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Acclaim has been "King of the Mound" when it comes to baseball games for the Nintendo 64. The dominance of Acclaim's baseball games is so pronounced that no other publishers are even bothering putting out baseball titles for the Nintendo 64 this year. Perhaps the emergence of the Dreamcast and PlayStation 2 are partially the reason for this occurrence in the case of Konami, but Nintendo must have felt the heat in the kitchen and ditched its Ken Griffey, Jr. Baseball series. Despite all its strengths, All-Star Baseball 2001 is not much of an upgrade from last year's version. The developer, High Voltage, delivers a product that is much the same as past versions.

All-Star Baseball 2001 struts its stuff when it comes to graphics. The players look great and the stadiums are equally as impressive. While die-hard baseball fans will notice that the stadiums have some inaccuracies in the details, the overall presence of the stadiums is strong. The main drawback to the graphics is the animations. While many of the animations look very nice, there are several that look downright robotic and unrealistic. Another area of the graphics that is disappointing is that the overall appearance of the game is too dark. This problem has been present in previous versions of the game as well. The interface screens, fonts, and statistics screens are easy to read and functional.

The sound in All-Star Baseball 2001 is basically a rehash of last year's release. Michael Kay and John Sterling are the announcers and are not heard very much. The phrases that do pop up every once in a while get repetitive quickly. The in-park sounds are average. Given the nice graphical presence of this title, it would be nice to encounter a stronger effort in the sound department to make the game that much more immersive.

Aside from the graphics, the second jewel in the crown of All-Star Baseball 2001 is its set of features. This title is very deep. Statistics are tracked in a plethora of categories, and the game can be customized to the user's delight. Simulating several seasons yielded fairly realistic statistics. There are several categories, such as strikeouts, that were a bit unrealistic, but overall I was satisfied with the simulated stats. The scouting reports for each player is another sweet little extra that has made the All-Star Baseball series that much deeper. On the down side, the game requires a bunch of memory to save a full season. I am always dismayed when I find that I must use an entire memory pak to save the season of only one title.

The gameplay of All-Star Baseball 2001 flows at a nice pace. The batter/pitcher interface is the highlight of this title. The cursor system for batting feels great. While this title has a nice feel when it comes to gameplay, there are several glaring AI issues. First, there are too many dribblers hit in front of the pitcher, usually on the third base side, that end up being base hits. Second, too many balls in general are hit to the pitcher. The whole area of the pitcher's mound is like a giant vacuum, sucking anything hit remotely close into the glove of the pitcher. Third, the AI of the fielders can be weak. For example, the fielders still throw to the lead base, even if the runner is clearly going to be safe. Fourth, the baserunning AI is pathetic. The baserunners try to take extra bases when they will be thrown out by a wide margin. It needs to be pointed out that the aforementioned AI issues have all been present in previous versions of this game. While I have a large amount of respect for High Voltage, I am disappointed that these problem areas are still present.

Aside from several AI issues, my main complaint with All-Star Baseball 2001 is that the game is way too easy. Playing at the highest difficulty setting with the pitch cursor turned "off," I had little problem winning most games by a wide margin. It is inexcusable for a team batting average to be over .500, with pitchers batting over .400. I will admit that I am fairly proficient using the cursor system for batting in baseball games, but even then, the game should offer something more challenging. It is discouraging to have such a cool game, only to be shelved because it is far too easy to beat.

All-Star Baseball 2001 is by no means close to perfect, but it does deliver a believable game of baseball. The AI is not as good as that of High Heat Baseball 2001 (PlayStation), but it is good enough to keep the casual sports gamer coming back for more. It is ashamed that several AI issues have not been fixed from the first version of this game and the game is far too easy, or else All-Star Baseball 2001 would be my choice as the best console baseball game to date. As it stands, given the many facets that are done beautifully in this title, I still have to mark down All-Star Baseball 2001 somewhat due to the AI flaws and lack of difficulty. In short, if you demand a diehard simulation of baseball, then All-Star Baseball 2001 will ultimately come up short. However, if all you are looking for is a fun, offensive-oriented brand of baseball with a lot of extras, then this title may fit the bill.