Guys this rant is based on memories from 10 years ago so forgive me if some of the information is somewhat inaccurate.

But World Series Baseball 2K1 was hated by critics. And I never understood why. I mean, I know it was a flawed game. The controls were clunky and counter-intuitive, the game feels unfinished, and it's friggin annoying that you can't even control the fielding for yourself. But there were also some good things about it (which I will mention in a second).

But then WSB 2K2 came out and all the gaming mags loved it. And although it "fixed" some of the flaws of 2K1, it created some flaws of its own.

Firstly, let's be vain and talk about the graphics. I don't know if I am in the minority here but I think the graphics in WSB 2K1 have aged better than all the other Dreamcast sports games. The details on the players' faces are astounding, and the animations are super-realistic. They didn't really need to overhaul the graphics; they could have just added more color and it would have been perfect. But instead they completely changed the graphics and the result is that in 2K2, the player models are way less proportionate, the faces look cartoonish, and the animations are stiff.

As for the gameplay, one of the main problems with the first game was the fact that you don't control the fielding. 2K2 "fixes" that, but does it? I can't stand how many infield hits I give up because the ball is so damn elusive. I feel like you have to be in way too precise of a location to field the ball. The ball always passes by me and the opposing team ends up scoring a bunch of cheap runs. I have to make liberal use of the dive button just to make routine outs; how does that make sense? So yes, they added a fielding system, but it's a broken one.

I also dislike how they changed the batting controls. WSB 2K1 had bad controls but one aspect of its controls that I loved was the batting. You had to hold down the R button as you await the pitch, then release it when you want to swing. It's surprisingly intuitive. In 2K2, they make you press the A button (IIRC). I hate this because I always end up pressing the button way too hard (I can't help it) and I worry I will break my controller.

And why did they change the voice actors??? The guy from 2K1 sounded so quintessentially "baseball." It was like hearing a Vin Scully; only it was a version of Vin Scully who constantly repeated the same few phrases. But the commentator in 2K2 is a generic douchebag 2000s commentator.

Anyway there's other stuff that I can't quite remember. But all in all, I prefer 2K1. I am wondering if anyone else agrees with me that 2K2 kinda sucked.