Uno, Dos, Adios: MVP Baseball

The questionable: How many f*cking diving catches are the comps gonna make? I mean, come on!

As an 8th grade graduation present, the fat kid got a brand-new PSP system. I also got Ridge Racer, a stellar game. But I needed another one to balance the load. I decided to get a baseball game to take advantage of PSP's sleep mode (these games take LONG). I chose MVP baseball over MLB because of the former's success. What did i get? I got a game that, for the most part, fails to live up to the larger system's abilities but still is a solid game for the PSP system.

MVP comes with many standard game modes, such as season and quick game mode. Understandably, there is no franchise mode, as the PSP cannot fit such a large amount of data. The season mode spans 82 games with any of the 30 teams. You can change a variety of options, from difficulty to the ability of the comp to steal a base. Also, you can trade with other teams and create your own player. The game allows two human players to play head-to-head battle. The game also comes with a "Home Run Showdown", in which two players (or a comp and a player) try to reach a certain distance in Home Run Derby setup. The only complaint i have about the showdown is that the foul balls are negative distance. I have hit so many 450-foot bombs that just miss the foul pole. How sad...

Gameplay is quite simple, and most gamers should experience little difficulty in mastering them. The A.I. will present a challenge, but none too hard once the game has been mastered. Pitching is done well, with a single meter that controls accuracy and effectiveness. Stamina is an important key to the game, as it is harder to pull off an effective pitch if your pitcher is tired (hence, warming up the pitchers are crucial). I also like how, if the pitch is not effective, it won't miss the plate: rather, it will sometimes serve up a big, fat pitch for the computer to crush (don't worry, the computer pitchers do the same thing). In that sense, the pitching is extremely realistic. Fielders have a similar meter, meant for speed and accuracy.

Batting is even easier. Pressing x will swing the bat, but timing is key. The analog stick will help you control whether you hit a fly ball or a ground ball, or if you push or pull the ball. Hitting is more difficult, however, as the "Hitter's eye" feature is nowhere to be found, which is disappointing. Timing is crucial to hitting and players will have to wing it.

So what is good about MVP? It provides simple, enjoyable baseball, and also shows great detail in its presentation. Player faces are very detailed, with the only one that is off being Hideki Matsui (ugh. he looks BAD) and even batting stances and batting routines have been added. Replays are shown from various different angles, and celebrations can be seen. The soundtrack to the game is mediocre, but the game sounds excellent. Basically, the gameplay provides that "in-game" feeling that all quality baseball games strive for.

However, MVP falls short on some aspects, and just plain freefalls on some others. The announcing is decent, but it is repetitive and that one guy who says "sweet" in EVERY sentence is very tiresome. At least they bring enthusiasm, which is severly lacking in MLB (the announcers there have as much life as a wet donut). A major issue with MVP is how choppy it is. Every action that happens in the game seems to require loading time. Many glitches occur in the game, like game freezes and blackout (Not too many, but they happen)that are frustrating. Another HUGE issue is the controls for baserunning. I don't know what crackhead made up the formula for it, but damn, they need to fire that crackhead. The concept sounds good on paper: individual runners can be controlled with different buttons in the game. Sounds great: if the runners would actually listen to you. I can't tell how many runs i've lost because my guy a) stopped running, b) kept running, or c) just plain did nothing. It's ultra-confusing, ultra-unneccessary, and ultra-lame.

So, MVP baseball for PSP is a solid game, but lacks polish and hopefully can improve for the 2006 season.

Gameplay 6/10
Features 7/10
Graphics 7/10
Sound 7/10
Intangibles 8/10

Total 35/50
70%
rounded down to 3/5