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Baseball is very much an American sport, but the Japanese are even crazier about it than we are. This shows in most of the baseball games Japan makes, and Baseball Stars 2 is no exception. There are 12 different teams, of which six are available to select from depending on whether you select automatic or manual fielding. Because of the advanced (for the time) Neo-Geo hardware, all of the players in the game are detailed and comically exaggerated. A few times each game, you have an option to power-up your batter by putting a bigger bat into his hands. Pitchers can tire, and will look visibly pooped-out in both the pitcher window (a tired look on their face) and on the mound (you can see them taking deep breaths). The game progresses at a very fast pace, and all the while it's still a real, challenging baseball contest.

I was floored when I started playing Baseball Stars 2. After taking my first game into 14 innings and ultimately losing out, I was still having a ton of fun and wanted to start another game right away. The game looks fantastic, even more so considering the hardware it's on. It has some neat split-screen graphic effects and a catchy background music. The only real problem with the game is that base running is a little slow. Though there will be times when this annoys you (like when you're thrown out from left field), it makes things feel more like a real baseball game. You're only going to get a base hit if you find a gap. I like that a lot, and although $9 is pretty steep for a Neo-Geo game, Baseball Stars 2 is great enough for it to be worth it.