Major League Baseball 2K6 for PSP Reviews by Gamers

Ever since the exclusive deal for the MLB franchise was announced by 2K Sports, baseball fans, particularly PSP owners, have eagerly awaited the latest version of the detailed sports sim. Inside Edge stats, Swing Stick and Pure Motion Physics aside, the

console version we reviewed a few weeks ago didn't really knock the ball out of the park. With their first foray into the PSP realm, 2K Sports recently released Major League Baseball 2K6, an almost exact port which keeps just about every facet of the console game, while at the same time exacerbating its technical limitations and flaws significantly.



That may sound like a harsh criticism, but there are some bright spots within the clouds surrounding 2K's portable baseball title. First of all, this is probably the most feature-packed UMD that's ever been made for the system. Practically every feature from the console game has been included in the PSP version of the game, with some of the more technical aspects excluded due to the size of the disc itself. That means that you have the option to create separate VIP profiles that tracks a myriad of stats for a number of game seasons, including your career batting average across all games, your favorite teams and seasonal stats. All of the tokens received for completing challenges and items that you unlock within a profile's Skybox; The TV room and pictures captured from games have been cut out, as have the transitions from area to area, but outside of this, just about every other item has been included. This means that unlocking classic sports teams, throwback uniforms or some of the stranger elements like playing in fog are still available if you want to customize your game experience. What's more, the fact that it doesn't take up a lot of space on a memory stick is truly impressive. A GM Career can take up to 2000k only, while most other saves are around 150k a pop.



Apart from literally splitting the UMD at the seams, MLB 2K6 for the PSP exclusively features a "mini-game" known as Home Run Derby Career Mode. Initially, you start out with a stable of average batters, and you'll pick the ones with the best power and stamina to go up against another squad of players. The main objective is to knock the most homers out of a park in three minutes, but there's a twist to play: apart from the athlete's basic stats, they're given a thousand "hit points" at the start of a round, which diminishes based on how far a home run from the opposing team is hit. Smash a ball 450 feet and you take off that much "health" from the guy in the batter's box. At the end of the round, the strongest team wins, and players have the ability to unlock stronger and better hitters as they progress through the 136 rounds of the game mode. Rounds aren't always static either; some will let you swap out players via Tag Team rules, whereas others place you in a one on one Duel. This is much more creative than the standard Home Run Derby, which is unlocked once you've finally bested the Derby Career Mode and pales in comparison to what you've just finished.



Many of the other standard features from the console have also been included as well, such as the World Baseball Classic. Jon mentioned in the console review that it would've been nice to see these international teams play some of the major league teams, and the same could be said here. Unfortunately, that's not an option. Season, Franchise and GM career modes also make an appearance in the PSP version, marking the most detailed baseball game on a portable ever. Players interested in fully micromanaging just about every aspect of their organization, from the minor league clubs to roster adjustments and training staff, have full leeway towards molding the team the way they see fit. This includes some of the motivational facets, such as holding team meetings to give players attitude adjustments if they're not pulling their weight in the franchise and praise if they're doing a great job. However, if you're looking to unleash your inner Billy Martin during a game situation, you're going to have to track down one of the console versions, because arguing with umpires hasn't been included here either due to the technical limitations.



What hasn't been limited is the Inside Edge feature to give pitchers additional insight on their opponents or the Payoff Pitch mechanic. Players still have the option to purchase statistical information on athletes on the opposing team, such as the hot zone for a particular heavy hitter or the proclivity for a pitcher to throw a certain pitch in a situation. With a reasonable amount of skill involved, a player can use this info to guarantee a hit at bat or a strikeout. Pitchers will also have the Payoff Pitch mechanic offered to them, which allows the catcher to call for a specific pitch to be placed in a certain spot; while you're not beholden to following the catcher's suggestion, accurately placing the ball in the designated area gives your hurler a boost to their stats.





What's more, along with the mechanic that determines the power and the accuracy of a thrown ball, pitchers will still succumb to the pressure of a game situation just like they do in the console. For instance, giving up a number of runs and a power hitter stepping up to bat, or loading up the bases without an out will give a hurler a conniption fit. While this could create pressure-filled moments during console play, this can be downright infuriating thanks to the reduced sensitivity of the nub. You'll sometimes find yourself overcorrecting or balancing pitches away from the strike zone to compensate for the touchy controls.



While the pitching remains the same, players looking to take advantage of the Swing Stick mechanic are going to run into the technical limitation of the PSP that forces them to use the Classic Control system. Instead of using the analog nub to swing in time, you'll press the X button and use the nub to help "influence" a hit, pushing or pulling a hit towards a field or attempting pop flies and ground balls. In many ways, this works much better than trying to use the Analog nub to swing at a ball when the timing wouldn't be as accurate as you'd like it to be. The Classic Control system for the PSP also gives you more power over your bunts in sacrifice situations, letting you control where you want to place the ball.



Unfortunately, once you get past the pitching and hitting, you run into many of the same pitfalls from the console version of the game. However, the control scheme of the PSP is so significantly flawed that you can also unintentionally create a serious mistake (or series of bloopers) that will cause you to lose the game. First off, let's take a look at the baserunning. One of the most serious problems with the PSP version is that the control scheme for base running is confused depending on what phase of offense you're in. In particular, the manual mentions that advancing leadoff runners is marked by the R button and decreased by the L button when you're batting. However, when you start baserunning, L advances you one base and R retreats. Continually having to figure out which running mechanic is in play and switching between them is not only counterintuitive to the sport, it's unnecessarily frustrating.



Even worse, you often have to pound on buttons to make the players respond to a command to advance or retreat to a base. In theory, this is explained by the description of base running in the manual, which says you queue up bases for a runner to take. First, this removes the reactive nature of the sport, where players don't automatically move without thinking about having to tag up on a pop fly or making the decision not to advance on an error if the risk is too great. Even worse, the lag time in recognition between a command and a player's movement is so slow that they'll often make a move way too late and get tagged out. Jon and I noticed this when we were playing a game and discovered that there was a good three second lag between forcibly telling a player to move from first to second and his actual movement.



Fielding is just as horrible due to the Pure Motion Physics system; however, the lack of sensitivity due to the analog nub makes the accuracy of some sprints in the outfield completely impossible. Not only will outfielders have trouble making some sharp cuts to track down and make a catch, the tiniest movement of the nub will sometimes cause turns or other shifts that you weren't intending, making catching or even fielding balls next to impossible. Unfortunately, the problems don't end there: You'll have to often pound on a button to throw the ball from an outfielder to a cutoff man or a baseman, as outfielders often get stuck in their running animations and disregard other commands.





Even worse, there are a couple of glitches that allow for easy in the field homeruns even though your players are in a spot to make a play on the ball. If a pop fly or a ground ball manages to make it to the back wall in some stadiums, the ball will remain on the ground regardless of how many times an outfielder runs over it or dives on top of it. Obviously a batter will take this opportunity to head for home, literally clearing the bases. Jon and I both noticed this in a multiplayer game and thought it was a fluke until it happened to both of us in different innings.



It's a shame, because there are some nice visual touches to the game. The stadiums look quite good on the small PSP screen, as do some of the camera angles that help present a broadcast feel to the game. This includes the K Cam, home run replays and camera swings that tracks a runner heading to first on a solid hit. Unfortunately, there are a number of ugly visual touches, such as the generic, often vacant stares of the players, the stuttering animation of the outfielders as they try to make a throw on a play, or the gray jerking blobs that represent the crowd. In fact, I'd seriously suggest unlocking and playing with the "After Hours" unlockable to avoid seeing these distracting and unappealing background textures. Similarly, you'll find that players will snap into play with either poor transitions between innings or badly animated scenes of players running off the field. One time my remaining baserunners ran around the infield randomly instead of clearing the bases for the next inning after I'd struck out, which was very strange.



At least the commentary remains solid. Joe Morgan and Jon Miller do an excellent job of describing in-game action, including what's actively happening on the field and providing anecdotes during downtime. However, they will sometimes get behind, so you may hear a comment on the previous play as the next pitch is coming in. Jeanne Zelasko and Steve Physioc, however, are practically non-existent. In fact, I don't really remember hearing them during any of the games that I played. The soundtrack from the console game isn't included in this one either, so you should get used to the same theme song over and over again. A final, and relatively minor comment, is that balls hit from wooden bats sound more like a handgun being fired than a solid crack of a bat. The reverberating echo makes you think more of gunfire than a good hit into the outfield.

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