Major League Baseball 2K6

"Okay, the fielding sucks, but the game isn't that bad."

Introduction: Welcome ladies and gentlemen to the exclusivity age when it comes to sports games! Well, at least exclusivity when it comes to not allowing EA to put out a MLB game. Either way, we're stuck with the weaker portion of the MLB market with EA left out, but 2K sports knows how to put together a sports game, and MLB 2K6 isn't as bad as you may think.

Gameplay: 7/10
The biggest thing that you should look for when it comes to a sports game boils down to what kind of gameplay it has. It can make or break a game. In MLB 2K6's case, it attempts to do both at the very same time. First, the good. That would be the pitching. It truly is phenomenal and it the best pitching system that any baseball game has featured to date. To go into detail about the system a bit, they have two different options in pitching. There is breakpoint pitching and pinpoint pitching, both are what they say they are. Breakpoint has you aim your cursor taking into account how your pitch will break while pinpoint does that already, so you don't have to worry about that. To truly appreciate the pitching, breakpoint is the way to go. Don't worry, if you're not an expert at how pitches break one button press and you'll be shown the directions of how a pitch will break. Now down to the specifics of how to pitch. It's really simple once you throw your first pitch. You start will moving the cursor to your location. Then, you hold down the button of your pitch you want. Once the cursor becomes a large circle you should release. Your controller should also rumble which signifies the point at which you should release. Then you press that same button again when the circle closes back up. The closer you get to the center then the better your location and break of your pitch will be. It might sound complicated with words, but once you do it, it's simple. Once you get the hang of it you'll instantly love it, as I have. What makes it even better is the Inside Edge feature implemented in this years game. If you spend the dough to scout batters on the other team your catcher will suggest what pitch and where to throw it at. Additionally, if you get a count where you've got two strikes on the batter, you'll have the option to throw a payoff pitch. With that, if you hit your location then you'll receive a game long boost for that pitch.

While the pitting is pretty awesome, other areas of the gameplay come up short at times. The new batting system, with the analog stick control, sounds like a good idea but it's unresponsive at times and can become an annoyance. Luckily there is an option to return to traditional batting where one button allows you to swing. It may be a lot more simple and “boring” but it's a lot more practical. If only the same could be said about the fielding. That is easily the worst area of the game. If you want to quickly change directions while playing the field, good luck. Most players move like tanks in that situation and you'll find yourself giving up a couple extra bases from time to time because of the wack controls in the field. It also would have been nice for them to include a throwing power meter when you throw the ball to a base so you know what the throw is going to look like, but apparently the makers of the game didn't see that as a good idea. Baserunning at times can be somewhat frustrating as fielding, but if you know what you're doing then it's not so bad. A simple one button press will advance your runner and you can make them go faster by pressing a button to make them sprint. Bad news is if you press that advance button more than once he'll keep running, regardless of what's happening. Also, you'll have problems making two runners sprint at the same time, unless you are a master button masher or switch over to using two hands on the face buttons when base running. The new “first person” stealing, as I call it, is pretty fun, though. You now have the option of controlling the baserunner while the computer bats for you if you'd like to steal. It might take a bit to get used to, but it's pretty fun. For the gameplay overall, there are a few downers about how things work, but there are also some rewarding aspects of it.

Controls: 8/10
There really isn't much complexity in the controls, as there shouldn't be. Batting can be very simple while using the traditional system and pitching is pretty easy to master. It might be a little hard to get started going with, since the instruction manual doesn't do much in terms of explaining exactly how to pitch, but don't let that deter you. Eventually you'll get around to mastering the pitching system and soon you'll be striking out 10 per game. The only place where the controls really falter, again, is back to the fielding aspect. There's no throwing power meter so you just gotta hope you pressed down the button long enough for a powerful throw. Also, loading up a throw home might cost you since sometimes the game will read that as you diving for the ball, which will then lead to you giving up some extra bases and runs. Also, don't ever consider diving since that's the most unresponsive control in the game. You'll never dive exactly when you want to and the ball will always fly past you. If you consider diving then you're just setting yourself up for giving up an inside the park homerun.

Sound: 7/10
There's not much of a soundtrack here and there really isn't any kind of emphasis on it either. Hell, I didn't even know there was a soundtrack for a while. So if you're looking for the MVP-esque kind of set soundtrack then you'll probably be disappointed. However, the on-field sounds are pretty good. The crack of the bat sounds good and you'll know when you pounded the ball out of the ball park. The ambient noises are also pretty good, most notably the crowd as you'll hear chants for specific players as well as hecklers occasionally spouting out at the mouth.

Presentation: 7/10
Well, this is some of the best presentation I've seen in a baseball game, and it's probably the best. Jon Miller and Joe Morgan provide the commentary and they actually sound real, rather than the robotic commentary most people are used to. However, that doesn't mean that they're perfect. They do like to say a lot of things that don't make any sense, or are just complete wrong. For example, they have a knack for saying a player was thrown out at second base by trying to stretch a single into a double in their last at bat despite that not even happening. That'll happened frequently, as will them saying that a player 0 homeruns or RBI's in the previous season, at least in the first year of franchise mode. Also, the pregame banter of that woman and other dude, whose names aren't important enough to be mentioned, doesn't like to make much sense either. Oh, and it'll repeat, quite a lot. They like to call pitchers terrible when they are in fact not terrible, but you can always skip through them, so it's not that big of a deal.

Graphics: 8/10
As always, if you're primarily looking for graphics in a sports game, then you've probably not been playing many sports games, nor should you play many sports games. With that said, the graphics aren't that bad in this. Some players are totally unrecognizable, but that's to be expected when you've got 25 players per team, with 30+ teams. The stadiums are put together pretty nicely and the crowd actually looks like real people, so that's a plus.

Overall: 7/10
So it's not perfect, but what is? With EA out of the picture in the MLB scene we're left with two options, and this is certainly a strong option. Don't let the ‘7' deter you, as it's a relatively strong 7 since there are some really good redeeming qualities of this game. The pitching is astounding, and the batting can be good without that swing stick garbage. If you can put up with the fielding and occasional base running blunder then you'll assuredly have a fun time with this game. If you're hankering for a new baseball game for this new season, MLB 2K6 is a feasible option. It's been put down quite a lot but it's not as bad as some people would like you to believe. It's not MVP baseball, but it's an acceptable alternative to it. However, if you're still having fun with MVP Baseball '05 and have access to updated rosters, sticking with that would be a whole lot better than going with either new baseball game.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 04/19/06