Ludography
MLB '98 cover

1997 · 989 Studios · Baseball · Simulation

MLB '98

PlayStation exclusive

MLB "98 is a Major League Baseball video game for the PlayStation and is by 989 Sports. It was released on June 30, 1997 and is rated K-A for kids to adults. Games are called by public address announcer Mike Carlucci. New York Yankees center fielder Bernie Williams was featured on the cover. Some of its features are the 30 Major League Baseball clubs, 6 playing modes, complete statistic tracking, and creating players.

Released
1 August 1997
Platforms
PlayStation
Genres
BaseballSimulationSports
Developers
989 Studios
Publishers
Sony Interactive Entertainment
Themes
Non-fiction
Country
United States
Age ratings
ESRB E
Languages
English

About

MLB ‘98 is a 1997 baseball video game developed by Sony Interactive Studios America and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation. It precedes MLB '99 and is the sequel to MLB Pennant Race.

Keywords

  • baseball
  • gravity
  • box art - real photos
  • year in the title
  • san diego padres
  • in-game advertising
  • penalties
  • playstation underground

The articlegameplay, story, development, reception

Gameplay

Games are called by public address announcer Mike Carlucci. New York Yankees center fielder Bernie Williams was featured on the cover. Some of its features are the 30 Major League Baseball clubs, six playing modes, complete statistic tracking, and creating players.

It has been succeeded by MLB '99, where Vin Scully began calling the games. Starting with MLB 2000, joining him is infielder Dave Campbell on color commentary.

Reception

MLB '98 received above-average reviews according to the review aggregation website GameRankings. Most critics praised the fluid animation, comprehensive licensing, extensive features, and the usually fast pace of the games. The two sports reviewers of Electronic Gaming Monthly both gave it a 9 out of 10, with Kraig Kujawa describing it as "fast-paced, straightforward and (most importantly) fun." GameSpot's Glenn Rubenstein was much less enthusiastic, commenting that while the game has all the expected features, it fails to truly stand out in any area, leaving him certain that a superior baseball game would come out by Christmas.

Next Generation said, "There's no denying that MLB '98 is a good, solid baseball game that surpasses Triple Play '98 in many respects. However, in the grander scheme of console baseball, MLB '98 does nothing to advance the genre and can't even clean the cleats of Sega's World Series Baseball '98 for Saturn." GamePro concluded that it "gets rookies into the action right away and can definitely keep the most seasoned veteran hooked for an entire season. If you like your baseball served up arcade-style, MLB '98 is the only game you need to order."

Releases by platformdates and regions as published

PlatformReleasedRegions
PlayStation30 June 1997North America

Editions and related releases

Followed by
MLB '99

Games like this

Collections3 collections

Genres

Platform libraries

Description adapted from its source, CC BY-SA 4.0.