This is the best cricket game ever made. Even now I prefer to play this game over the top of any of the EA games, or Ricky Ponting International Cricket or World Cup Cricket titles. Some of them (particularly EA's) may be better in terms of graphics and the amount of licensed teams and stadiums that have, but NONE of them delivers great game play, and good variety that Shane Warne Cricket does. This more than any other game recreates what it is like to actually play the game.
There are a whole host of gameplay types but what was easily my favorite, and as far as I know unique to every other sports game ever made is the classic match mode where it throws you into a famous cricket game in history and asked you to finish the game out. This was a really cool way to create exciting if you didn't have anyone else to play with at the time.
Graphics were one of the weak points of this game, although they were not really all that bad for this time in gaming. The grounds looked pretty good, and the animations were good bar some clumsiness that could be easily over looked. Character likeness were very
vague but once they put a name to the person it was pretty clear who they were once you seen them again where as you might not have quite been able to recognize them first time round.
The crowds were appropriately lively. The sound effects of the ball as it pitched and made connection with either the bat or stumps sounded something like the old sound effects used for live radio telecast of game from years ago. So while they weren't entirely accurate, they were faithful to the game. Commentary was supplied by Geoff Boycott and Jonathon Agnew which added a lot credibility to this game.
There is an immense amount of value to this game. It had such a variety to the game play. The choices in teams were quite good and it was a brilliant 2 player game. The replay value was immeasurable.
Sadly I would say that this game is still the best example of cricket in the world of video gaming. I still play this game today in preference to all the newer versions. If you are a fan of cricket and are looking for a cricketing game I would still recommend you get this game before any of the EA, World cup Cricket series or the more recent Ricky Ponting International cricket, because it is just that good. This game is timeless.
