Baseball Advance

Baseball Advance is one of the better playing baseball games on any system, and unquestionably the best on GBA. The batting takes a couple of games to get used to but once you get the hang of it, you can spray the ball all over the field with relative ease. The more I played the game, the more comfortable I became and found myself wondering why it took a GBA game to get baseball done right.

Graphically, Baseball Advance clearly dominates the competition. I found myself pleasantly surprised with the detailed player animations. The first baseman would stretch to take the throw at first base. Outfielders would dive to snare the ball hit in the gap. Even more impressive is the fact that they just seemed to get the pitching/hitting speed nailed down. A fastball felt like a fastball and a changeup would fool an undisciplined hitter. Very realistic.

The game does have a few flaws, most notably the lack of link capability. This was a major disappointment because your computer opponent becomes less and less of a formidable adversary and it would have been nice to link up and beat up on another human player. Also, there were random occasions of AI lapses particularly on fly balls to the outfield.

Ninety-nine percent of the time, the computer controlled player will react appropriately but the other 1 percent, the outfielder would run away from the ball letting it drop for a sure double. None of these flaws spoil the overall good time the game dishes out.

For all of you sports fans in possession of a GBA, this is a must-have title. Small quirks aside, you'll find yourself playing Baseball Advance again and again.