lacking in many important departments
Even with all of these options, gameplay is the department in which All Star Baseball 2003 suffers the most. Allow me to describe each of the major facets of gameplay separately.
The batting interface in ASB 2003 emulates its console brethren in that you move a cursor to aim for a pitch and then swing to hit it. Also, you can shift the angle of the cursor in 3D to hit fly balls or grounders, and pull or push the ball. This detail makes batting more interesting than most games, but the GBA version is not without its problems. The aforementioned 3D cursor is far too exact. If you don’t adjust its angle, you will hit the ball to second base 99% of the time. If you angle it a little to left the ball will go a little to the left of second base almost every time. It would be a lot more realistic if Acclaim had incorporated a bit more randomness into this to keep the game exciting.
Pitching is also very similar to its console counterpart. Choose a pitch, aim the cursor, and throw. Acclaim put a surprisingly large variety of pitch types in the game, and most pitchers have about 3 of these to choose from. Pitches are chosen from a menu instead of a direction on the control pad, which is a bit irritating but nothing major. Unlike the console versions, pitching is much more accurate and less of a simulation. Even so, it is unrealistically difficult to strike out players, which I consider to be a flaw in the design.
Pitchers have a certain amount of stamina, and you will periodically need to bring in people from the bullpen. There is no need for warming up pitchers; just bring them in whenever you want.
Fielding is simply terrible. The game gives a target as to where the ball is going to land but thanks to the poor camera, you probably won’t see it until a split second before the ball drops. The camera locks onto the ball when it is hit out, which I suppose simulates how easy it is to lose the ball in the sun. Acclaim tried to fix this by adding radar, but it’s much too small to be of much help. Turning on Auto Fielding won’t help much either, because the AI is also very poor. If the ball is hit high enough in the air, the players will get confused and let the ball drop. And, in case you forgot, this is supposed to simulate Major League Baseball, not Little League Baseball.
Base running is even worse than fielding. The players move much too slow. I’ve even been able to throw runners out from the outfield. Control over base running is very clumsy; they don’t always advance to the next base when you want them to. It’s really a pain to control. The AI is not much better. They will often get caught in unrealistic run-downs where they just turn around and keep running. They’ve never been safe in a run-down yet! Worse, once on base, they always advance only one base unless they are forced to go for two by a hitter going for a double (but thanks to the slow base runners there is a good chance the hitter will instead end up in a run-down).
At many times ASB 2003 feels like a chore to play, but there is at least hope for next year.