MLB '06: The Show (PlayStation 2)

GameSpot editors' review

• CNET editors' rating: 4.5 stars Outstanding
  Detailed editors' rating
  Overall score: 9.0 (4.5 stars)

• Reviewed by:
  Frank Provo
• Reviewed on: 03/03/2006
• Released on: 02/28/2006
• Originally published on GameSpot: MLB '06: The Show (PlayStation 2) Review

Sony really turned its MLB franchise around last year by scrapping its old code and starting from scratch to create a wonderfully crafted baseball sim that many considered superior to the competing products put out by EA Sports and 2K Games. Wisely, it didn't try to reinvent the wheel again with MLB '06: The Show. Instead, it took what was already a great game and made it better. The developers have fleshed out various play modes, added a few new features, fixed a couple of nagging bugs, and spit-shined the presentation, thus producing a masterful follow-up that should appeal to newcomers and should also entice owners of last year's game to upgrade.

The list of play modes is exhaustive, in a good way. Offline, you can play full games in the exhibition, rivalry, career, season, and franchise modes or distill it all down to the batter-versus-pitcher matchup in the home run derby and king-of-the-diamond modes. Online, you can use your PlayStation 2's network adapter and broadband Internet connection to play head-to-head, participate in tournaments, follow leaderboards, and download roster updates. Buddy lists and instant messaging are also available, as is an MLB news feed. On top of all that, you can create your own players and shuffle the rosters any way you like using the various editing tools. The game even supports Sony's EyeToy camera so you can insert your own face onto custom players.

Of course, the game includes all 30 Major League Baseball teams and stadiums, thousands of actual players, and a decent assortment of alternate jerseys and spring-training ballparks. Two all-star teams are available, as are two legends teams, although those need to be unlocked by winning games in the various play modes. Triple-A and double-A clubs are also available in the career and franchise modes, but the only real players included in them are those who have already had previous major league experience.

Fans who want to follow their team for multiple seasons have a number of options with which to do so. The season mode is perfect if you just want to shuffle lineups, make trades, and play some ballgames. One step beyond the season mode is the career mode, which lets you create a rookie player and guide him through an entire career, beginning in the minors and hopefully hashing out numerous seasons in the bigs. You'll earn training points to upgrade your player's abilities, based on his day-to-day performance, and you can access interaction and contract menus to get playing time and negotiate better deals. At the end of the spectrum is the franchise mode, which lets you micromanage literally every aspect of a ballclub. In all modes, the game tracks statistics in more than 75 individual categories and doles out all of the necessary year-end awards.

The franchise mode in MLB '06 is pretty much identical to how it was in the previous game, which is to say ridiculously comprehensive. Besides handling lineups, drafting players, making trades, and playing ballgames, you have to manage the development, facilities, and marketing aspects of the ballclub. On the development side of things, you can hire scouts, coaches, and medical staff, and then you can assign them to specific research areas or have them hunt for talent in various regions of the country. Facilities management is split into various subcategories, including stadium updates, vendors, training facilities, rehab facilities, and transportation. For example, the vendors menu lets you install different food and gear stalls and set the prices for the items they sell. On the marketing side of things, you can set up promotional giveaways, buy advertising in various forms of media, and sell ad space on the billboards and scoreboards inside the stadium. Variables such as budget, fan support, and player morale are also tracked on a daily basis, and you can access detailed reports to keep tabs on each of them. The goal is to build a successful ballclub and satisfy the contract goals that the owner has set forth so that you'll be hired back year after year.

New to the season and franchise modes this year is a feature called "game time decisions." In a nutshell, the players and coaches will voice their complaints and concerns to you prior to the start of each game, and you have to decide whether to solve their problems or ignore them. Perhaps Ichiro is in a slump and the hitting coach thinks he needs a day off, or maybe a hotshot rookie is tired of sitting on the bench and wants to be put into the lineup. Granting their requests will make them happy and bolster their stamina and confidence, but doing so may negatively affect your lineup for a game or two. On the other hand, not granting a request could lead to injury or discontentedness, which will negatively affect that player's play out on the field. Day in and day out, you have to weigh the pros and cons and make those game time decisions.

Thankfully, MLB '06 generally lets you adjust your level of involvement to suit your tastes. While playing through the season, career, and franchise modes, you can have the CPU automatically handle any aspect you don't want to bother with. That includes everything from lineups and injuries to business tasks and facilities upkeep. In all modes, you have the option to play games from the field, manage from the dugout, or have the CPU simulate all or a portion of a game. For instance, if you want to jump ahead a couple of innings, you can do that by selecting the fast-forward option from the in-game pause menu. Two different manage-only interfaces are available. One uses the standard 3D perspective, while the other resembles a fantasy baseball board game. In either, the CPU controls both teams while you watch from the dugout. Whenever you need to, though, you can interrupt the game and issue specific commands to your hitters, pitchers, and base runners.

In addition to being a very flexible single-player game, MLB '06: The Show is well suited to competitive multiplayer play, both offline and online. Offline, the majority of play modes support head-to-head competition. What that means is that in addition to being able to battle it out in single games, two different players can each have their own teams while playing through the season or franchise modes. Realizing that people often develop rivalries with their friends and relatives, the folks at Sony's San Diego studio built a rivalry tracker into this year's game. The rivalry menu keeps track of win-loss records and other various statistics for anyone who inputs a username into the system. Those stats are then saved to a memory card and loaded up each time the game is started. From the rivalry menu, it's easy to see who among your friends is the best hitter, the best pitcher, or the best overall. It's kind of like the offline equivalent of online leaderboards.

Just like its predecessor, MLB '06: The Show boasts a number of online features you can take advantage of using a PS2 network adapter and a broadband Internet connection. Last year's game set the bar high with head-to-head play, user-created tournaments, roster downloads, buddy lists, leaderboards, and discussion forums. This year's game adds instant messaging and an MLB news feed to the mix. The system automatically keeps track of records, various statistics, and disconnects. A new rating system has also been implemented, which lets you rate your opponents based on their sportsmanship. If they used bad language or disconnected before the game was finished, you can assign them a low rating. If they were a relatively decent competitor, you can assign them a high mark. From the game lobby, it's easy to see at a glance how many times players have disconnected and whether they have a positive or negative overall rating. Most importantly, however, the lag issues and system crashes that users experienced and complained about last year seem to have been fixed in this latest game. When the connection between two players is solid, play is generally smooth with only a few hiccups here and there. Not having the game lock up after showing the final line score is also a big plus.

As for the nitty-gritty of actually playing the game, the basic aspects of its various control interfaces are rather straightforward, but each interface also has a number of optional and advanced features that, when put to use, provide pinpoint control over every facet of play. Many of these features have been with the MLB franchise since its inception. Some, like the release-point pitching meter, have been outright lifted from competitors' products. Chances are, if you enjoyed some aspect of a particular baseball game's control setup in the past, it's here in MLB '06, either by default or as an alternative to one of the default interface setups.

Hitting is mainly based on timing. Press the button when the ball crosses the plate and you'll probably make contact. Like any good baseball sim, MLB '06 includes a number of advanced features that you can employ to improve the quality of contact and increase the odds of reaching base. By holding the R2 button, you can attempt to guess the specific pitch and its intended location. Guess correctly and the game will outright show you the pitch's location before the pitcher releases the ball. Guess wrong and your swing won't be as solid. Following in the footsteps of other highly respected baseball sims, this year's game uses different buttons to specify whether to swing for power or for contact, and it also lets you influence the angle of the swing by inputting directions with the left analog stick. For instance, if you want to lift the ball to left field, you'd hold up-left on the stick.

Should you reach base, you can let the CPU control your base runners or input commands at various points to advance and retreat your runners. Picture-in-picture cameras at the top of the screen enable you to see how much of a lead your runners are taking and where the opposing defenders are in relation to your runners. Base runners can be controlled as a group, or you can take control of an individual runner by pressing the button that corresponds to the icon. Before the pitch, you can preload stolen-base commands. Once the ball is in play, you can issue different commands to have your runners advance, hold position, or retreat. A couple of years ago, EA Sports implemented the ability to control runners' slides into its MVP Baseball game. Sony has implemented a similar feature in MLB '06. By pushing up or down on the left analog stick, you can have your runners make headfirst or feetfirst slides. Feetfirst slides become take-out slides at second base if the double play is a possibility, while issuing the headfirst slide command to a runner nearing home plate will result in a collision with the catcher.

Pitching is probably the game's strongest interface and also the most involved. Pitchers generally have anywhere from three to five pitches in their repertoire. To select a pitch and set the pitcher's aim, you first have to pick a pitch by pressing the corresponding button, and then you set the aim by positioning a ball-shaped cursor with the left analog stick. When you tap the X button to lock in the target, the release-point meter appears. This curved meter sets the effectiveness and accuracy of the pitch. After you press the X button, the meter starts to fill. Letting up on the button sets the effectiveness of the pitch, and a quick follow-up tap sets the accuracy and causes the pitcher to release the pitch. Timing your button presses is the key to making effective, accurate pitches. If you hit the "sweet spots" on the meter, your fastballs will be speedy, and your breaking pitches will break sharply. If you goof up on either input, your pitch won't have good movement, or it'll miss its intended mark. In addition to all of the pitch-specific controls, you can issue commands for pitchouts, pickoffs, and intentional walks.

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