As an avid lover of baseball I found myself in the supreme spot prior to the 2003 baseball season. There were so many baseball games slated for release that I wasn't sure which title I would pick; a title that would consume 100's of hours of my time nonetheless. Choosing the right baseball game to suit my personal preference is often a difficult one as it should be. Any game that is about to swallow up precious time should not be taken lightly, therefore, I found myself a kid in a candy store. Thanks to me severe lack of decisiveness I ordered every game that I could find, that is worthy of sitting in the baseball sports genre, except for Slugfest. If I wanted the satisfaction of slamming 200 homeruns in a single season I would pick up a previous edition of Triple Play baseball for a few dollars. From OOTP to Baseball Mogul to High Heat to MVP to WSP2k3, they are all in my collection, for now. Since the day they arrived on my doorstep I have begun weeding out the games that are simply not for me. In the past I have supported the High Heat Series, but that trend stops this year. WSB2k3 has grown to be my favorite series because of what I am about to mention, read on.

As I powered up my Xbox I was unaware of the impressive cut scenes that were to follow, but I was very eager to jump right in and begin playing. With only a few weeks remaining until the start of opening day, every baseball fan should be sitting in excitement, more so if you are about to fire up the latest and greatest arcade baseball game ever made. Quickly after a few of the less appealing promotional scenes passed across the face of the screen, the WSB2k3 highlight reel was flickering at a rapid pace. While at no time did I lose sight of the highlights being a video game, the initial movie sure did boil my blood. Soon after the reel was over, the ESPN overlays, which have invaded Sega Sports, were abundant onscreen. Of course the menus aren't the most captivating in the gaming world, they are very suitable for their purpose. The menus are clean, concise, and to the point. A few times I found myself lost simply because I was jumping around, so quickly that I failed to think about the navigation logically, no fault but my own.

The main menu contains nothing out of the ordinary, as it includes the option of: Quick Game, Game Modes (Season, Playoffs, Franchise Mode, Big League Challenge), Sega Sports Challenge, Roster Management, Options, User Records, and Load Game.

Instead of focusing on the typical aspects of the game, I am going to assume that most of you reading this review are very accustomed to a few of the items in the list above. I am trying to avoid the monotonous review of explaining the exhibition mode and Season option. With that said, I will focus this review on the meat of the game: The Franchise Mode. I will also include some of the extras that Sega Sports have built in that add depth to the game; depth that would be hard for any developer to challenge.

Before I jump into the Franchise Mode, take a look at what you have available at your fingertips:

- Each team has a wide variety of uniforms to choose from: Ranging from standard 2003 home and away jerseys, to current alternate jerseys, to familiar jerseys of the 70s and 80s. You can even hop into the time-machine and select woollen, turn-of-the-century duds that come complete with historic accessories such as old time catchers masks and fielders gloves.

- WSB2K3 has 36 available stadiums (30 current big league stadiums, five historic parks, and Cashman Field. The historic ballparks include: Crosley Field, Forbes Field, Griffith Stadium, The Polo Grounds, and Shibe Park.

- The Big League Challenge Mode. This mode allows 8 of the top home run hitters to battle it out against one another in a tournament style home run derby. The games are customizable, allowing you to tweak the settings to match your ability. The winners advance to the next round, the losers head home. I will not allow myself to explain this mode any further, but I do urge you to pick up a copy of the game and try it out. This mode is a great addition to an excellent ballgame.

- The Sega Sports Challenge. This mode allows you to see how you stack up alongside other great gamers nationwide. After completing a game you can log on to the Sega sports website, punch in your game code, and see how your stats compare. They have went the added distance to create a level playing field, by forcing you to play at the ALL STAR mode with the default roster set. I have not tried this feature out yet, but I expect to do so very soon. I will post an update on how I compare, in our forums at a later date.

- The User Records also add depth to the game. Although this feature is not new to the series, or most of the new Sega Sports games, it does add even more information for your already overwhelmed noggin. I know that my girlfriend and I are always using this statistical data in order to brag to each other. Trust me, if this game will be shared in your household or dorm room, then you will also be using this feature. Who knows what will happen when you start gloating about your records. If nothing else you may find yourself in this area of the game to try and find ways to improve your skills. This section now includes batting and pitching profiles. These profiles allow you to look and see which pitches you hit with success as well as which areas of the strike zone you are best at defending. Get ready for information overload....

- Create a player seems almost standard for sports games any more. The trouble that I found was that creating a superstar is as easy as sliding the sliders to their max. However, if you are willing to create your player with realistic attributes then he just may fit nicely into the game. I created a player (Ken Harvey) that won the rookie of the year award, but he only held an 83 rating. WSB offers you the ability to create 25 unique players. Enjoy this feature, I know that I did and will do so in the future.

I found a few other features to display in this list, but from an organizational standpoint I will leave the other options buried in the upcoming section; the franchise.

Gameplay
WSB2K3 is very easy for the beginner to play directly out of the case, but becoming good at the game will take patience and knowledge of baseball. If your pitcher gets up on a batter 0 Balls and 2 Strikes, you best better throw a pitch out from the zone or else he has a good change of making you pay for your mistake. The last sentence sounds like common sense, but thanks to an advance gameplay system, it is not that easy, unless you want it to be.

Sega has built in a slew of options ranging on making the game entirely to easy to realistically difficult. It is convenient to be able to tick the settings to your liking until you reach a certain skill level. I do not feel as though the game will ever be too easy, unless you choose the Yankees, which are rated at 100/100 in every category. Without drowning you in every single choice that you will have to make, in regards to play preferences, you can: Toggle the strike zone outline on/off, remove the pitching aides, shrink the batting cursor, increase the pitch speeds, change the swing method, etc. In fact, there are so many options that you will eventually be able to customize the game exactly the way you want it. You may be disappointed that I am unable to list every available item, but trust me, the fun is in experimenting on your own.

This edition also has a limited number of gameplay sliders for you to get tangled up in. The sliders involve subjects such as: CPU pitching rating, CPU batting average rating, CPU taking balls rating, CPU taking strikes rating, as well as a few others. This area is a must for baseball lovers and once you have this region set to your style you will enjoy the game that much more. It may sound tedious and time consuming, but the ease of use is nothing short of incredible. Enhancing gameplay will go as far as you want it to go, although you may find yourself playing several games in order to get the settings perfected. I can post the settings that I have settled upon at your request (Email me).

Another new addition is the inclusion of the BroadCast Camera. You can battle the CPU using the same camera view that you see when you watch ballgames on television. Be aware that this option is only available in 1 Player games and is not evident when you are at bat. You will only get to use this view during your time on defense. Hopefully next year we will be able to use this view full time, I have my fingers crossed.

The pitching aspect of the game is very similar to last years version of the game. This version holds 9 different types of pitches (a major letdown), although not every pitcher has every pitch available. Once you choose a pitch, you simply select the location and fire the ball towards the plate, as long as you aren't trying to hold the runner from stealing. The tricky part lies in pitch location. This version of WSB has fine tuned this area to perfection by allowing you to make this aspect of the game as easy (or hard) as you would like to make it. You can select the option of having the ball flow to the plate in the exact spot you have chosen, or you can now choose to have the pitch location be partially randomized. In real life pitchers slip, how often depends on how good they are. WSB can do just that, you can have your pitcher hit his spot everytime or you can allow their skill level determine how close to the destined spot the ball will actually travel. There are 3 variations to this option, each being a little closer or further from the spot you initially chose. Allowing the randomization helps keep you from dominating the game and also increases the pitch counts, something that was a major problem last year.

You can also remove the pitching cursor to increase the realism of your experience. Personally, I have disabled the pitching cursor, turned off the strike zone indicator and shifted the pitch speed to very fast. In conjunction, I have toggled the gameplay sliders so that the CPU and I are on a 'realistic' playing field, at least to the best of my ability. You can really make WSB a fascinating real life simulation, even with all of the graphical bells and whistles. However, the game isn't perfect, but I will get to that.

The game also offers up 'The Hot Zone'. This is a graphical representation for each batter that displays 9 regions to the strike zone. The mini grid system allows the pitcher to see which areas the batter fares well in hitting, cold and neutral. If the pitcher has faced the batter previously in the game, the grid will place the last at bats pitch series on the grid to provide you with an even better knowledge of what is going on in the game. This feature is something that stands WSB out above its competition. 

Pitching also allows you to perform the typical functions such as: pitchouts, pick off moves, etc.

Batting is relatively easy to pick up, but surprisingly deep. The basics involve: contact swinging, power swinging, sacrifice bunting, drag bunting, as well as aiming your swing. To make contact with the pitch, you must aim the batting cursor towards the ball and time your swing correctly. It sounds easy, but it can be very difficult depending on your settings. You will strike out on the higher levels and find yourself struggling to get on base. Hitting homeruns is not an easy chore either. In 10 games I have hit 5 -6 homeruns total, a feat that I am happy with. Homerun heavy games do not sit well with me, thus, WSB comes off shining bright in my book.

Beginners can even turn on options that will allow them to receive feedback, in the form of on screen text, after a missed swing. It will tell them whether they swung too early, too high, etc.

The drag bunt is new to this edition of WSB and with good reason. I am very disappointed with the new feature only because it is entirely too easy to reach base using the feature. As long as you can make contact with the pitch you have a high percentage of getting on base. I have even seen slow running catchers blaze down first base line after a drab bunt. As long as you use this feature sparingly, then your experience will not be hindered too much with its addition.

Baserunning is an area that has always needed improvement, WSB is no exception. While the system used to run the bases is decent, it is far from perfect. Sometimes you will notice players responding to orders that were given many moons ago, usually resulting in a simple out for the defense. In one instance my catcher attempted to steal home and was picked off by the pitcher. These annoyances are not common, but they will arise from time to time. Aside from that, baserunning is typical and requires a few simple button presses to run or return to the base, nothing out of the ordinary.

The complexity lies within leading off. New to World Series Baseball is the ability for a baserunner to attempt to increase his lead at the bag, in an effort to get a better jump. To do so just press the left trigger. The problem is found in returning to the bag during a pickoff throw. To get back to the base you need to press the Right Trigger during the pickoff move. You need to be lightning quick on your trigger finger to get back in time. I found myself picked off every time that I increased my lead. On a side note, I didn't have any problems stealing bases. I wasn't picked off a single time from the catcher to second base. I was using the speedy Royals, but even their quickness falls short sometime or another.

Playing the field is vastly improved in 2K3. Sega has built in the ability to jump, lunge, and dive, as well as offering up the chance of robbing your opponent of a homerun. It is true that jumping and diving take precise timing, but the result is very satisfying. I have yet to rob a homer, but I have been able to leap and give my player the opportunity. I am sure that my first successful attempt will pull me off of my chair and into the air, I cant wait....this game is a blast.

Advanced Gameplay
- You can queue up Bases to steal. This feature has been implemented for 2 Player action, so that you do not tip off the guy next to you when you are about to steal. Now you can set your baserunner to take the base far in advance of the pitcher making his delivery.

- Pitcher Fatigue is very crucial. When the stamina bar falls below a certain level be prepared for him to be throwing the ball all over the place. Use that time to grab a fresh arm from the bullpen.

- An active bullpen is now a feature in the WSB titles. You can choose to turn this feature off, but leaving it on will cause you to warm pitchers up before using them in the game, for maximum performance.

- On defense you can also set the depths of your infielders and outfielders. I cant say that I use this option as much as I should, but it is there in case I have a change of heart.

- In this version you will notice a pretty well used cut-off man. Critics of last years game were complaining about the absence of the cut off man, but now he is here and easier to use than ever.

- 2K3 has built in three swing types, you can now bat with a standard mode (no cursors, just based on the batter vs. pitching ratings, High Heat Style), The default mode (The batting cursor needs to be placed near the pitch destination point, also using the stats to display the result), and the power swing mode (this mode takes precise timing, by requiring you to press [and hold] the swing button until the pitch has arrived, at which point you depress the button). I use the default mode when I play simply because the standard mode is for the beginners and the power meter mode is too complex for my style. In any event, you should be able to experiment and choose what is best for you, that is the beauty of 2K3.

The gameplay within WSB is very deep, very solid, and very enjoyable. I have a few complaints, but compared to the overall quality of the game, they are minor constructive complaints. Here is my brief evaluation:

The pitching/batter interface is exciting. You will have some games that end up 1-0 and others that leave one team sitting alone in the dust, say 18 - 5 or something similar to that. Just be aware that smart pitching is required to try and keep your opponent from burying you in your own shame. I have all of my settings max'd out, therefore, leaving a pitching hanging over the plate often times puts a runner on base. I also have the variable pitching at the highest level, so sometimes leaving that pitch floating over the heart of plate has nothing to do with me pushing this or that button, it can get frustrating. Magglio Ordonez hit 3 homeruns off of me earlier today, but I didn't throw him one pitch that was prime for hitting, that is just how baseball is. To end that thought, I lost the game 12 - 5.

The pitching system is adequate to say that least. It is highly rewarding and keeping the computer under 5 hits per game is not only a challenge, it is something to brag about (if the settings are on the highest level). I still do not have the pitch counts to the point where I want them to be, but I am still tweaking the sliders. I think that my starter left the game after 81 pitches after 5 innings, but my opponents pitcher, B. Colon, breezed through 8 innings in 60 pitches. A lot of this has to do with my plate impatience, so instead of faulting the game, I will fault my own ability, or lack of. The pitcher does not always slam you for strikes, but the views can be misleading, leaving you swinging at pitches that are not even hittable, this is something that takes some getting used to, but it is well designed.

The batting is where the game needs some work. I am fond of batting interface, but when you PLAY (not sim) a game the CPU can be relentless. I have been trying to squeak the CPUs ratings down, so that they are unable to consistently hit the ball 15 times per game, on average. I am shooting for an average of 8 or 9 hits a game, I will let you know when I reach that point. As you can tell, I am out for maximum realism, which I do think can be achieved. Other than the CPU being able to pound the ball at times, I see no real problem with the batting system. The main downfall to the batting system is the new drag bunting scenario. I did have a player throw out on a drag bunt today, but he was the first in over a dozen tries. It seems that the defense is NEVER ready for the drag bunt, even when you attempt a bunt and miss. You can see some slack in the AI, but for the most part it is good.

The fielding is also well done, especially in relative terms. When you compare the fielding system of 2K3 to 2K2, you will quickly notice that 2K3 excels high above. They have built in the dive, jump, lunge, etc. all of which are difficult to time correctly, as they should be. The outfield seems a little small, but the results end up pretty accurate. Hitting a double is very possible, but a triple is difficult, as it should be. You can now throw to the cut of man easily, you can miss throw to the bases, etc.. One problem that I have found is the delay the catcher has during the time a runner is stealing a base. I have yet to see a runner tagged out on a steal from first to second.

The AI is spotty. At times the AI is perfect, but then you will see some weird stuff and it ruins your previous mental process. For example, a towering pop up to second base left the runner on first base halfway to second waiting to see if it would fall in. I caught the ball and threw to first for the double play. The runner should have never left the bag, but he did. The pitching AI is very good. The CPU will throw some pitches that make you wonder, but for the most part the pitcher is using typical baseball knowledge. The difference between the AI and a human player is that on an 0-2 count the CPU will punish you for a slip, but when the CPU makes that error, very few times will you inflict damage. The outfield throwing AI is well done as well. I cant complain much about the AI, because it is probably one of the best intelligence systems in a baseball game to date. The thing to remember is that, it is just a game.

Here is a list of a few minor quirks that I have noticed so far:

- The CPU pitchers do not hold runners well, instead they will rely on the pitch outs. The delayed catcher throw allows base stealing to be entirely too easy.

- The CPU does not use the sacrifice bunt very often, in fact I have yet to see much strategy. I have not seen a hit and run, a sac bunt, or a pickoff move, unless I have leaned TOO FAR from the base...in which I think the game registers my runner as attempting to steal the base.

So, overall the gameplay is well done. I feel that I am overly picky about a few issues and could probably list several other minor gripes, but whether it seems so or not, none of these take away the fun factor of the game. The gameplay hinders some of the realism, but after looking back at a few seasons that I have been through, the results are freakishly real. Of course you will see a few statistical categories yielding bizarre results, for the most part you will be pleased with the accuracy. This game renders MLB as good as any game does, except for those pesky text based sims.

The major complaint that I have is the time it takes to complete a game filled with 9 innings. It takes me over an hour to get through a complete game with approximately 7 total runs scored. Some folks may like the fact that you cant whiz through a game, but I would rather see the game end around 30 minutes after the first pitch. The series now features in game saves, but you eventually need to come back to finish it. I suggest that Sega introduce the option to sim the game from any point in the game. If you get tired of playing or it looks like a blowout in the 6th, press pause and sim the game the rest of the way through. One other suggestion, get the game times to be slightly less than their MLB counterparts.

I have been deciding how to approach the franchise mode and have decided to list the results of the first year in my franchise, playing as the Kansas City Royals (Yes KC still has a MLB team). Hopefully you will begin to see the Franchises pros and cons:

-Division Winners - Red Sox (103 Wins), White Sox (87), Angels (84), Braves (90), Astros (102), Giants (94)

-World Series Winner - Yankees (won the wildcard) over the Braves [4 games - 3]

-28 Players finished the season playing 160 or more games.

-A catcher ended the season with 158 GP

-Sweeney(KC) led the AL in average by hitting .404
-Ramirez(BSox) hit .361 in 125 games

-Sosa led the NL with 55 HR
-Arod led the AL with 50 HR

-Pettitte led the Al with 22 wins
-Schilling led the NL with 18 wins

-Percival ended with 51 saves
-Kim ended with 50 saves

-Graves led the NL with an ERA of 2.64
-P. Martinez led the AL with an ERA of 2.72

-Pettitte led the AL with 5 CG
-Vazquez led the NL with 4 CG

AWARDS (AL / NL)

MVP- Sweeney/Chipper Jones
Rookie of the Year - Ken Harvey/Marlon Byrd
Cy Young - Pettitte / Kim

The Franchise mode is also customizable, you can alter: the amount of games player per season, the ability to start your journey off with a fantasy draft, league budgets, trading aspects, injuries, using all fictional players in replace of the actual MLB roster, hitter fatigue, injury management, as well as a few other management aspects. You can change these settings after you have passed through this screen, just another convenience that Sega has built in for us. 

Once that you have decided upon the plethora of settings, you are left to choose your team, and hire coaches to man the major and minor league squads, as well as scouting duties. In order to attempt at keeping this fairly brief, note that each of these coaches can be used to help your squad as a whole. Each coach has his own set of sliders, so that you can develop your team the way YOU want. Plus all coaches are rated by a letter grade, which will give you an idea of how good they are at doing their job. The coaches are also under contract, so make sure that you have enough money to sign them. The coaching system not only adds depth to the franchise, but it adds to your experience.

Next would the time to begin the fantasy draft, if you had toggled the setting to the on position, I did not. If you had then you would take turns with the other teams in your league drafting a roster. Not only are you required to draft with a budget, but you must look out for your future squad. Signing all veterans may win you a pennate, but it will eventually leave your team thin after the retirement bug hits.

A loyalty system has been built in to WSB2k3, which donates a rating to each player signifying their willingness to play with one a team for a lengthy amount of time. Gone are the days that a player starts and ends his career on the same team and WSB has this shift covered. The rating in the game will fluctuate. If you are constantly trying to shop him to other teams, then his loyalty rating will drop. It is almost as if these players have feelings. The loyalty system has a few other developments, but I will leave those for you to look into first hand. I have not yet been able to see the system in action, as I have only played through a year, but if the system works even remotely well then expect yourself be intrigued at this addition.

After you have selected your roster, or avoided the fantasy draft with intentions of beginning the MLB season out with the actual rosters, you are taken to your headquarters screen. From here you will have the ability to run your league, your team and your options. The menu includes choices such as: Manager, General Manager, League, Schedule, Setup and Exit.

The manager screen sets you up for editing your pitching staff, your line-ups, viewing the DL and your teams accomplishments. Like stated before, each coach has a set of sliders that will develop your team, the manager has built in the option of giving players time off. This would be an incredibly realistic feature if only if worked. As you can see from the stats listed above, 28 players played 160 or more games. Hell, even a catcher for the Cubs played 158 games. This is one of the biggest gripes that I have with the game. I am going to try and tweak how the AI handles time off, but so far I have yet to be able to do so. So the option to allow players to set out is built in, but I am not convinced that it works well, or at all.

The GM allows you to shuttle players between the major and minor leagues, make trade offers, make contract offers, sign free agents, manage your budget, and decide what you would like your front office staff to focus on (in terms of those individual sliders). You can hire or fire your coaches at any point during the season. I have a complaints about the GM role. First off, the minor leagues are not filled with enough players. You will notice a handful of guys in the minors, not single A, double AA, or triple AAA, just the minors. You can receive a report on your minor league system, but it is fairly useless. The minors do contain reasonable real life players, for the most part, but they do lack some supreme prospects. The trading system also seems flawed. I had my coaches generate a few trade proposals for me, but I found them all to be a bit far fetched. He told me to inquire about sending C. Febles and J. Randa for T. Glaus. C'mon now, that is highway robbery. In any event, once you get into the fictional player realm the trade system will be much improved, but using the actual rosters leaves this system hanging on edge. It is one of those issues, could be better could be worse, it could be Triple Play.

The League menu is where you will go to view the standings, statistics, news, and league leaders. You will also receive updates on who is leading in the race for the All Star Game invitations and who is in your Hall of Fame. Neat Stuff.

The schedule is your location to play or sim games. Simply highlight the day in which you would like to play, click A, and select the option that you are looking for.

The setup is straightforward. Use this menu to modify the options, edit the roster, create players, etc.

Once you have a grasp on how you would you like your team run, it is time to play ball (or sim).

If you choose to simulate your season, you will be notified via a pop up menu on what is happening with your team. For example, Injuries, players demanding trades, trade offers, etc.. Whether you are playing or simming, you will have the News section at your fingertips. This will tell you what is happening around the league, such as player of the week and such. Another new feature is the presence of the box score after a game has been simmed or played. This is a great addition for all of the manager-only monkeys that exist out there.

Midway through the season, All star ballots will be handed out and voted upon leaving a few select individuals to participate in the ever so important All Star Game, no ties this time around. At the conclusion of your season/playoffs, several awards are donated to both players and teams. If you look at the stats that I have posted you will not notice very many awards, but for completeness you should know that I only printed out a select few of the awards. WSB2K3 hands out gold gloves and numerous team awards. It is very cool to look at all of the postseason stats and awards, it is very refreshing.

One last feature that I must mention is the Player performance screen. This screen tells you how your players are developing. At the beginning of the season your players are given a letter grade for their ability and by the end it may change. This screen will denote just that, the changes from start to finish. From this screen you will be able to tell which players outplayed their expectations and which did not. Of course this all bears on the scout that you have hired, in terms of accuracy. Do you see how this all plays out together in one large puzzle? Amazing.

The off-season doesn't leave you much time to relax, instead it places you right back in the middle of a fire fight. From listing which players have filed for free agency, to firing any personnel to the amateur draft, you will find your eyes have much to look through. You probably should have locked up your valuable team-mates during the year, but instead you plan on shifting into rebuilding mode. That's great, but remember that you need top of the line scouts and managers in order to make your turnaround a sudden one. Also, to get the most accurate draft ratings, your scout needs to be top of the line. Anything under top of the line will leave you taking large risks with a few injury prone players. It is all a gamble, just like MLB is.

After you have completed the draft it will be time to sign those new recruits, along with the players in the free agent pool. Unfortunately if you have chosen to use the out of the box rosters you will notice some star players in the FA pool. I turned off the computer trading for the first year, so a lot of the players who were unsigned at the time the rosters were added have a year in their career with no stats, as they sat unnoticed along the FA poolside. Most of these players will be picked up in only you give the CPU a chance to do so, if nothing else they will be picked up in the first off-season.

The Free agent process is broken into a 10-day process. You can make as many offers per day as you'd like, so long as you remain inside of your budget. Free agents will mull overnight on the offers that they are given and let you know the next day of their decision. Do not expect to get every player that you offer to. Heck you can even offend a player and his agent by offering too low of a deal, in which case you will not even get a reply back from him. Once you have heard back, you can again offer the FA a deal and get feedback. He may request an alternate deal, in which case you are led to do what is best for your team. Queue up more money for the FA's bank account or ignore his offer and stick with the players that you already have. Or you could also cut roster players, freeing up valuable cash in order to make better offers in the FA race. The future of your team is in your hands. Although, you can let the CPU do all of this for you, which would put the future of your team in the CPU's hands. Either way, the next season is just a button press away.

That pretty much sums up the Franchise mode in WSB2K3. I am sure that I have left a few things out, but I have all the bases covered for the most part. In any event, this is surely enough information to get you excited about the game or to leave you utterly disappointed. One thing is for sure, if you can tackle the depth of the system and you have a desire to construct a MLB team then the franchise is just what you have been aching for. Sure they could have improved a few things, but considering console baseball, this is as good as it gets and then some. Just remember that a winning team is just around the diamond. If you take the time to build it (the franchise), they (championships) will come.

Graphics
The graphics are superb. Last years model showcased what Sega Sports was capable of doing and this year builds atop that. The player models and animations are nicely done. The game features many animations, but not so many that you will not see the same ones over and over again, especially if you play the game for hours on end. The motions are fluid for the most part, but on some occasions the events look out of place. For instance, the shortstop scoops up the ball and fires to Mike Sweeney on first base. Instead of the ball approaching the glove, sometimes you will see the ball float into his body, registering an out. Or at times you will see the ball change direction in order to find the glove. The latter characteristic is something that High Heat is vividly known for, but WSB seems to have stolen it. Well to be fair, many games over the years have had a problem with this issue. Otherwise the graphics are great.

The stadiums are spot on and look stellar. You will not be replacing these images with real life images, but the graphics do generate a baseballe atmosphere.I have no real complaints from a graphical standpoint, just a few minor criticisms. One thing that I do not want to fail to mention is the faces that have been mimicked in the game. The faces are not exact replicas, heck most of them are nowhere close to looking perfect, but they are not terrible. I am not going to fault Sega for not inputting exact matches, but instead I will give them credit for their hard work. Hardcore extremists may complain about the inaccurate faces, but I say, who cares. If you end up playing the franchise the way it is designed to be played (for multiple seasons), then you are going to end up with 100% fictional players anyway.

Sound
Usually I am not a reviewer that pounces on the audio aspect of a game, but I can not help but do so this time. The audio in the game is terrible. I have heard the 2 clucks in the booth make comments that have not occurred in the game on several occasions. It sucks to hear such a well done game sound so poor, but be prepared. If the guys upstairs are not late making the play, they will usually say something that doesn't fit your current game. For example, Last time up (Insert Player Name Here) he hit a sacrifice fly. When reality would show that this is the very first at bat of the game. Instead of kicking up more dirt on this issue, I will let it die down with one final statement, expect to turn off this bothersome commentary.

Fun Factor
The fun factor is off of the scale. This is the area of a game that concerns me most. I have read review after review turning me off a game, but after rejecting their words I have come to buy the game anyway. To my delight, I have found, on several occasions, that the game is much better than most people write it to be. So, from a regular sports gamer view, this game is extremely fun. That is not to say that ALL gaming heads will love it, but those who appreciate console baseball will have hours of fun. Ill admit that it isn't fun accommodating the sliders to your preference, but once you have all of the settings to your approval then you are in for loads of fun. I am especially happy with the new TV broadcast view, as it provides much more depth to the pitcher vs. batter duels. If you are looking for drama, and we at P42 love drama, then you need to give this game a shot. The game is not only satisfying, but it looks great and gets as deep as you want it to get. You will find that you can spend hours on setting your teams line-ups, drafting, and negotiating contracts, but then again you can allow the CPU to do that for you. So if you are wanting a game to really dig your heels into then this is the game for you and if you are more interested in playing the games, not worrying about the financial aspect, this is the game for you. It comes down to this, if you like video game baseball then this is the game for you.

The fun factor is so high that it allows you to sit your criticisms on the back shelf and keep playing. A few things really bug me, but nothing on my list takes away from the fun that I have while playing the game.

Conclusion
In conclusion, WSB2K3 is a wonderful game that finds itself chugging in a few spots. The game does not merit a 5 Planet rating because it gets hung up in the franchise mode at times and a few gameplay inconsistencies leave you waiting for it to be perfected in 2004. The game is shockingly fun and has enough depth to bury your favorite stadium. Some users may find all of the information overwhelming, but luckily you can leave most of the time consuming tidbits in the hands of the computer. You will notice a few AI quirks, but at this point WSB easily holds the crown as the best console baseball game on the market, ever.

Finally, as a baseball player and watcher, I find this game to be amazing. Sure if could improve in certain areas, but if you take it for what its worth you will be stealing this game for a mere 50 dollars. I will hand out 4.5 Planets, while my heart keeps telling me 4. I was highly annoyed with the AI at times, therefore, I find myself pushing the rating slightly lower, but I am not sure most fans would be as upset as I am over some of the gripes. 4.5 Planets, take it or leave it.