There was a time when Randy Johnson’s move from Seattle to Arizona was thought, by some, to be both the towering pitcher’s and Seattle’s swan song. How could they let him go? How could he move to an expansion franchise? Then Curt Shilling joined Diamondbacks, making the duo ­ arguably ­ the best 1-2 pitching starters in Major League Baseball today.

Arizona’s club had a plan. Think you can come up with one of your own and draw in some top talent to build a team around?

The new franchise mode is the star of EASports MVP Baseball 2003 for the Xbox. While the game sports other new features, including better player animation and an improved game interface, it is the franchise mode that will have game players wheeling and dealing in a wonderful chess match that evolves around America’s pastime.

Begin the franchise mode in the game options, incorporating either an existing roster or creating a team from scratch. Make trades, sign free agents, create your own players, manage rosters, and set pitching rotations. There are team goals set for you, and each time you achieve a goal, you increase your management rating.

You can either choose to play out a game, or simulate it. Should you choose the latter, you can interfere at any time, and jump in to take over.

Randy Johnson just signed a two-year extension deal with the D’backs worth $33 million. Don’t like things like that, or want to beat the deal, then EASports invites you to try.

The home run challenge has a couple of ways to compete ­ either in a straight longball contest, or by going for combined distance.

Through the utilization of pop-up screens, EASports gives players plenty of eye candy. The stadiums may not be as crisp as in previous incarnations, but the seeing a running on first and second in side windows, give the game a very real feel.

Other features new to the title include a new game engine that really improves the baseball played in the game, a hot/cold zone which reflects each batter’s strengths and weaknesses, There is also a player council, which offers input and advice form top Major Leaguers.

The Home Run Showdown features some new contests, such as hitting for cumulative distance, with negative distance penalties for fouls or strikes, and side-by-side split screen competition.

The player interface is intuitive and players with any kind of baseball experience can jump right in and play without a lot of manual references.

The game’s physics are true-to-life and the gameplay is very well done. There is little not to like about this game. Scanning through the menus did not reveal an Xbox Live! option, which may be the program’s only failure. This game would be fantastic if set up in franchise mode for an on-line league.

MVP Baseball 2003 is the continuation of the Triple Play franchise, but this game offers much more, and is a delight for baseball fans. The graphical elements may not be mistaken for the real game, but the animation is wonderful and the gameplay is excellent. Once again, EASports steps up to the plate and bashes the ball with authority.

This game is rated for Everyone.

Gameplay: 9.1
The games move seamlessly and there are some very nice options in terms of how you play the game. This game has a simple player interface that really makes the game easy for the rookie.

Graphics: 9
The stadiums don’t look as crisp as the previous incarnation of the EASports title, but the player animations are more impressive. EASports wants you to know how good the modeling is and pops a real-life picture up so players can compare the image to the avatar. It is impressive.

Sound: 9
The game sounds are superb and the play-by-play is very well done. EASports has a reputation for inserting a quality soundtrack into its sports titles and this game continues the trend.

Difficulty: Medium
The interface has been simplified, and there are three difficulty settings to supply challenge to most players. The game AI is also quite good.

Concept: 9
A host of new features makes this a solid baseball title, one that is superior to previous EA incarnations.

Multiplayer: 8.8
This game supports up to 2 players on the Xbox unit. While the AI is very good, playing head-to-head against a friend, whether in a real 9-inning game, or in the home run challenge, is quite entertaining.

Overall: 9
EASports continues the trend of strong sports games, and have done a very nice job of improving on a solid title. This is a good game that sparkles with player animation and modeling, and the franchise mode is a delight.