baseball
Game Format: 1 CD for Sony Playstation
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Audience: K-A (Kids to Adults)
Players: 1 or 8 (multi-tap adaptable)
Memory card: 1 - 5 blocks
Street price: $39.95