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Derek Jeter Real Baseball is a baseball game by Gameloft. $0.99

[A modified post from TheAppEra]

This game is the latest in Gameloft's Real Sports series, this time featuring one of the best known baseballer's today, Derek Jeter. Having a big name like Jeter on their game, I was hoping for actual MLB teams and players

Sadly, they haven't been able to get the rights to the names (MLB World Series 2009 is the only game to date with the rights to the teams, no players). Go Yankees? Or does this game tank?

With no MLB teams to convince you to buy this game what does Gameloft put on the plate to convince you to buy the game exactly? What about some quite realistic graphics and a baseball experience that is more true to the actual game than anything else on the App Store.

This game is fun to play, with easy to use controls that look great in one of the awesome looking baseball stadiums. If you have had enough with playing the addictive arcade baseball games like Baseball Superstars 2010 and Homerun Race 3D and want a real baseball experience, this is certainly the perfect game for you!

As I said before the graphics in this game are freaking sweet! This is by far the most realistic sports game in Gameloft's list and that's saying a lot when they have games like Real Soccer 2010 and NFL 2010.

The characters in this game look so real and detailed that at times it's almost like you are watching the real thing. This game has got everything in the game right down to the crinkles in the players outfits. The players are very close if not better to the footballers we see in Electronic Art's Madden 10. That's how impressive they are.

The animation is quite smooth for a game with graphics as good as they are. I encountered hardly any lag and the game ran smoothly if you had reset your iDevice within the last day or so. The fielding, pitching and batting animations all replicated real baseball extremely well and also managed to keep up with the pace of true baseball. This isn't something other games have been able to do so far and it's great to see someone 'get it right'.

Derek Jeter Real Baseball uses controls similar to MLB WS 2009 but they have been slightly improved to make the game easier. When batting, all you have to do is swing the bat by tapping on the screen, without the need to aim at the ball. This is a smart move on Gameloft's behalf because the ball is coming a lot faster than any other baseball games.

Pitching is pretty standard with it involving selecting a type of pitch, tilting your device and tapping to select that spot of the pitch. Next comes up to power meters that require you to try and stop it at the required spot to get perfect power and accuracy. It takes a bit of practice but you can generally get at least perfect accuracy all the time.

For the first time you can control fielding. This basically lets you run to pick up the ball and decide what base to throw it to. While it's not all that spectacular it adds for a bit more excitement and action in the game.

For those who have absolutely no idea how to play baseball, the aim is to get more runs than your opponent in 9 innings. In Derek Jeter however, we can be impatient little gamers and play with either 3, 6 0r 9 innings in a game. There are a few games modes to choose from including quick play, season mode, playoffs and home run contest. Again you can play these in a variety of difficulty modes with easy, medium or hard.

Quick Play lets you choose a team to play with and against and is for fun. This probably won't be used much as you are better off playing Season mode. This allows you to play a number of different games in a season to hopefully win your way to the playoffs. You can choose any team to play out of the made up teams and players (Excluding Derek Jeter playing for New York of course). Lastly is the Home Run Contest which gives you three rounds to get as many home runs as possible before getting out 10 times. This is alright but gets a bit boring and dry to the end of the 3rd round. Winning it gives you a sweet trophy however.

The game is incredibly good at acting like a real baseball match. The pitching is fast paced and was a real shock when I first played the game, as all other games I have played have quite a slow pitch. This makes for more quick decisions on whether to hit or miss and makes the game much more exciting. Even on easy I found batting a nice challenge. Pitching is fairly simple but depicts a real baseball match yet again very well. Even small detail like the ball being thrown back to the pitcher is put into the game.

Really, this is the baseballers game. Those purists who want the true simulation experience will love this game to bits, providing everything I can think of in a baseball game. It is a shame that they couldn't get the naming rights to the game but the game content makes up for it. Gameloft have certainly hit a winner with this game, and I don't see how it can't be a very successful game.

Derek Jeter Real Baseball easily commands top spot in the category of baseball games, especially simulation games. For $4.99 (insanely priced at) $0.99, I find this game to be a great pick up and a well earned change from the arcade baseball games we are used to seeing. Baseball and sport fans in general won't be disappointed with this game. Seriously, just pick this up and get a homer already.

Gameplay- 9/10
Graphics- 10/10
Sound- 7.5/10
Overall- 8.5/10

I would recommend this game if you enjoyed- MLB World Series 2009

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