Major League Baseball 2K7

"A great game - for the Atari 7800"

I am quite tempted to cut and paste my review of Major League Baseball 2K7 (Nintendo DS) for this review. Having spent around an hour playing this disaster of a scam, I am now convinced that 2K Sports has no real interest in churning out a half-way decent release for Nintendo's two cash cows.

Quick recap: Major League Baseball 2K7 (aka MLB 2K7) is a bare-bones baseball game, with no season/franchise mode, no trading, a basic "Play Off" mode, an All-Star game, a Home Run derby, and... Is there multiplayer? Wow, I can't find it. At least the DS version HAD multiplayer, even if it was multi-card only.

Whereas the DS version uses the dual screens to show both the batter/pitcher actions and the field and stats, the single-screen GBA release has to cram all of the info into a small space. Oddly enough, it LOOKS ok, limited though the frames of animation may be. However, once the bat hits the ball (or what should be the bat hitting a ball; looks more like a miss half the time), the same fielding system the DS runs on shows up, with the same problems.

Much like old Game Boy baseball games, the ball flies faster than the screen can follow, not to mention MUCH faster than a player can react to moving his fielder to catch. Worse yet, the fielders move at a pace that would make Franklin the Turtle proud. Heck, my opponent hit a ball dead center field, to the wall. Ignoring the fact for the moment that you cannot set the depth of fielder position (nevermind the AI doing it FOR YOU), I ran my slow center fielder up from dead center, retrieved the ball, threw it to second, and nailed the runner as he tried for a double.

Problem with this scenario: ignoring the issues of fielder positioning, that should have been a sure double for the AI.

This is far from the only issue, as the AI is merceless one second and insane the next. In a sick ironic twist, I think that 2K Sports programmed this first and then tweaked the usual DS features around it (touch screen, dual screen, etc).

I wish I could at least think of something kind to say about this thing, but other than the fact that there is virtually no other baseball game on the GBA this year (or DS, for that matter), there is no reason to even glance at this thing.

And the worst part of MLB 2K7? It's one of the last games for the Game Boy brand name.

Score: 1 of 10

+ Best Feature: The fact that no multiplayer means the DS one now looks a tiny bit better

- Worst Features: Graphics, AI, no season, audio, controls, 8-bit fielding system, lack of respect for consumers, priced US$10 more than it should be

* If You Liked: Ken Griffey Jr. Presents Major League Baseball (Game Boy), MLB 2K7 (DS)

* Guilty Pleasure: Hah, that's a good one...

* (Sick) Reality: While some companies are trying to improve their games to make them more attractive to all ages (Activision's Shrek the Third DS is a reworking of The Lost Vikings), 2K is resorting to throwbacks from an age of gaming best left forgotten...

Reviewer's Score: 1/10, Originally Posted: 06/08/07