In its PS2 debut, World Series Baseball 2K3 is a game to beat. It builds on a great 2002 edition with just enough new stuff to secure its position in the upper echelon of the league. The new additions over last season’s Xbox-only title begin with some nice fine-tuning done to the game-within-the-game, Franchise mode. Now, you can rest key players to keep them fresh. They also respond to your attempts to trade or not to trade them when it comes time to re-sign them for another year. You can also establish your own team philosophy by adjusting the amount of time coaches spend on developing specific hitting and pitching skills. On the field, player controls are as smooth as a 6-4-3 double play. On defense, you can dive to stop grounders or snare line drives, and this year you can leap at the fences to prevent homers. On the offensive end, 2K3 adds a sneaky drag bunt to your hitting arsenal. The game also continues to feature some of the best base-stealing and base-running controls around, making it possible for you to control every individual runner on the bags. The controls feature great adjustability, too. The cursor-based batting system requires practice, but you can alter the size of the cursor to make hitting easier or harder to suit your skill level. You can switch off the pitching target grid as you improve, too. Overall, WSB 2K3 features good visual polish. The graphics continue to present a solid show with animation that’s crisp and accurate. There are also some very good representations of real-life players; still, others are totally…er, off-base. The batting sequence close-ups, in particular, reveal humorous discrepancies between facial fact and fiction. However, World Series 2K3 sounds sweet. Ambient stadium sounds are crystal clear, right down to the hecklers who razz the star players. The announcers are right on top of the action, even if they repeat a phrase or two from time to time. With 2K3, World Series Baseball continues to maintain a pristine field of dreams. It’s easily a major powerhouse for the 2003 season.
