Review
When World Series Baseball was released in 1994, it delivered a unique perspective on hitting with a close view of the batter's box. It also brought with it a terrific pitching system that accurately portrayed velocity, break and finesse around the plate. World Series Baseball '95 doesn't look too different on the surface, but it addresses a lot of the shortcomings of the original.
In World Series Baseball, the stadiums looked great from the batter's view, but they lost their unique qualities once the camera switched to the three-quarter perspective. Now all 28 stadiums retain their beauty after the ball is hit: you'll recognize the Green Monster in Fenway Park, the moving waterfalls in Kauffman Stadium, and the ivy-covered brick wall at Wrigley Field. Another problem with the original was that the circular cursor (used to hit the ball) wasn't really ideal for a baseball game. This has been changed to a rectangle to better reflect the range of a bat.
The increase in cartridge size (from 16- to 24-Meg) allows for more individual, team and league leader statistics to be saved to battery. Furthermore, you can now draft and trade players or even play as or against All-Time greats like Lou Gehrig or Ty Cobb. All of these features are on top of everything that made World Series Baseball a success: the zoomed-in batter's box view, the fluid animation of your fielders and the exciting speech. Unfortunately, some of the problems that plagued the first cart have carried over to this one; home runs are plentiful if you choose to time the pitch and the cursor system is still difficult to use.
While the cursor's range is wider this time around, it is now very narrow -- so there's not much room for error. On a positive note, the ball physics have improved to offer a greater variety of hits at different speeds: soft bloopers, hard grounders and deep flies. Yet computer runners seem to have trouble staying on the bags right after a hit, resulting in easy pick-offs!
Despite the quirks, the game is still worth the price of admission if only to experience the incredible pitching system. While the hitting could use some improvement, you can lay off the power swings to reduce the amount of home runs or try your luck at the tricky cursor method. The amount of statistics, gorgeous stadiums and beautiful animation help make up for any imperfections in the batter's interface. Genesis baseball fans have to be pleased with 1995's offerings. World Series Baseball '95 and Triple Play 96 are not only the year's best baseball games on the system, they are arguably the system's best as well!
Graphics 
The animation is extremely fluid: from the batter's view you'll see the second baseman draw a line in the dirt with his leg, then move into a crouch; pitchers perform windups without a hitch; and fielders dive and jump like the pros. The stadiums look very nice!
Sound 
The crowd sounds horrible -- like the static you hear from leaving the TV on a wrong channel. The announcer is pretty funny, however, with calls like "oh doctor!" when you hit a home run. There is also a PA announcer who will introduce each player by number.
Enjoyment 
The game is more fun to pitch than to hit, but it's hard to argue against the overall package.
Replay Value 
A complete season with tracked statistics should keep fans playing for a long time.
Documentation 
The game is explained well, but with little flash or style.







