MLB '06: The Show (PSP)

CNET editors' rating: 4.0 stars Excellent
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Overall score: 8.6 (4.0 stars)
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Product summary

Gamespot editors' review

• Reviewed by: Frank Provo
• Reviewed on: 03/01/2006
• Released on: 02/28/2006

Not long after the launch of the PlayStation Portable last year, Sony published the plainly titled MLB, which was basically just a quick-and-dirty port of the company's PlayStation 2 baseball game with the graphics dumbed down and some features removed. Those cutbacks notwithstanding, MLB was well received because the gameplay was solid and the presentation was still snazzy overall. Once again, the PSP version of MLB '06: The Show isn't quite a pixel-for-pixel, feature-for-feature duplicate of its PS2 counterpart, but you'd be surprised at how small the gap in quality between the two games is this time around.

This sophomore outing improves upon its predecessor in nearly every way. The previous game didn't have batter-walk-up animations, TV-style replays, or home run celebrations. This latest installment does. Last year's game offered a modest set of play modes, the most involved of which was a season mode that only allowed one full season of play. This year's game, by pleasant contrast, offers a full boat of play modes. Offline, you can play games in the exhibition, season, and career modes, or boil it down to the batter-versus-pitcher matchup in the home run derby and king of the diamond modes. Best of all, the season and career modes both let you manage your chosen team for multiple seasons. Wi-Fi support allows for local and online multiplayer games. The online mode has been fleshed out this year to include buddy lists and instant messaging functions, as well as a news feed that can be read online or off.

Curiously, the PSP game is still missing a few of the features that the PS2 game has. Some of them are no big loss, such as the rivalry mode or the two legends teams. Also not so bothersome is the lack of a franchise mode, since the season mode does at least let you perform many of the functions that a traditional franchise mode would. You can draft rookies, make trades, sign free agents, negotiate contracts, shuffle players back and forth between the minors, and juggle lineups and injuries. What is bothersome, however, is the outright absence of any player- and roster-editing functions. The PS2 game has a full range of editing functions so that players can keep the game up-to-date. That these functions were left out of the PSP game is absurd.

Brand-spanking new to the PSP game this year is the career mode, which lets you create a rookie player and guide his career from its humble beginnings in the minors up through to retirement from the bigs. The CPU will handle lineups, trades, and substitutions for you, but you can still control the players out in the field, if you want to. Every time your player gets a hit or makes a flashy play, he'll earn training points that you can put toward upgrades in 18 categories, such as speed, durability, and plate discipline. Meanwhile, an interaction menu lets you call team meetings, beg for playing time, complain to the media, and request a trade or call-up. Good performances will earn your player more playing time, better contract offers, and additional promotions, whereas negative performances could see him sitting on the bench or dwelling in double-A limbo.

As for how the game is played on the field, all of the various interfaces offer simple, basic controls for beginners and numerous optional features for experts. Hitting primarily involves pressing a button to swing the bat. On the basepaths, you can advance and retreat runners with the shoulder buttons. For fielding, you simply need to use the analog nub to move the fielder and the main buttons to select which base to throw to. By pressing the button before the fielder catches the ball, you can "preload" the throw, which will result in a smoother transition and a faster release. Pitching has the most complicated interface, in that for every pitch you have to go through the steps of selecting a pitch, aiming the throw, and setting break and accuracy using the now-standard release-point meter. Aiming can be a pain since the PSP's analog nub is so sensitive, but there aren't any time constraints placed on the pitching process, so it's not a deal breaker.

Experts and quick learners will want to take advantage of the numerous optional features inherent to each interface, which provide pinpoint control over nearly every aspect of play. The hitting interface includes "guess pitch" and "guess location" functions, which, if you guess them correctly, will improve the quality of contact and outright show you where the pitch will cross the plate. You can also adjust the angle of your swing and specify whether to swing for contact or power, which is a new feature this year. On the bases, you can control runners as a group or individually, and preload stolen base attempts by simply pressing the left shoulder button and the main button that corresponds to the runner's current base. One thing the game doesn't let players do is specify the type of slide a runner makes when approaching the bag. That would be a nitpicky feature to have included, to be sure, but every other baseball video game has it, so why not this one? Fielding, the game's most straightforward interface, only has one optional function, which is the ability to attempt a leaping catch by mashing the right shoulder button. Meanwhile, the already feature-rich pitching interface also lets you perform pitchouts, intentional walks, and pickoff throws, if you so desire.

Budding managerial wannabes will appreciate the different management functions that the game offers. Before the game starts, you can check the disabled list and adjust your lineup and pitching rotation. During the game, the pause menu lets you warm up relief pitchers, substitute players, and make visits to the mound. You can also press and hold the select button to bring up a scouting report that shows the pitcher's pitch count, stamina, and confidence, as well as the batter's confidence rating and personal hitting chart. One of the few aspects left out of the player's control is defensive positioning. That will surely annoy people that like to micromanage the alignment of their infield and outfield, but the CPU does at least seem to be a good judge of when to put on the shift or position infielders at double-play depth.

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Where to buy

MLB '06: The Show (PSP): $19.79 - $39.99

store	price	in stock?	rating
	$19.79	Yes
Amazon.com Marketplace	$39.99	Yes
	$29.99	Yes

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Where to buy MLB '06: The Show (PSP)

• store price in stock
• Amazon.com $19.79 Yes
• Amazon.com Marketplace $39.99 Yes
• GameQuest $29.99 Yes
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