You have to feel a touch sorry for
the pitcher who, nursing a two-run lead, puts two runners on with no outs in the
bottom of the seventh and then sees Larry Walker stride into the batter’s box –
knowing that Albert Pujols, Scott Rolen and Jim Edmonds are following. It is
likely the closest to the ’27 Yankees Murderer’s Row that any modern-day lineup
can boast, and a nightmare to a pitcher. At any given moment, that Cardinal
quartet can bust it open in a big way. And they have a pretty good setup with
David Eckstein – not to mention that the follow-up hitters are not to be taken
too lightly, either.
The key, as any Cardinals fan could
tell you, is to use the pitching staff very well, not letting starters go too
deep into the game, keep the bullpen active and get into it fast as the
situation demands.
That is still evident even when the
videogame known as MLB, from 989 Sports, takes center stage. Certainly, the game
has a few stumbles rounding first, but when you consider that you are talking
about graphics that generally rival any pro baseball game on the market, and
they are rendered so gorgeously on the PSP, you have a baseball fan’s dream.
This is portable baseball gaming goodness, with head-to-head Wi-Fi multiplayer
for the highly competitive.
There are not a lot of game modes
with this title – Quick Play or Season. But what the game lacks in general game
types, it more than makes up for with in-game options and set-up. You can really
tailor this game for quick swing-and-pitch play, or get into the nuances of
batting, guessing pitches and influencing the direction of the hit; or you can
take deep control of the fielding elements coupled with Branch Point Technology,
which allows defensive teams to pre-load throws even as you are fielding the
ball.
Batting depends on whether you use
the rookie setting (just swing – timing is everything), or the veteran or
all-star settings, in which you can not only guess the pitch type, but the zone.
Nail those and there is an excellent chance you can drive the ball a long way.
The pitching is a multi-step
process. Select the pitch types, then use the analog stick to select the
beginning location for the pitch, configuring break and use the meter to
determine release point. Release too soon or late, and that curve ball may take
a two-to-three foot drop down to kiss the dirt, or that slider may sail high and
wide and find the backstop.
The in-game menu allows players to
pinch hit, warm up the bullpen, and make defensive substitutions. You can even
take the game into a manage-only mode. While the game does have some load times,
once you hear the opening notes of a ballgame, until the post-game report shows
up, the only moments when the flow is paused is if the AI (or your opponent in
an Ad Hoc Wi-Fi game) is making substitutions, or you are. Some of the subs made
by the AI can be questioned, especially on one occasion during season play when
the AI subbed out three players successively – sending up one batter, then
yanking him for another, then subbing in another and yet another before a pitch
was thrown.
However, the game counters that with
strong mechanics when it comes to the flow of the game. A pitcher may start to
get tagged a bit, and you get the bullpen busy and made a mound visit. The visit
seems to calm him down, and he settles back into a rhythm and escapes what could
be a disastrous inning. And the bullpen, even though you designate pitchers to
head there, seems – on occasion – to need a kick in the shins to actually start
getting warm (like that aforementioned mound visit).
“He’s going to find himself back in
triple-A if he keeps swinging at stuff like that,” grouches Dave Campbell, the
game’s color commentator. Normally that would be an adequate remark, except the
batter was a pitcher, who had already won some games and was sporting at 2.35
ERA. Or he may say that when your batter chases a pitch well out of the zone – a
batter that is currently hitting well above .400. Other repetitious phrases can
be a bit of an irritant. Not every hit that makes it through the outfield gaps
“rattles against the fence,” and “well-traveled veteran” is just used a little
too much to describe Reggie Sanders. (Yes, been a Cardinals fan for about a
quarter of a century, so there is a bias when it comes to picking the team to
play as).
However, if you sit playing this
game without headphones, the quality of play-by-play coupled with the
environment sounds may just have people nearby thinking you are watching a game
live on a mini portable television.
When it comes to the graphics, the
game has some faults with so many broken and shattered bats that the good folks
at Louisville Slugger are likely winching, and never has there been seen so many
diving attempts at a defensive stop in which the ball is deflected to another
fielder who makes the play anyway. The ball may dive into the centerfield
stands, or appear to, only to bounce off the invisible wall and back into the
field as a beach ball-sized white globe. There is also a repetitive animation
with a handful of generic batters for home-run celebrations.
All that said, one still cannot get
past the crispness and smooth gameplay animation of this title. Hand it over to
someone who has not seen a baseball game on this system and you will likely see
the eyes pop, the jaw sag open and an audible “wow” escape from him or her. And
generally the elements that make Major League Baseball so much fun to watch are
all here. Turn a 5-4-3 double play, and you will smile from ear-to-ear. Send a
frozen rope through the gap between left and center field for a bases-clearing
double, and you may chuckle with glee. Swing at those pitches just up above the
strike zone (have trouble laying off the high ones) and you may find yourself
verbally castigating the batter who, after all, is merely the convenient target
proxy for yourself.
MLB is not the perfect baseball
game, by any means, but it is quite good and definitely enjoyable. It is not the
only portable (as in handheld) baseball game on the market, but it is the only
PSP baseball title so far, and it already is a clear division winner.
To put is another way, if you own a
PSP, and you love baseball games, you should own this title.
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Gameplay: 8.3
The game did lock up and crash on one instance. Sometimes the pitch location was
well out of the zone, there was no swing but it was a called strike. Go figure.
Irritating but livable. The controls are easily to learn and use, and the only
slowdown in playing a game came in load times prior to the start of the gaming
session and saving after a ballgame.
Graphics: 8.5
The animations are
excellent, the ballparks sparkle but the ball mechanics are a little slow and
drag rather than skip through the outfield grass – especially when the ball
“rattles against the wall.” The crowd is two-dimensional, but you don’t buy a
baseball game for the look of the crowd – you get a game for the gameplay.
Diving grabs, slides into a bag, and swing animations are all very well done.
Sound: 7.8
Repetitive phrases can become annoying, and the announcing tandem of
Matt Vasgersian and Dave Campbell seem a step
or three behind the action on the field – especially if you are in the “let’s
just play” mode and not waiting for them to meticulously describe what just
happened. The musical score is decent, but mostly comprised of tunes you will
hear and forget (and yes, there are a bevy and some you will recognize), but the
environmental sounds are excellent.
Difficulty: Medium
The game does a terrific job in the options of enabling players to tailor their
experience. You can just bat and pitch, or advance to guessing pitches and
locations, to fielding from the moment the bat makes contact with the ball.
Concept: 8.4
This title, coming out so soon after the PSP’s launch, is a baseball videogame
fan’s delight. It has solid in-game options, has sharp graphics and animations
with a great control system. There are approximately 18 elements that can be
tuned in the gameplay to tailor the way this game behaves.
Multiplayer: N/A
There is online head-to-head multiplayer games available on this unit.
Unfortunately at the time of the review, there was no one about with a copy of
the game to play against.
Overall: 8.3
This is a delight to play and while the point has been belabored, still, to have
this type of game in a handheld is a wonderful treat for gamers. MLB may stumble
a bit rounding first, but it easily makes the turn at second and barrels into
third with big league-style graphics and intuitive gameplay.
