Baseball bats aren't jus useful for inflicting grievous bodily harm on innocent passers-by and for hiding behind pub bars ("Just in case of aggro, know what I mean?"). They're quite handy for America's favourite sport.

Baseball is basically rounders played by men wearing tight trousers and funny little hats. Two teams of nine do battle on a diamond-shaped pitch. The defending team pitches a ball at the opposing batter, who launches into a circuit of the diamond once he's hit the ball. He runs from base to base, scoring a point for a complete circuit. He can be interrupted by watchful fielders, who can retrieve or catch the ball, knocking him out. That's basically it, and it's pants to be honest. That's why no-one in this country plays it, why there are only a handful of US baseball games released here and why every time we review one of them we have to explain what baseball is.

Last year's World Series Baseball was the best attempt yet at bringing the sport to console. In the meantime, a couple of other contenders have arrived, but none have bettered Sega's game, until this, merely an update of Sega's game.

I struggle to see any radical new elements, only graphic tweaks and stat changes (which will surely be missed by all but a few diehard baseball fans in this country).

A game designed only to excite fans of a peculiar sport, but accomplished despite that.

Graphics 87%
Stadiums fell apart a bit close-up but the players are very detailed.

Animation 82%
Batting and running is very fluid, and personalised to each player.

Music 74%
The horribly weedy organ music is back.

Effects 81%
Options noises are good, but the in-game stuff could have been better.

Playability 84%
It's a good game of baseball, with nearly all the trimmings.

Lastability 80%
There's a lot to get into here - it's worth exploring.

Overall 83%
The best baseball game yet is flawed but fun.