Before I bought the game, I already knew that EA had spent much time acquiring the likeness of Sammy Sosa.   But as I played through the game, I realized that they didn't really use him on anything other than the commercials and the front of the box.  I thought that since they spent so much money signing him, they would have put in some special video clips or a special mode with him in it.  This was a bad decision on EA's part and might be  disappointing to many of Sammy's fans. 

Another disappointment is the Home Run Challenge.  I love the idea behind it, but it is too easy.  This year, EA has cut the challenge into a number of innings.  In each inning, you get an out by not hitting a home run.  The thing that really gets me mad is how easy it is.  If you use Mark McGwire or Sammy Sosa, you can get into a streak of 25 or 30 home runs in a row.  And after each home run, or even a foul, the game shows a long replay, sometimes lasting over 10 or 15 seconds.  So when you get into those hitting streaks, it can take up quite a bit of time.  This same principle also goes for an actual game.  If you are playing as a team like the Cubs or Braves, who can hit a lot of home runs, you can sometimes have 12 or 13 home runs in one game.

The graphics in Triple Play 2000 are the best on any console system.  If Acclaim puts a hi-res mode on the N64 version of All Star Baseball 2000, then that will be its only competition.  In TP2000, EA has continued a trend that they started in NBA Live 99.  You can now see the actual facial animations of all the players.  If your pitcher has just let 3 home runs in a row fly over him, put your controller down and let the game sit for a few seconds.  You will see the frustration and embarrassment on his face.  Also, the stadiums are all perfectly modeled, right down to the waterfall at the Royals' stadium and the buildings behind Wrigley Field.  This year, the players are also motion captured.   The star players all have their own batting stances and home run dances.  Sammy Sosa even does that little hop after he airlifts one over the wall.  The pitchers even throw exactly like they do in the majors.

The sound and music have improved over last year.  The announcers show emotion and have many more sound clips than last year's version.  One thing that I found weird, but not necessarily bad, is that some players have intro sound clips when they are coming up to bat.  I guess EA wanted to take after pro wrestling.  Another nice touch is that during the game, you hear many weird announcements like an advertisement for a telephone for cocker spaniels.   The crowd chants and noisy vendors are back from last year.  Other than that, the music in the game is the usual stuff that you'll find in any baseball game.

The control in TP2000 is also great.  As a pitcher, you can decide which pitch you want to throw and then decide where you want to throw it to.  In the higher difficulty levels, you can even put an after-touch on the ball to really fool the batter.   The fielding control is pretty much the same as most baseball games.  You can dive, make one-handed catches, and rob home runs from batters.  I couldn't perform a Triple Play though.  The batting is also pretty standard.  In rookie difficulty, you can pretty much only choose to swing regular or power and time your swing.  As you get into the higher difficulty levels though, you'll have to try to decide where the pitcher's going to throw it so you can get a decent hit. 

I think that the replay value in this game is about average.  As a manager, you can control every aspect of your team that you can possibly think of.  You even control your minor league team and watch for upcoming players.  As a player, you can play any as team in any stadium and even participate in a full fantasy draft.  The Home Run Challenge does get boring after only a few minutes, but the rest of the game makes up for it by being so complete.

I think that EA must have concentrated on the fun factor in this game.  For any of you that watch Fox Sports hockey, you might recognize the light trailer on the baseball, which makes it a little more fun to watch.  There are many simulation elements in the game like the pitching and fielding, but the overall feel of the game is fast-paced action, which makes the fun factor higher.

In conclusion, I think that EA has put the right mix together this year.  All they need to do for next year is fix the realism factor with the home runs and, of course, continue to tweak the graphics.