VR Baseball 2000

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a game by VR Sports
Platform: PC
Editor Rating: 8/10, based on 4 reviews
User Rating: 9.0/10 - 2 votes
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See also: Sport Games, Baseball Video Games
VR Baseball 2000
VR Baseball 2000
VR Baseball 2000
VR Baseball 2000

After a long delay, VR Baseball's finally ready for Opening Day with an impressive graphical facelift. Beautifully textured polygonal players move with lifelike grace, and their jerseys even carry their name and number on the back. VRB spoils the usual features, too, including Quick Play, Season, Practice, and Home Run Derby modes; all the big-league teams and players; and trades. Pitchers hurl three pitches at three speeds, and fielders can dive and jump. Disappointingly, instant replays and player creation didn't make the cut, but if VR Sports cleans up the sluggish frame rate and other problems in this preview version--as it plans to--this rookie has serious potential.

Download VR Baseball 2000

PC

System requirements:

  • PC compatible
  • Operating systems: Windows 10/Windows 8/Windows 7/2000/Vista/WinXP

Game Reviews

Like Bottom of the 9th, VR Baseball swings for the fences in a world of Virtua Fighter-style polygonal graphics. Although some may find the blocky look somewhat unappealing, the allure of VR's fluid, graceful motion-captured movements and realistic 3D stadiums is undeniable. Each ballplayer even has his own real-life face! More importantly, the game mixes all the right features with a few intriguing standouts, such as the ability to play from any position and any camera angle. VR's batting order sports all the major-league teams, players, and stadiums; arcade-or sim-style gameplay; and exhibition and season modes.

Overview

Interplay has gone to great lengths to bring us great titles such as Redneck Rampage, Carmageddon, and Starfleet Academy. With these games they showed us what they were made of, and that's some good stuff. That's why it's hard for me to believe they had anything to do with this project. VR Sports claims that this baseball sim is the next generation in baseball sims, and is made for hardware accelerated systems. It is true that it is best displayed on higher end systems, but the next generation? No way. Let's start with the name. VR Baseball. VR meaning Virtual Reality, right? I'm not so sure. The players, all of which have the same squashed, pug-like faces, stand hovering an inch above the batter's box and tremble as if they've had too much caffeine. They have elbows and shoes that are so pointed they could be used to open all the fan mail of this game if there was any call for it. Sorry to say, but those are just the beginning of the problems for this sorry baseball game.

Gameplay, Controls, Interface

Well, baseball is baseball, at least to some extent. This game gives you the chance to play Homerun Derby (more on this in a minute), take batting practice, and play a full or partial season. Another thing it does in the season mode is let you trade any player, for any other player, but with no restrictions. How boring is that? If you want to call it "VR" then put prices on these players and give me a salary cap. I don't want to be able to trade Travis Fryman for Matt Williams without taking a big hit -- if they made some realistic trade strategy or management, that would be fun, but as it is it just allows you to pack all the big guns on your team and crush anybody you want. And while I'm harping on the realism, where are Tampa Bay and Arizona? I guess they can't play this year, at least not in this league. Why aren't the rosters updated accordingly? Too many questions go unanswered, and too many things have been left out. It's one thing to be ambitious, but only if you can deliver.

As for the gameplay itself, the swinging and pitching controls are very simple. I just used my trusty gamepad (didn't bother with keyboard controls), and the game was easy to use. Swinging and pitching both were a cinch to master, and I became as talented as Nolan Ryan after pitching one game and a Babe Ruth-class slugger after playing offense one time around. In fact, I hit 15 homeruns in two games... that's the reality level here.

Graphics

Don't even get me started on the graphics. Well, okay... every stadium is here, and they look almost as good as the real thing... until you look closely. Take, for instance, Tiger Stadium. If you have ever been there or watched a game on TV that's broadcast from there, you know about the overhang in right field. Many a pitcher has cursed that sucker, but VR has taken that out of play by letting balls pass right through it! Speaking of physics and physical impossibilities, it would be nice when I'm playing outfield for the balls to have some sort of realistic movement, and not the stuff they included here (see Angels In The Outfield). Home runs that start off as line drives almost spiral as they hit the stands. The stands? Somehow I missed the great disaster that happend when steamrollers got loose and flattened the spectators in every stadium across the country. I half expected the balls that landed out there to bounce off and ricochet back at me, or land back on the grass. Grass? Did I say grass? Oops, I meant airbrushed concrete. The field looked like it had been colored in with crayons, or better yet, watercolors.

This game is supposed to be geared for hardware-accelerated computers, so I was excited because that's me... but after looking at it, I couldn't help but ask why they would have gone to the trouble of touting the hardware acceleration. What's the point with the lack of realism? Making this game hardware-accelerated is like putting a 427cc V-8 into a Volkswagen Beetle! No point in it.

Audio

Could it be that I found no problems with the audio? Nope, there were a bunch. Although I liked the PA announcer in the background and the occasional vendors, whenever I played Home Run Derby I got a horrible hum, like feedback from an old amplifier. Also, the crowd cheered me a lot even when I was the visiting team. If you want to make this a VR game, you'd need hecklers and guys yelling at you when you step up to the plate.

System Requirements

Pentium 120 or better, Windows 95 with DirectX 5, 16MB RAM, 30 MB hard drive space, a modern 3D accelerator (3dfx, rendition v1000, v2200, ATI 3d rage pro), Sound Blaster-compatible sound card, mouse, keyboard or gamepad.

Bottom Line

A game with a name like "VR" anything should be just that, VR, not a cheap imitation of Triple Play. My advice to you, if you want to play baseball on a PC, is to buy Triple Play or Tony LaRussa 4 or even Micro League Baseball, all of which will give you what you pay for. Conclusion? I did find this CD very useful in leveling out my speakers in the den.

Overview

Jealous of all the attention Big Mac is getting for breaking Maris’s record? Ever dream of crushing a ball over the Green Monster at Fenway Park or making a leaping catch against the ivy at Wrigley Field? Then this arcade baseball game might be for you. The game is filled with breathtaking graphics of players and stadiums, but requires a 3D accelerator card to enjoy them.

Okay, the graphics are great--what about the gameplay and realism? If you enjoy these things in a baseball game, unfortunately you won’t find them here. The original VR Baseball scored at ultra-low 20 last time it was reviewed and VR Sports hasn’t improved the realism in this recent overhaul.

Gameplay, Controls, Interface

From the opening menu you’re able to go into Exhibition Mode to play a single game, create or continue a season, or participate in the homerun derby. The homerun derby is great for some instant action and a lot of fun if you want to hit some monster homers with Mark McGwire. The gameplay itself is easy to learn, and before long you’re able to strike out players or hit homers with ease. If you’re finding the game too easy, you’re able to select between Rookie, Pro, All-Star or custom difficulty levels. You can also change the hitting type from arcade to simulation and control how much fielding assistance you receive.

Unfortunately, the folks at VR Sports blundered when it came to setting up the game controllers. If you switch to keyboard, the keys aren’t set up by default; if you set up the keys and switch from human to computer controller and then back, all your custom key settings are erased. The worst part is if you decide you dislike your keyboard setup in the middle of the game; you must exit the game in order to modify anything.

Multiplayer

There is no multi-player support, which puts this game at a real disadvantage to other baseball games out on the market. They should have added a feature to allow you to go head-to-head with other players or hook up to a central network for some quick action.

Graphics

The graphics are incredible and definitely this game’s best feature. The player models show muscles flexing, jerseys stretching, and for the most part the players' faces are accurately detailed. You’re able to see trademark batting stances, swings and arcane rituals before entering the batting box. The players’ names and numbers are easy to see and the detail devoted to the stadiums makes you feel you’re really there. That’s not to say there aren’t occasional problems. At times part of a player's uniform would do a disappearing act at the hip and you could see the grass showing through him. Some computer baseball games make you wish you had motion sickness pills when the camera swings wildly from view to view as it chases the ball, so I was curious how this one would do. The camera did an adequate job, transitioning between views gracefully, but it did occasionally make the ball appear to defy Newton’s laws. For example, I hit a shallow homer that looked as if it wasn’t quite going to make it over the wall and the camera was chasing it as expected. As it neared the wall, the camera did something that looked like it belonged in a sci-fi flick, because it made the ball stop in mid-air, leap up at a 45-degree angle, leap down at a 45-degree angle and then rise once again to float over the wall.

Audio

VR Baseball does a great job with the national anthem. They used different artists so that it doesn’t get stale and although each one sounds a lot different, they all sound great. Each time I started a game I looked forward to hearing the next breathtaking rendition. The other sounds were well-done with the usual crowd cheering, grunts, special effects and announcers. The announcers did a decent job with play calling and weren’t as annoying in most other baseball games. The only part I wasn’t thrilled about were the sounds during the homerun derby. Unlike when you’re in a full game, there were barely any noises, which is unrealistic because anybody who’s watched a homerun derby in real life knows how rowdy the crowd gets.

System Requirements:

A Pentium 200 with 3D accelerator (D3D or Open GL), Windows 95/98, 32 MB RAM, 50 MB hard drive space, CD-ROM, DirectX certified video card and DirectX certified sound card.

Documentation

You won’t receive much more than the CD jewel case, but you don’t need it. The controls are easy to learn and there is extensive online help. If you really want a hard copy you’re able to print it from there, although I doubt you'll need to.

Bottom Line

VR Baseball excels in the graphic and audio departments, but falls short in realism and gameplay. It is too easy to master and if you’re a serious baseball fan you’ll grow frustrated and quickly abandon this game in a dusty corner. If you’re wanting to hit some quick homers or strike out a few batters during your lunch break then this game fits the bill because the controls are easy to learn and it definitely has some fun features. You’re also able to download new stats, rosters and player ratings so you can track new seasons. If VR Sports can improve the terribly-designed control setup, add multiplayer support, and fix a few other glitches, they’ll have a competitive arcade baseball game.

Snapshots and Media

PC Screenshots