Gargantuan mobile publisher (M)forma has a pretty decent eye for talented developers. The company recruited South Korean developer Gamevil to create Baseball 2004--the first of many sports titles that will appear under the CBS SportsLine aegis--and the resulting product is highly polished and extremely playable. Outfitted with intuitive controls, fast gameplay, and stellar sound effects, CBS SportsLine Baseball 2004 is the best mobile baseball title to date.
Although Baseball 2004 only has four playable teams to choose from, no license agreement with Major League Baseball (all of the lineups are correct, but the players go by their first names), and only two modes of play, there's enough realistic action here to keep even baseball-haters occupied. Mobile managers can substitute pitchers on the fly when their hurlers' arms start to tire, and they can have big swingers pinch-hit, as necessary, to clear the bases. In fact, managers can even call for thrown beanballs if they so desire.
The in-game controls are a breeze to pick up. On offense, you use the directional pad to edge your slugger laterally, and you unload the wood by using the action button. Directing runners to steal bases--by using different number keys--is somewhat more of a pain, especially in the heat of batting. It is still manageable though. Amazingly, the pitching system is smoother still. Basically, you choose a pitch type using the directional pad and then aim your pitch by maneuvering a moving-ball cursor around the strike zone. You'll have access to an array of different pitches that are specific to the individual mound-dweller. As a result, you'll be able to hurl such staple pitches as sliders and heaters, in addition to a limited number of flaming superpitches. And, of course, it pays to mix things up for different batters. (Free hint: Chicago's "Sammy" doesn't handle the curveball in Baseball 2004 any better than he does in real life.) Fielding is entirely automatic, although quick reactions with the D pad are a must for throwing runners out. Standard baseball game controls apply, so each direction corresponds to a different base on the diamond.
Baseball 2004 is a moderate sensory triumph. Player animations are somewhat sparse, especially when batting, which almost feels like a binary operation. (In fact, you can swing multiple times before a 90mph pitch arrives at the plate.) Aside from this, however, the big sprites make the gameplay feel very natural, and contests move along at a rapid clip. The sound is impressive, so the ump's digitized cries come through with startling fidelity, the crack of the bat is knife-sharp, and there's even a little home run organ tune to boot.
CBS SportsLine Baseball 2004's only serious weakness is its foolishly designed menu system, which uses both the D pad and the number keys for navigation. Thus, the key normally used to perform actions becomes conflicted with another option, which, on the N-Gage, is the "Quit Game" option. Furthermore, a couple more gameplay modes other than "Play Ball" and "Practice" would also go a long way--as would more playable teams.
Taken as a whole, however, CBS SportsLine Baseball 2004 is a truly excellent mobile sports game. It plays fantastically on the N-Gage, and it plays nearly as well (albeit somewhat slower) on the LGVX 6000, too. This title is a must for baseball fans--and it's actually a wise download for sports lovers of any stripe.
