PSP World

MVP Baseball

When MVP Baseball arrived here, we found ourselves both anxious to see what the game could do on the PSP, but concerned about reviewing a genre of game that we hadn't played in a while. When we say a while, we mean the last baseball video game we played was back in the era of such classics as Bases Loaded, Baseball Simulator 1000, and Baseball Stars. Needless to say, things have obviously change for the better since those days — the level of realism, control, and difficulty is greater now than it has ever been.

Gameplay is terrific, but the game doesn’t have as much depth as we’ve come to expect from an EA Sports title. Options include Quick Play to get right into a game, lead a team into the playoffs in Season Mode, multiplayer — both wireless and from one system, and Home Run Showdown. The game does include EA’s excellent Pocket Trax feature, which highlights what is quite possibly the strongest of their PSP soundtracks so far including “An Honest Mistake” by The Bravery, “Finding Out True Love Is Blind” by Louis XIV, “You Owe Me An IOU” by Hot Hot Heat, and others.

Load times hinder the experience slightly, with it taking anywhere from 30 to 45 seconds to load a game once all the options are decided upon, but that didn't seem to bother us much seeing as how the average game can get lengthy. Having a good day at the plate but not putting on your best pitching performance? Expect your game to run a good while past the 20 minute mark. Because of this length, we were surprised that EA didn't include a mode that had set-up, short challenges. The controls are solid, but it takes a while to get the hang of pitching, and our bet is that the pitching will be hard to keep under control if you happen to be traveling in a vehicle with a particularly bumpy ride.

The graphics on the game are nothing short of great. The menus really add to the feel and presentation of the game, recalling signs from ballbarks of yore. Speaking of which, there are several unlockable historical stadiums, and as a super-cool bonus when you play at these stadiums the video for the game gets a grainy, "vintage" look to it and a slight sepia cast to the color. The audio commentary is also good, and the sounds associated with the pasttime, including the crack of the bat and the sound of a fastball smacking against the leather of a catcher's mitt, are all there and executed perfectly.

MVP Baseball is such a good game that it's renewed our interest in the genre. The depth of the stats and realism of the stadiums, along with unlockable stadiums and multiplayer, overcome the rather sparce offering of game modes and create a package that any baseball fan will enjoy.

Review Round-Up:

GameSpot: 7.7 (of 10)
"There isn't another baseball game on the system that feels this authentic or puts so many aspects under the player's control."

IGN: 7.5 (of 10)
"Next time we want better looking characters, models, more detail in the stadiums, no black-out screens, less glitches and online gameplay. They're completely capable of pulling it off, which makes their shortcoming here all the more disappointing."

GameSpy: 3 (of 5)
"If this title had come out before the console version, I'm sure we'd have been amazed by its accomplishments, rather than puzzled by its mistakes."

GameZone: 8.3 (of 10)
"MVP Baseball might not feel like the complete package the console version offers but it’s still one of the most genuinely enjoyable and solid ballgames on the PSP."

Aggregate Rating: 7.7 (of 10)