All-Star Baseball is a perennial fan favorite, and the home crowd will not be disappointed by this year’s entry either. In addition to all the bells and whistles of any Major League Baseball/MLB Players Association licensed game, All-Star Baseball has always served up a solid set of options. This season there are some nice additions, too. To take a break from the regular 162-game season, you can put together an any-time All-Star game with Pick-up Game mode or you can play with the all-time greats in Legends of MLB or even the Negro Leagues. You can also juice the intensity meter by setting your own challenges with Scenario mode. Additionally, enhancements to this year’s Franchise mode enable you to refine your general manager skills by analyzing payroll breakdown, comparing budget allotments between teams, and trying to sign your “keepers” to long-term contracts. To help keep it all the more real for you, this year you can download updated rosters for the Xbox version. All-Star Baseball continues to offer controls with a commendable level of adjustability for rookies and seasoned pros alike. Pitcher, fielder, and baserunner controls can all be set to manual; and there are four interfaces for batters. This remains a pitcher’s game, and becoming a consistent batter requires much time in Batting Practice mode. In terms of the batting cursor interface, the GameCube version offers the tightest joystick control in the batter’s box with the Xbox version being a little too stiff and the PS2 version a little too loose. Overall, the fielding controls are just good enough for the “Bigs.” As with earlier ASBs, timing buttonpresses for defensive moves like diving to stop grounders or sliding to snare low line drivers to the outfield is more adventurous than it has to be. Also, switching defenders when a ball runs from the infield to the outfield requires a quick thumb on the stick, especially when fielders are converging from opposite positions. The sounds and pictures combine to make ASB 2004 a relaxing day at the park, even with the audio just hitting for average. This game just sounds like the ballpark—the music is right from the stadium, though the theme from the The Natural sneaks onto the track occasionally. The announcers are on top of most plays, but they sometimes trail slightly behind the action. The game’s visuals would crack the starting lineup of most video game ball teams with the Xbox version easily outshining the PS2 and GameCube editions. Player animations run smooth and quick, although the defenders look odd as they all set up in the same horse-rider’s crouch. Player graphics, however, are hit and miss with some stars only recognizable by their numbers. At least All-Star Baseball’s trademark “photo-quality” fans in the stands are clapping in unison more enthusiastically than ever. It’s fair to say that All-Star Baseball 2004 is the best ASB yet, and fans of the series won’t go wrong with any version. The game’s tunable to all tastes and skill levels; it’s baseball at its almost finest.
