The biggest baseball player going has got his own mobile game coming out, and although the “barely alpha” version we played was speedy, its scope was drastically limited. There's a good reason why hitting practice isn’t televised before the ball game starts.

　　The conceit: You’re Barry, and you’re chasing the mighty Hank Aaron's 755 career home-run record. At the start of the game you’ve got 625 dingers, and the challenge of the first level is to outpace Willie Mays' record of 660. The home-run derby part of the game will be familiar to almost all. You are presented with a nicely rendered catcher's view--the nameless pitcher hauls back and lets fly. You’ve got to press 4, 5, or 6 as the ball approaches to send it over the fence. The pitches are fast and are delivered with good variety and speed. The underlying game engine is the same one that Gamevil used for CBS Sportsline Baseball 2004, so expectations are high and are for the most part met. Hits flare out around the field convincingly. The camera pans and pulls back for nicely hit home runs. Especially well-hit balls are rewarded with images of Barry pointing toward his lord or the ball landing in the water outside the park.

　　The big question: “How long am I going to do this?” Although the second, third, or fourth levels (715 home runs, 756 home runs, and “beat your own record”) are progressively difficult, the game is very much the same throughout. In this early version, not even the graphics between levels were changed. Gamevil has tried to add some charm to levels by injecting a dose of baseball history into each one. It works tolerably well for the Willie Mays level but falls flat beyond because licensing issues prevent the developer from mentioning Babe Ruth or Hank Aaron by name.

　　Mforma producers are promising targets in the field to hit and other tweaks, but no matter how nicely rendered, there are only so many home runs someone can hit before getting the gist and growing tired. It would be worthwhile for the developers to put some more creative juice behind such a gigantic license deal.