Baseball’s a great sport as long as you skip the game.
It’s endlessly entertaining reading about fantasy fanatics, players’ per-pitch pay, the upside of 46th round draft picks, concession prices and anything that is the dugout of despair known as the Washington Nationals.
It’s possible I have an attitude because I’m so lousy I’ve hit myself swinging the bat on more than one occasion.
So when Homerun Battle 3D shows up on my review radar, my first thought is not only is it baseball, but it’s not even a full baseball game like a couple of other decent iPhone apps. Sheesh.
All the rant is to give meaning to a confession: My instincts are lousy as well. This thing is a blast.
You wouldn’t know it from the startup tutorial, where you learn gameplay consists of nothing more than tapping the screen to swing at pitches, tilting your device up and down to control the bat’s height. The perspective is a 3D view from the catcher’s position, with a narrow illuminated “swing zone” showing where your slugger’s bat will strike.
Enough simpleton apps exist that, even at $4.99, cynics might balk thinking that’s the whole ballgame. Technically, yes, but it gets seriously expansive on the concept. A three-delivery, two-handed, nine-pitch pitcher (selectable top speed of 80-99 mph). Two different single-player modes. A head-to-head online mode that’s by far the best feature. Earning custom gear to increase skill and fashion. Dizzying camera angles and spins on quality hits. It’s enough to surpass the Nationals losing their opener 11-1 before a crowd of invading Phillies fans bused in by the home team’s owner to prop up ticket sales.
Four play modes are offered. Training is batting practice with a pitcher customized to order, including speed, overhand/sidearm/underhand delivery, and any or all of those nine pitches. It’s worth getting a cup of coffee there to get a feel for the gameplay physics and mechanics, which are as authentic as necessary for this type of game, but the sooner is better for getting to the “real” match-ups.
That’s because your batter starts out as something less than a steroids-era Barry Bonds, and it takes a lot of games and achievements to pump him up. Gold balls are the currency of choice, mostly earned by achieving a huge range of goals such as individual game scores, lifetime home run totals, winning a certain number of online match-ups and even “loser” dishonors such as accumulated foul balls. You can also earn them in-game by hitting the occasional gold ball into the stands (for a measly single credit) to “calling your shot” on a home run at designated opportunities.
Customization options are also many, including gear from head to toe, plus facial and other physical features. There’s a number of themes and some novelty items (the fish bat being one of my favorites), but the real value is the items that boost your batter’s abilities. Once you and/or an opponent starts spending gold balls on strictly cosmetic enhancements it’s a sign of either immense success or stupidity on par with Barry Zito’s contract.
The two single-player modes are Classic and Arcade. The object of both is to hit as many home runs as possible before you reach 10 outs (any strike or foul), but I greatly prefer Arcade mode since points are awarded for any in-play hit. In Classic mode anything that’s not a home run is an out. Extra points are available through feats such as consecutive home runs, and hitting the scoreboard and the poles marking foul ball territory. Also, special balls, in addition to the Gold Ball, include others that award points, remove an out and other bonuses.
The best part, as mentioned, is head-to-head online match-ups where you select a pitcher of suitable skill and an opponent from those online judged to be of roughly equal ability (you can reject the default choice and another will be selected). In playing a number of sessions at different times of the day, I never failed to find a matchup.
Things definitely take on a new dimension when your opponent is shown in the upper-right corner competing in real time for supremacy. Also, the variety of special balls is expanded, and hitting a home run with one results in your opponent’s next pitch being far worse than a knuckleball (i.e. an invisible pitch). Rewards are more likely to be earned quickly here, but there’s also the possibility of rookies being humiliated with a losing streak rivaling that of those lovable Nationals.
Don’t try head-to-head match-ups where wifi is spotty, since an interruption kills the face-off. Other than that, annoyances are few. The one that bothered me most is the short repetitive ditty at all menu screens that’s a disincentive to set the iPhone down and take a break for a few minutes (although it’s easily turned off or replaced with the works of Yo-Yo Ma).
Beyond that the only question about Homerun Battle 3D is longevity. Some will doubtlessly play for a long time to come, trying to max their hitter’s prowess and rank. Others will find the action too repetitive once they’ve achieved a reasonable level of competence. The $4.99 price is on the edge of worthiness for the latter, but virtually everyone will likely find it a better use for their money than half a cup of flat beer at the ballpark.
Score: 8 out of 10 (add a point for hardcore baseball fans)
By Mark Sabbatini
$4.99
Developer: Com2uS Corp
Platform Reviewed: iPhone/iPod (Requires iPhone OS 3.0 or later)
Category: Sports
Languages: English, French, Japanese
Rated 4+
File size: 18.4 MB
