All-Star Baseball '99
Reviewed by Sean Pratt
As you pitch the ball to second base you hear the sound of hundreds of fans scream.
You all of the sudden hear your Mom saying dinner is ready and realize that you were
just playing All Star Baseball '99 for Nintendo 64. There has never been a baseball
game like this. Mike Pizza's baseball game is nothing like this. Neither is Ken Griffry
Jr.'s baseball game. This is a game you can put your money and be happy! Trust me
there is nothing like it anywhere. Sure Playstation may of made a game like this but
couldn't have had 4 player games! You looking for a ballpark that you can buy then go
to the video game store and buy this! Saturn will never make a game that is this good!
Neither is some two bit Playstation game. Acclaim really out did them self. Like Rare
did with their GoldenEye "game of year" game. If you don't care for the game after
awhile then you can play against Aliens!!!!! Like Acclaim said sweat the details!
Graphics 9.5 out of 10
One word breathtaking! It's as close to reality as your going to get! But like all great
things there is something wrong. The crowd looks like balls of fuzz! They could have
made the ball more real. Like put the red on it. The faces look real and the bats have
tons of detail! Look at some of the other baseball games that came out for Nintendo 64.
Do you see the same amount of detail as in this game? Some areas yes and some areas
no. The bats from all two don't look anything near to All Stars Baseball '99.
Playstation's Tekken 3 are like the game but other then you can't really compare
that to All Stars Baseball '99. Sometimes the when the ball is pitched back after a out
or for any reason from Home it doesn't appear. Still it has pretty good graphics. Look at
the bugs part of this review to find why there are so many bugs in this game!
Music and Sound 8.5 out of 10
Pretty good sound. The voices from the new casters up in the box are sometimes
slow. Example: I had just hit a grand slam and then it said "Strike 3"! Then when
my next batter came up I heard "It's a grand slam! The pitcher said crush me if you
can and the batter was happy to do so!" It's pretty clear what they said unlike those
games where they sound like their saying cuss words but are saying something else.
Though once and a while after you get the first out on a inning and then do the 1st
strike the empire sounds like he's saying "strike 4"! The crowd sounds better then
they look! They scream at the right time and boos at the right time. Sometimes
after you hit two home runs in a roll the crowd goes crazy! Overall the sound is da
bomb!!!! The music is everything from take me out to the ball game to dead silent!
Not that big of a deal in Music.
Game Challenge 10 out of 10
There are 3 modes of playing: Rookie, Veteran, and All-Star. Extremely challenging,
and extremely not challenging, you can decide. Overall it is pretty good in the
challenging side of it all.
Game Play-Fun 10 out of 10
Extremely Fun! So real you will die and thought that you went to baseball heaven.
The codes are plenty and really change the gameplay. First the Alien code makes a
new stadium and changes your opponents images. The paper mode is like Turok. There
are three modes of difficulty. You can choose the background which make the game
more fun. The call outs make the game much better then you think. There is nothing
better then hitting a homerun into the crowd.
Rumble Pak 5 out of 10
The only change you get with having the rumble Pack inserted into the controller is
when you go out of the pitching area. They could have done so much more with the
rumble pack like maybe it would shake when you hit it or when you slide into home.
Anything would be a huge improvement!
Frustration
Frustration is on the low side. What is probably the worst thing is when you hit it.
In rookie or any skill level it always manages to get caught by the fielder. It might
make you want to scream!! Also when you almost catch a air ball it goes right over
you or it will land in the hand but will fall out!!
Replayability 10 out of 10
Extremely fun. I have barely ever seen a game offer the ability to create your
own player, and team. This game is loads of fun. Also the abilities are endless!
Game Value 10 out of 10
$49.99 is not a enough for it! I mean it basically is the same thing as GoldenEye.
So of course it is worth the money! It is the bomb game!
Bugs 5 out of 10
Nintendo had found a bug in the pitching of the beta version, and told Acclaim to fix
it. Well after the fix Nintendo told them to get the game out now, and that to keep
checking. Basically there are two versions of games. The beta and the final one.
You can't find out until you play the game for awhile. Some of the bugs are the
sudden freeze and displaying numbers and letters that don't make a word bug
and the status bug. The status bug is a bug that when you save a game it changes
the numbers. Once a person saved a game and when it the file was opened again
it told that Mike Pizzia had hit 1 million hits and made 2 million homeruns. If
you have a beta version take it back and ask for a replace copy and pray it's not a
another beta version.
Overall 9 out of 10
If you like baseball then this is the game for you if you don't just rent it and if you
like it buy it. Probably by the time you read this all the beta versions should have
been bought by Blockbuster and other people.