I think few would argue with the fact that Acclaim has had its ups and downs as a company. One of its lowest points was back in the first half of the nineties when it had a string of poorly-built movie-based games (A path Atari seems determined to follow now.) that almost killed the company. Acclaim fought back and put its house in order. In the last couple of years Acclaim again came to the brink of extinction. But again it looks like Acclaim is fighting back. All-Star Baseball 2005 (ASB’05) is a top-notch baseball simulation that offers great baseball action and many fun extras for video baseball game fans.

Not content to rest on its laurels and just put a new roster into its solid 2004 edition of ASB, Acclaim has added some significant improvements to the gameplay of ASB’05.

The first thing that is going to jump out at the player is ASB’05’s “FielderCam” that gives the gamer one of the best approximations of real baseball fielding seen in a video game. Once the ball is hit the action shifts to the player in the best position to field the ball. An arrow on the ground indicates where the ball is coming down. With the left analog stick the player moves toward that location. With the right analog stick the player controls the camera so that he gets a pseudo idea of what a fielder might see if he were running out but looking back toward the infield. As he approaches the spot where the ball will land, he’ll see stacked rings that indicate how high the ball is. If it is still high he need only get inside the rings to make the catch. If it’s coming in low and there is still some distance to cover, it is time to try a dive to make the out.

Other controls are well executed too. A staggering four modes of batting are available with varying degrees of control over the batting process. I’m still best with the more basic batting modes, but a better man than I will appreciate the more advanced analog batting modes and the control they give over power and direction. All other controls will be familiar to ASB’04 players. They are still very serviceable.

Users of Xbox Live will welcome ASB‘05’s ability to not only download new content, as was available in the ’04 edition, but also to actually play online and keep track of their statistics on leaderboards. And who doesn’t get tired of playing against the computer after a while? The ability to play online really opens things up when you can’t find a friend to come over.

ASB’05 offers a plethora of licensed content to give the gamer the impression he is playing in the major leagues. All the teams and their home stadiums are of course here, but Acclaim also added in legendary parks, spring training camp parks and even fantasy parks. In all, over 80 parks can be played in. In addition to current team rosters, the game also includes over 50 Baseball Hall of Fame players.

Having all those licensed niceties would not be much fun if you couldn’t tell that’s what you’re playing with, right? ASB’05 makes sure the gamer gets a first-class look at the players and the parks. Graphics are very detailed and well animated.

Sound also adds immensely to the game’s enjoyment, with boisterous crowds, top-flight announcing by Steve Lyons and Thom Brennaman (and even Spanish commentary by Oscar Soria), and solid sound effects. The soundtrack may not be to everyone’s liking, but ASB’05 sports the custom soundtracks feature so that is easily remedied.

In addition to the standard MLB play mode, ASB’05 offers Pick-Up Game, This Week In Baseball Challenge, a trivia game, Batting Practice, and Home Run Derby modes. I found the Pick-Up Game to be especially entertaining. It closely approximates a Saturday afternoon pick-up game with MLB players, instead of the neighborhood kids, played at the local sandlot or little league park. The This Week In Baseball Challenge is also pretty cool, as it gives the gamer the ability to relive or even alter the outcome of some of the pivotal moments in baseball history.

Of course ASB’05 offers full team management options with roster control, expansion, trading, contracts, training, drafting, etc. Yuck! They’re some of the more boring aspects of baseball for my money. I’m sure others will appreciate the extreme depth of the management component. I’ve heard it said that baseball is really a mental game.