All-Star Baseball was always one of the best console baseball series when it was on the Nintendo 64, but it’s amazing how much the PS2 and Acclaim Sports’ two years of development have added to the series. Most impressive are the excellent player models and faces—with 130 unique batting stances, you’ll often know who’s at the plate without even hearing their name. Each pitcher has his own delivery style, and fielders move with amazing realism and variety, including sliding shoestring catches and throwing while lying on the ground. The cursor-style pitching and batting interfaces work great, creating precise control, though fielders sometimes miss easy grounders and your runners will sometimes be tagged when they should have advanced safely. Unless you hate cursor-style controls, avoid an error by snagging All-Star Baseball 2002.
