Wiffle Ball

I grew up more familiar with Wiffle Ball more than baseball or softball. For those that don't know exactly what it is - a wiffle ball is a hollow, hole-riddled white plastic ball that you hit with a hollow plastic bat. It's much safer and easier for youngsters to pick up and play, as you don't need gloves or other equipment to get a game started. A ball and the bat-- makes a afternoon of fun without risk of head trauma or other such damage. If you're used to throwing a softball or baseball, it's a weird thing to go to the light swiss-cheese of a ball,  but once you get the hang of it, there's a lot of fun to be had.

Never wanting to miss a chance at offering something to appeal to a built-in audience, it makes sense that someone would bring the classic recess game to your home where you can play it with even less effort than the real thing. As if we need more reasons to be lazy! DSI Games brings you the clever-titled "Wiffle Ball" for the NDS. As previous related reviews reveal, I am not a fan of real-live baseball (or golf), but absolutely love to play them in a virtual environment. Having been a player and fan of wiffle ball, I looked forward to playing something different on the fabulous Nintendo DS system. I like such games because there are frequent breaks in action, and you can develop your skills into goals such as championships and various tournament settings. Wiffle Ball, however, falls flat and as hollow as the ball itself in this awkward game.

The pitching and batting is (terribly) controlled by use of the stylus and buttons. This is an annoying and precise action. I get the feeling that they needed to incorporate the stylus to maximize the available resources, as using it feels like a awkward exercise. As if, halfway through the development process, someone yelled from the back of the room: "Hey! We haven't incorporated the stick-thingy, yet!" It takes a lot of practice to get the hang of using the stylus, yet it never did feel that comfortable even after that training. Otherwise, the game plays like any other little league style of baseball. Simple rules and some fun when things go right. Wiffle ball has its own special type of fun that makes it unique, and that magic tries its best to reveal itself in this version. It just misses the marks for a game with the potential of fun.

The audio is completely annoying, and there are no choices for the player to make. So, I made my own choice: no music! I didn't care for what was offered, and why would there be music during a game, anyway? It was a distraction. The sound of the mighty plastic bat making contact with the hollow ball is as exciting as it... sounds. It's a unexciting splat that not even headphones could enhance.

The visuals stand out as some of the better features. There are options for playing fields such as grass, a sandlot and other realistic places that would encourage a real game a wiffle ball to break out. Those locations look nice, with distinctive features and the characters playing the game look nice in their limited perspective. Everything looked as good as I imagine it could with it being a budget title.

This is a basic game without a lot of complex rules and something that anyone can pick up and play quickly--- in real life. In the digital world, however, it's a curve ball that misses the plate. 

Gameplay: 5.0
The learning curve for using the stylus in combination of the buttons causes some ugly contortions. The stylus has no purpose; it just complicates a game that, in real life, is cherished for its simplicity and ease to play. Even after you learn how to use the stylus with the offense and defense, it never feels comfortable or justified.  

Graphics: 6.5 
The visuals are limited in scope. There are no long, panning views of grand stadiums or emulations of real-life baseball parks. It's just players in various environments playing a simple game. The players look fine with no real shortcuts, nor do they take shortcuts with the simple playgrounds where the games take place. For a low cost title, you expect to see some blur and ambiguous dioramas. It's nice in the simplicity, and does not distract you from the game play.  

Sound: 4.0
The music is bad.   

Difficulty: Medium
Considering how long it took me to learn to not completely hate the stylus, I could rank it as much harder. However, it is, at the core, a kid's game in real life and also the audience for the game. It becomes much easier to play when the basics are learned, so somewhere in the middle is where you find the level of difficulty. Tough to learn, not so bad to continue once you get swinging. 

Concept: 5.0 
It's a great game to play in real life. I know that I personally played wiffle ball long before I got my hands on a softball or baseball. They're easier and cheaper to come by, and do much less (potential) damage. Thus, it's school-yard friendly sports equipment. Heck - at full speed, I can't imagine taking a wiffle ball to the head would cause long-term damage, though I don't want to test that theory. With the basics and fun involved with the real deal, I'd hope the game would step up to the plate and be a winner. Such things like street basketball and sandlot baseball have come to the videogame world with success, so why couldn't this game hit the mark?   

Overall: 5.6
I wish this game had delivered at much fun as the real life inspiration. The potential and real world model was there for the emulation, but something along the transition didn't make it out of the batter's box. The complexity of having that annoyance stylus maneuvering just added frustration to a game that was already missing "pep." It's a budget title, but you always like it when someone goes beyond the limits and adds that little extra to make it feel more like the bigger titles in the sports genre. A recent example would be the $5 Burger King titles that gave much more fun than the price would lead you to believe. Though not sports titles (does a cart race count?), they were much more fun than the player might assume. Wiffle Ball strikes out.