Publisher - GT Interactive
Developer - Devil's Thumb Entertainment
Platform - N64
Type - Sports
Score - 3/10
Sometimes the line between a good
sports game and a bad one can be
very thin. However, this is not the
case for GT Interactive's Mike
Piazza Strike Zone, which is
clearly and undeniably a poor
baseball game, especially when
compared to its competition,
namely All-Star Baseball '99 and
Ken Griffey Baseball.
Developed by Devil's Thumb, Mike
Piazza has neither the visual flair of
All-Star Baseball or the fast-paced,
yet intuitive control setup of Ken
Griffey Baseball. In fact, we can't
think of one reason -- one single
advantage that Piazza has over the
competition, unless, of course, it is
comedic value you seek in your
baseball experience.
Gameplay
Players at bat will quickly notice
any lack of real strategy. When a
ball is pitched a blue or red streak
follows it -- red indicating a strike
and blue indicating a ball. If it's red,
players would be wise to swing. If
it's blue , the pitch is best left alone.
The pitch/hit system isn't terrible,
but it feels ancient. Honestly, better
configurations were devised for
baseball games in the days of 16-bit
and gamers are expected to settle
for this crusty incarnation even as
other, more intuitive titles are
engulfing the market. We don't
think so.
On a good note, the game's AI isn't
all bad and everything moves at a
fast, arcade-like pace, though
nowhere as effectively as Ken
Griffey. Also, the game's wacky
physics, which enable 980 foot
line-drive home-runs, or pop-ups
that soar into the sky and hang in
the air for tens of seconds, are
somewhat of a guilty pleasure.
Graphics
Sound
For some comical fun we suggest
turning the crowd sounds and music
off and then trying out the game's
Home Run Derby mode. Here's
what you can expect to hear every
five or six seconds, quite possibly in
this order: "That ball's belted!",
(birds whistling), "Out!", "It's a
home-run!", "It's a home-run!", "It's
a home-run!", (birds whistling),
"Out!", "That ball's belted!"
Overall
As we've listed above, all of the
necessary statistical options are
included in the game, along with
real teams, players and stadiums.
Once a player has selected his
gameplay mode of choice, whether
it be a regular season, the world
series, an all-star game or home run
derby, it's off to the team selection
process and then the game begins.
First the bad; players are lifeless,
faceless, jerky robots that animate
as if they are being pulled along
against their will by a giant
puppeteer in the sky. It's painful to
look at. Everything is void of detail
or any real character. Everything is
blurry, dithered and downright ugly.
And somehow the framerate in the
game is still not steady. Even the
game's front-end menu system is
barren and uninspired. The graphics
in this title only reinforce the fact
that it could have very well been a
16-bit baseball game, and a bad
one at that, which has somehow
made its way out of the vaporware
dump and into GT Interactive's
loving arms for distribution and a
quick buck. Probably the most
visually appealing aspect of the
game is its 3D stadiums, which are
well designed and even feature a
few extras like live Jumbotrons
displaying the action as it takes
place. That said, this game will not
be remembered for its graphics.
The funny part here is that the
game's opening music is actually
pretty good, but it all goes downhill
from there. Devil's Thumb has
developed some truly, err, unique
sound effects to highlight the
gameplay. For example, if a ball is
hit out of the park a voice, which
we can only assume is one of the
game's programmers, shouts, "It's a
home-run!" If a ball is caught, one
of the programmers yells, "Out!"
Or, there's the trusty line-drive shot
into space, whereupon the
programmer announces "That ball's
belted!" And there you have all
three speech samples in the game.
The crowd effects are a constant
and quickly become tiresome and
the in-game tunes aren't worth
listening to.
With All-Star Baseball '99 and Ken
Griffey Baseball already available,
there is no reason to buy this game,
unless you've been searching for the
least impressive baseball title for the
console. We're confused as to why
GT and Devil's Thumb didn't go
back to the drawing board after
seeing the first pictures of
Nintendo's and Acclaim's offerings
-- both companies can do so much
better. Still, there is some fun to be
had with the game, though
admittedly most of it comes from
laughing at it. If you aren't willing to
avoid it altogether then give it a
rent, invite a few friends over and
turn off the music and crowd
noises. We guarantee a few good
laughs if nothing else.