MLB SLUGFEST 2004
VIDEO
GAME REVIEW
GC, 2002
From
the makers of arcade like sports classics like NBA Jam comes Midway's
MLB Slugfest 2004. I personally own MLB Slugfest 2003
and I didn’t expect to see that much of a difference in this game.
Boy was I wrong. Not only are you given more time to punch the other team’s
players, but you get to listen to some more nonsense commentating by Jimmy
Shorts. Here’s an example of some typical pregame commentating by
Shorts and play-by-play man Tim Kitzrow:
Shorts:
What’s wrong with my chair?
Kitzrow: It looks like it got chewed up. Man, that was a good chair too.
Shorts: How did my chair get chewed up and yours didn’t?
Kitzrow: I don’t know, you chose that chair. I gave you a choice.
Shorts: I don’t care. All I ask for is a chair that isn’t
chewed up and a hot dog.
They
go on for awhile too, unless you push the “a” button. I actually
find the two guys funny with their stupid commentating, but others may find it irritating.
The
gameplay is exciting and a lot of fun if you like to go away from simulation
style of baseball, i.e. Scott
Carmichael Wiffleball 2003. The average score of a well-pitched game
is 14-12 (and that’s a well-pitched game). Pitching
and hitting is very simple due to the fact that they tell you what button
does what before the pitch approaches the plate. They even give you a
button to bean the batter, which may hurt or strengthen a player's attributes.
Don’t bean too many batters though, because the batter may start
throwing down on ya. Running the bases is simple. If you’re in a
close play situation, all you gotta do is slide with the spikes up and
deliver the pain with a possibility of knocking the ball out. If the baseman
decides that he doesn’t want to get tossed from the bag and chases
you, you can clothesline or dropkick him and he’ll be singing “unhappy
trails to I.”
The
classic Midway turbo function allows you to put a little oomph on your
pitches, which will make a mediocre 110 mph fastball turn into a respectable
119 mph fastball. Not bad I guess. Whether you’re in the field or
on the basepath, turbo will obviously make you run faster. With the bat,
turbo allows you to hit the ball a little harder, no matter if you use
a power swing or contact swing. Just like on NBA Jam, you have a limited
amount of turbo (unless you unlock the unlimited turbo code, which I don’t
have so go to a different website that does have it), so use your turbo
wisely.
Other than the differences that I mentioned before, there were some positive
additions to the game. In addition to the regular quick play mode, season
mode, or challenge mode (you must defeat every team, similar to NBA Jam),
this version of Slugfest has a home run derby contest in which you can
play up to 8 different players. There is also a tournament mode, in which
you can battle up to seven other friends of yours and battle it out amongst
the elite eight (I know March Madness is over). For all of you simulation
nuts, there is some strategy as pitchers get fatigued in this game and
you have the ability to pinch hit for a batter because the team rosters
have been expanded. You have more pitchers to go to the bullpen with for
when your pitcher does fatigue. You're also now able to create a team,
where you can put your favorite players together on one team and duke
it out on the field, with your fists, against other teams. I recommend
that you set up an 8 team tournament with human controlled create a teams
(I sense fantasy draft). There are also more power ups and codes to access.
I accidentally unlocked a code to have my team transform from humans to
aliens (Once again I don’t have the code. Go to another freakin'
site if you want the code! Stop sweatin me punk).
This
game does have its flaws; slight flaws for the arcade loving and big flaws
for the realist.
First
of all, Ichiro looks just like Matt Stairs, who in turn looks just like
Barry Bonds. Therefore Ichiro looks like someone who really looks like
a slow pitch softball player, and he looks like a player who is a steroid
freak (No offense to Nate Stuempfig or the Giants fans, I am being satirical).
My point is, Ichiro and Stairs are yoked. Second of all, the player attributes
(Hitting, Power, Speed, L/R pitching) are a little off in my mind. Sammy
Sosa, while he did just hit his 500th homer, is only rated an 8 on the
power scale. In comparison, Ichiro is rated a 7. So, according to this
game, in which power ratings don’t really matter because anyone
can smack a ball 450 plus, Ichiro is only slightly weaker than Sosa. There
are other problems with the attributes, but you get the picture.
Rating this game can be judged on different scales. If you are a simulation
nut, this game hits just above the Kemper line at .150. If you’re
an arcade enthusiast, this game hits a dominating .800. If you’re
a guy who loves to look at hot girls, this game hits .950, because the
Midway cheerleaders are hot, just ask my friend Matt (In order to make
it 1.000, I recommend playing 1 inning games so you can see them as much
as possible).
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