High Heat Baseball 2000

12-13-15 08:31 PM

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High Heat was a series of video games made mostly for the Play Station One system. High Heat Baseball 2000, was released in 1999. High Heat was also a competitor and rival to the MLB Series and EA baseball series. So how does this game compare to other baseball games? Well lets find out

Story: 5

High Heat 2000 does not have much of a story. I was not expecting a story because well this is a sports game. Basically its the year 1999 and its time for a new season. The plot is to chose a team out of the 30 Major League Baseball teams and guide them to the playoffs. But you will have to go against division foes, rivals and other teams to get there. Will you be able to get in the playoffs or will your team not make it?

It should be noted that the stats are based off of the 1998 Major League Baseball Season. So your team you chose is based off of that. I give the story a middle of the road rating. It does not deserve higher because well this is a sports game. It does not deserve lower because well you do get to battle 29 over teams and your division rivals so that counts as something. You also get to chose your team you want to play through the game with. So, yeah 5 out of 10 sounds about right.

Graphics and controls 6

The graphics are not horrible but they are not going to blow you away or anything. The colors in the game are real nice. The sky looks like it does in real life. The clouds during some of the games was a nice touch. Especially when the game makes it look like the game is going to be played under cloudy conditions. Also the night time background is nice. But the graphics do have their problems. The people in the stands just look like spots and blurry ones at that. The players look okay but even the players look choppy. It is like the sprites look choppy. The stadiums look real nice and how they do or did in real life.

The controls were so-so at best. The pitching controls are great as when pitching the controls are very smooth. While batting its opposite the controls feel stiff and sluggish. In addition, it also seems like they lag at times. I do not know why that is. I mean this is not an early Play Station game. I would expect control and graphic issues if this was one of the first PS One games. But this game was from 1999 right when the PS One was about to peak. Also compared to its rivals MLB series and EA Sports it seems to lag behind. MLB and EA sports graphics and controls were amazing. So I do not know what happened here. I give the graphics and controls a 6 out of 10. The color, background and how the stadiums look is what boost the rating. The graphic issues and sloppy controls pulls it down. I was really expecting it to be more like MLB series and EA Sports.

Sound: 5

The sound had some good points. I like the pop or pow sound the bat makes when you hit a double or home run. That lets you know you have hit the ball hard. I also like how the umpires sound. They sound like actual umpires. The opening music was not great but not terrible either. It just does not compare to the other two baseball game makers. Now the sounds did have some problems. First of all, it sometimes sounds like the game has a dull sound to it. Playing through the game you do not hear that many sounds. MLB and EA included sounds such as the crowd cheering or booing and they had music just like an actual stadium would.

Another thing that pulls the sound rating down is the announcers voice. Why or why did they give the announcer a scratchy voice. It sometimes seems like nails on a chalk board. I hate that it reminds me of tingles. If you have read any of my other game reviews you know how I hate tingles in games. To make it worse the announcer does not even sound like that in real life. It just seems like they really messed the announcer and background sounds up in this game. I do not know why that is as the umpires have a good voice.

While the sounds the batters make and the voice of the announcers are good. The game just has too many issues sound wise for me to give it a higher rating. The dullness and the announcer's voice really brings the rating down. I give it a middle of the road rating 5 out of 10.

Replay Value: 6

When I first got this game I played it just because it was different. But I find myself going to this one less. MLB 2000 and EA sports had a baseball game out at the same time. Those two were very fun to play and I still play them they are that good. High Heat was fun but does not really compare to the other two games around this time. Now with that being said, this is not one of those games that I played hated it and did not play it again. Its not like Nolan Ryan's baseball for SNES that is for sure.

I did have fun playing this game. I like to play this one a few times because you get to play at some of the old stadiums that are no longer around or they are vacant. You get to play at stadiums such as the Kingdom, Astrodome, Candle Stick Park, 3 Rivers Stadium, Olympic dome and Cingery Field. In addition, this game has the Expos as from Montreal as the Expos did not leave Montreal till after 2004. That is what keeps me from ranking this game lower. Moreover, it is sometimes fun to play something different to take a break from MLB and EA sports. I would have given the replay value higher had it not been for the flaws in the graphics and sounds. Still I give the replay value a good 7 out of 10.

Depth 6

The game does have some depth to it. You can chose among the 30 teams. If you have more than 2 teams like me. Its fun to play through a season as a different team. Also the games in the season or long. There are 162 games in a season plus the playoffs if your team gets there. Also getting to play in some of the old ball parks is a bonus too. However, the game does not have the depth that the MLB and EA series had. I have not found a franchise mode in this team like the other baseball teams played. I can't remember if you can create players in this game like you can in MLB and EA games. So that hurts the rating down somewhat. I give the depth a 6 out of 10. I mean this is a sports game.

Difficulty: 8

Surprisingly High Heat can be a difficult game. First of all unlike MLB and EA sports games you do not have a hitters box with a cursor on it. So you literally have to hit the ball as you see it. I kind of like that it makes it more challenging and makes it more real. Also, the stats are based off of the 1998 season. So if your team struck out a lot, made errors, found ways to lose games, or gave up home runs, well the game reflects that. In addition, if your team had a bad year well that is reflected too. So you will be challenged if your team had a bad season. However, it is doable once you get the hang of it.

The reasons I mentioned above is the right reasons why the game is difficult. The game is difficult for the wrong reasons too. The sloppy controls also play havoc while playing during a game. So many times it seems like a batter or runner seems sluggish. Even fast players lag and feel sluggish. It seems a lot of times you can be fighting against the controls. So in that case the game is difficult for the wrong reason.

I had to think on how I was going to rate this game's difficulty. The reason I had to think is because the game is difficult for good reasons. It will challenge you mostly on timing and reflexes. On the other hand it is difficult for the wrong reasons mostly the controls. So I came up with an 8 out of 10.

Overall: 7

As I stated earlier this game came out in 1999. EA sports and MLB had games out also. MLB and EA were very well established by 1999 and were considered the top two baseball games. Those games had good graphics, sounds, and had a lot of depth. So its no surprise MLB and EA were very popular series. High Heat was known but not known like those two series were known as. To be honest I did not learn about High Heat till a few years after it had been released. The reason being is I saved my money for MLB and EA sports games.

A few years later I saw this game on sale at a discount store. So I picked it up because well baseball is my favorite sport and I thought it would be fun. The game is fun do not get me wrong. I just do not think it is in the same league as MLB or EA sports. But before I go into the negatives I will start with the positives.

The positives in this game is you get to play at some of the older ball parks. I really liked at because lot of those stadiums I saw on TV when I was younger. I also like it how the game forces you to guess when swinging at a pitch. That makes the game more real like and offers genuine difficulty. I also like the pow sounds it makes when you hit the ball a long way. I did not go into much detail about it but the pitching in this game is good. When pitching the controls are good that again makes it fun.

However, I said this game is not in the same league as MLB or EA games. This game has too many flaws in my opinion. The sound could have been much better. The announcer could have been made to sound like he does in real life. I do not know why he was given a scratchy voice. If this game was from 1996 I would think well its an early Play Station game. But this game came out in 1999 the PS one was just about to peak. So I expected a lot more. Moreover, the controls could have been better. I do not know why the pitching controls were so smooth but the batting controls and base running was sloppy. It makes me wonder if High Heat was really trying to compete with MLB and EA games so they rushed this? Otherwise they could have done better on making the controls in this game. Furthermore, I do not know why they made the spectators look blurry and choppy in this game. The graphics at that time could have made them look more real like as the other baseball games made theirs look real.

So, while this game is not a horrible game its not one that is going to blow you away either. I think this game just has too many flaws to be in the same league as MLB or EA baseball games. Still, this game did have a unique thing going with it such as forcing when batting to guess the pitch. It would have been nice if they could have fixed the other flaws then this game would have probably been a huge hit. So would I recommend this game? Well I will let you be the judge of that. If the flaws do not bother you then play this game and have fun with it as it can be fun. If the flaws bother you then I recommend you play MLB 1999-2003 or EA Sports baseball series games. I had fun playing this game I just play it less than the other two baseball game makers. So I give High Heat 2000 a 7 out of 10. I was so hoping to give it higher. The game does have some good points to it that makes it unique so that keeps me from giving it a lower score. As I have stated the game did have some flaws that could have been better. To me a horrible baseball game would be MLB 98, that was one of the very first baseball games for the PS One and well it was bad. Thankfully MLB and EA improved a lot after their first releases. High Heat would improve somewhat in the future. But they would be bought out by Microsoft in 2003/2004. By the time the games improved though the PS one was past its peak and being replaced by PS Two. So 7.0 out of 10 sounds about right for this game.

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01-07-16 09:18 PM

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Another baseball game, another Tornadocam review! And as always, you show that you REALLY know what you are talking about. The structure is clear, you use ample details and you clearly state the ups and downs of the game.

Can not wait for your next review!

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