Box Copy
Crystal Dynamics presents the
most realistic baseball video game ever published. Real Motion
Control 3D technology serves up incredibly life-like 3D polygonal
models that bat, pitch, and hit like real players.
- 700 Actual Major League Baseball
Players and Stats
- Over 50 of the league's top
players' batting stances
- Dig in and face heat from 5
controllable perspectives
- General Manager mode: trade
players, modify player stats and build the ultimate dream team.
- Van Earl Wright fires up the
action with over 1,000 supercharged color comments.
Discussion
Take a trip down memory lane with one of
the earliest attempts at true 3D baseball (ironic, no?) on the
Saturn. Features the real players and their stats, but no team names
or official parks. The game has different camera angle choices and
is easily playable without looking at the manual.
Despite the slightly odd player models, the game boasts a rather
impressive camera system that follows the plays at just the right
height and distance. It's a little jerky in the batters box, but
over all it isn't bad. This was Crystal Dynamics litmus test to see
if they had a viable sports department after releasing the Slam and
Jam basketball game. The test failed, and the "Championship Sports"
series quietly disappeared from Crystal Dynamics' game line up |
Trivia
- If you place the CD into a music
player, the 2nd track is a warning sign calling out the disc as
a Sega CD game.
- There is a text file with the
words "(c) 1996 by CRYSTAL DYNAMICS" in it.
- On the Saturn version, there is
an oddly placed Pandemonium video ad placed before the game
starts. Coming Attractions on games?
- Upper Deck provided the player
profile images.
- The Saturn has this odd visual
trick in the opening pan shot - the players running out onto the
field are sprite based; once you get to the batters box,
they're swapped in for the real polygon characters.
- Several baseball terms are used
on the manual's credits page to describe various staff members.
- Though the 4 stadiums are fake,
they are inspired by real world locales, including Wrigley Field
and Fenway Park.
- Occasionally you'll see Crystal
Dynamics games being used for the ballpark ad spaces.
- Both Saturn and PlayStation
packaging have similar screenshots and name drops, one in
particular is the exact same screenshot - it looks like the
Saturn version has a PSX image on it.
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