Com2us is at it again. The developers of the hugely-popular Homerun Battle 3D are in the midst of creating another baseball title – 9 Innings Pro Baseball 2011. Where as Homerun Battle 3D focused on, well, homeruns, 9 Innings encompasses the entire game of baseball. Going even further, there also is a big RPG element to the game with the addition of player cards.
I ‘ve had the opportunity to spend some time with a beta version 9 Innings 2011, and I ‘d like to share with you some of my thoughts. I ‘m going to focus on what I think are the two most important things: gameplay and player cards.
Gameplay
There are three main game modes: exhibition, league play, and a homerun battle. As for on the field…
With Homerun Battle 3D, you only had to worry about tapping the screen and swinging your bat to belt out a long ball. With 9 Innings, there is much more: hitting, pitching, base running, and throwing.
Hitting
Similar to Homerun Battle 3D, this is done by tapping the screen at the right moment. There are two buttons to tap if you want to bunt left or right, but other than that, tap anywhere else on the screen to swing the bat. It ‘s very straightforward and very simple.
Pitching
A baseball game ‘s pitching interface is one of its most important factors. And I have to say that, so far, pitching is my favorite aspect of this game. It was very easy to learn, and it ‘s fun, precise, and fair.
Each pitcher will have a few pitches to choose from. After you tap your selected pitch, you then tap and drag a baseball around, in, or out of the strike zone to aim your throw. Once you raise your finger, a big blue circle appears over your aim and gets smaller. Tap the screen again when the blue circle is at its smallest point to throw a more accurate pitch.
Base Running
Base running can be a little difficult at times, but it ‘s nothing that some minor tweaking can ‘t fix. When the ball is in play, you see two icons on the screen: one to advance your runner and one to make the runner retreat. This works fine if you have only one base runner to control.
When you have multiple, however, it gets confusing. You ‘ll see helmet icons above the player. I assumed that tapping the icon would control only that base runner, but that didn ‘t seem to be the case. Now, it is possible that I fat-fingered the command at tapped the wrong player, but whatever the case, base running wasn ‘t up to snuff with the rest of the gameplay.
Throwing
This part is really basic: tap the helmet above the player you want to throw the ball to. That ‘s it.
The gameplay is fine for what it is. It isn ‘t highly addictive, but it also is not frustrating. It works just as it should. Just know that it ‘s nothing like Homerun Battle 3D. This is a completely different game, and your enjoyment will vary.
Player Cards
To be quite honest, I ‘ve spent a lot of time trying to understand how this system works, but I still can ‘t wrap my head around it. When you start the game, you pick your team and receive a slew of cards that start at level 1. By earning points during the game, you can level up your cards so your players play better.
Also during gameplay, you earn cards of players from other teams. Lastly, you can also purchase cards in the card shop. Both of these cards can also be leveled up, combined, or sold for other cards.
I understand the thought behind leveling up your team through earning points in the game. What I don ‘t get, however, is what is the point of earning cards of players on other teams. If the point of the game is to use one team and earn points to level up your team, I don ‘t understand why you need the other cards.
In my eyes, this system needs a lot of work before this game is ready for the App Store. The whole thing is quite confusing.
Graphics
The aesthetics could use some work. Well, a lot of work, actually. The player models and animations remind me of a Gameboy Advance game. When you consider how nice looking Homerund Battle 3D is, it ‘s a little surprising that Com2us didn ‘t put a bigger focus on the visuals.
Also, the text is blocky and an eyesore to look at. I ‘ve also noticed some misspellings, grammatical errors, and incorrect player identifications.
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To be honest, if Com2us was not the team behind this game, I ‘d be less excited for it. While the gameplay itself is fine, it isn ‘t anything that will keep you coming back (except for maybe the pitching). The graphics are weak. And the player cards system is very confusing.
But I still have hope. There is enough here to keep me interested when the final version does come out. If they can simplify the player cards, tweak the gameplay, and improve the visuals, Com2us will have yet another hit on its hands.
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