Brian Lara Cricket '99

This series should not be confused with a similarly titled Brian Lara Cricket, one that was developed by Audiogenic. As that game was actually just a budget release of a cricket sports game: Graham Gooch World Class Cricket, which was only available for release in the United Kingdom. This series of Brian Lara cricket games was developed and published by Codemasters. Besides being released on the Playstation it was available on PC to run on Windows '95 or '98.

Brian Lara Cricket '99 (BLC99) was released in 1998 to a worldwide audience. Though to players in Australia and New Zealand it was officially endorsed by another International superstar of the game Shane Warne and thus the game was released as Shane Warne Cricket '99. Later versions of the game would drop Shane Warne and pick up Ricky Ponting for its endorsement in Australia and New Zealand.

GAMES FEATURES

Teams

There are a whole host of cricket playing nations that are available to choose from. There are the nine countries that were Test playing nations at the time in world cricket: Australia, England, India, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa, Sri Lanka, West Indies and Zimbabwe. There are also plenty of non Test playing nations to choose from including: Bangladesh (currently a test-playing nation), Netherlands, Ireland, Kenya, Scotland and the United Arabian Emirates.

Commentary

This games commentary was provided by English cricket legend Geoffrey Boycott. Boycott is partnered by professional cricket broad caster Jonathon Agnew. Agnew provides most of the commentary for each delivery. But the phrases are highly recycled sometimes repeated several times in succession with just the relevant persons name from the piece of play dropped in dropped in. Boycotts voice talents are used less frequently but are well utilized as special comments making his contributions more memorable.

Game modes

This game supports single or multi player, gaming and there are many modes which the player can choose from.

• 1. Quick match: a quick match or "friendly' or 'scratch' match One Day International (ODI). In this mode all of the parameters are chosen by the computer at random.
• 2. Friendly: an ODI that the player can choose any two of the nine Test playing nations, when all the other options are player chosen also.
• 3. World cup: a Cricket World Cup simulated tournament. Here the player goes through a series of staged games against the other nations to win the trophy.
• 4. World series: this mode is another world cup style of tournament. In it there are five nations of choice always including Australia who are the host nation. The most victories wins the tournament.
• 5. Knockout tournament: involves eight teams and like other series involving the other nations. This time each loser is eliminated when defeated until one team is left standing.
• 6. Test series: The test match is the traditional form of the game played over 5 days. This mode allows anywhere from one to six game series between any two teams of choice.
• 7. Test season: Just like test series, test season allows you to control one team through test. This time over the course of years with rankings listed on a leader board.
• 8. Classic match: The game holds a series of classic matches. In it the player must complete history in order to move on to the next the next match.

There is also a practice feature which allows the player to take a generic character model into the nets and practice the controls of the game.

PATCHES FOR PC

This games has numerous patches for the PC edition of the games to enhance the experience and the features available in the game. A list of this updates include:

•     -New and improved radar system.
•     -Updates to the Australian team kit.
•     -Updates to the outfield design.
•     -Updated Stadium lists.
•     -Team updates for the India vs. England series.
•     -New Classic matches.
•     -Updated Test season files for 95-96 and 01-02 seasons.
•     -Commentary additions for Dasgupta and Yohanna.