Cricket World Cup 99

Cricket World Cup 99 is the official videogame of the 1999 Cricket World Cup. It contains all the teams, uniforms, players, and stadiums used in the tournament. It was developed by EA after their last release of Cricket 97.

Gameplay

You can play as any of the 12 international teams that participated in the tournament. Controls are quite easy and you can play the game with the keyboard or with a controller.
The game features three singleplayer modes. Multiplayer was promised before the game was released, but there is no multiplayer. There is also a practice mode for practicing batting and bowling. The practice mode features various virtual cricket nets with the ability to use any bowler and batter for practice.

In the One Day International game mode, you select two sides for a one-day game. You select the match settings, weather conditions, stadiums, and other things. The World Cup Competition is a replica of the 1999 Cricket World Cup. You pick a team and you enter the World Cup. The World Cup Super Six Competition features the top six teams in a battle for a cup. If you win a competition, a movie is played for you and the movie depends on the team you entered the competition with. You can view the movie again by clicking on the movies tab on the main menu.
You can bat with a normal stroke, power stroke and defensive stroke. You time your batting and aim in the right direction. Your batting also depends on the ability of your batsman. As for bowling, you select the bowling side, the area where you want the ball to bounce, the type of ball you want to bowl, and the level of spin or seam you want for the bowl.

Fielding is controlled by the AI. Before the game was released, it was revealed that players will be in charge of fielding. The game’s manual even contains instructions on fielding. But this was changed before the game was released. The game features several camera angles, replays, and statistics. The statistics menu will show you eight tables and charts on partnership scores, partnership charts, bowling scorecard, batting scorecard, run graph, team statistics etc. You can view shots used by the batsman, the areas the bowlers are pitching the ball to, and other important details.

Some astute players will detect that all players in the game are right-handed. So, the left-handed players in real life are right-handed in the game. A review patch was later released to fix this. EA promised live updated rosters to update teams with team changes, injuries, current form, etc. But these weren’t added to the game.

Pros

• Realistic cricket game
• Worldcup focused gameplay
• The best cricket game as of that time

Cons

• Not many game modes
• Bugs

Your average British citizen neither knows nor cares when the next cricket World Cup is being held. And given England's recent suicidal surrender of the Ashes, the public's apathy is understandable. Unfortunately, further international humiliation is looming large, because England have qualified for World Cup 99 by virtue of past glory and volunteering to host the event. The slipstream of publicity created by the competition will no doubt ensure that the resulting flood of PC cricket games gives fans some sort of consolation following England's inevitable first round exit - no doubt at the hands of cricket giants Namibia or the Pot-Pot Islands.

Impending doom aside, Electronic Arts are the first company to pitch for your cash with the officially licensed Cricket World Cup 99, and with their reputation for presentation and playability it may well be that they'll knock the competition for six.

We're promised a full-on team management simulation that will appeal to action fans and strategists alike. Thankfully, hit-and-hope players (ie those modelling themselves on the current England team) can forget about the technicalities of batting orders and field placements, and take advantage of the basic 'pick up and play' game mode. This offers simplified one-button batting and bowling options, and leaves the strategy management to those of a more cerebral disposition. Alec Stuart wannabes, however, will embrace the game's Captain mode, which gives complete control over all aspects of team selection and tournament strategy.

EA, concerned that their PC version of the tournament should be able to accurately reflect the unfolding drama of the real event, will be constantly updating their website with up-to-the-minute player and team statistics, and weather news - the bad weather being as inevitable as England's early demise. As it's an EA Sports title, coded by the same guys who brought us the FIFA series, we can anticipate an option-laden front end with every aspect of the simulation being user-adjustable. Play will be viewed through a beautifully fast and fluid 3D engine equipped with multiple camera angles (including the now obligatory television-style stump and out-field views). To add to the realism several key England players have been motion-captured performing over 600 fielding, batting and bowling manoeuvres, so we can expect to see some stunningly portrayed golden ducks, dropped catches, run outs and leg-before dismissals - situations the England team are well versed in. The carnival atmosphere will be enhanced by the inclusion of all the World Cup grounds, and verbose in-game commentary and analysis from a host of cricket legends.

Cricket has had a far from illustrious history on the PC, so EA undoubtedly have their work cut out attempting to overcome the gaming public's indifference towards cricket in general and the England team in particular. It could be, however, that EA are about to bowl us over with something special - which may be the only thing that fans have left to cheer come the final on June 20.