Inside Pitch 2003

THE BAD:
Archaic pitching game

SUMMARY:
Inside Pitch reminds me of another Microsoft first-year sports effort, NFL Fever. Both are fast, fun, and playable, but not yet deep enough to be really recommendable. Still, in terms of establishing franchise roots, IP makes some strides. The highlight is its Create/Train Player mode, where you build a baller and put him through an amusing regimen of stat-building situations before adding him to a team. Fun stuff. The championship Challenges that have you trying to re-create memorable moments from 2002 prove entertaining,too.
Unfortunately, a few big flaws undercut the promising start. The pitching, with only nine strike-zone locations to throw to, feels like a step back compared to the other series' pinpoint engines. Plus, the requisite Franchise mode and instant replays are foolishy MIA --what gives? The graphics also fail to impress, and trying to control more than one runner at a time gave me headaches....