or the second year running, MVP is home to the best all around gameplay package. The pressure sensitive pitching mechanic, and sheer intensity of batting best exemplify the realism of the sport and skills that it takes to excel.
When a game is on the line and your pitcher begins to fatigue, each pitch that you throw is a nerve-racking experience that will likely have you chewing your nails right down to the lunula. If you are just a hair off with the timing of your button presses, you may serve up a meat pitch. Given the great velocity of fastballs, you really get a good feeling for off-speed and breaking pitches. It’s the only baseball game that really delivers the mind game of batting. You often find yourself thinking that you’ll get a fastball, but the pitcher comes in with a circle change that has you swinging a second too early.
The only area where the game comes up a little short is in fielding. The new Big Play Control certainly adds an element of excitement to the mix with the flashy dives and leaps that can be performed manually with the right analog stick, but the AI is still a little off. First basemen struggle with pitchers covering the bag. You may find yourself losing a shutout simply because the game highlighted the center fielder when you should have been controlling the left fielder. It plays better than other games, but it’s still rough around the edges. I also found it aggravating that the announcers call home run shots well before the ball clears the wall.
In the front office, MVP has improved greatly. Dynasty mode is now overflowing with enhancements. The daily email updates tell you everything you need to know, right down to who is on the trading block, strategies to use against different teams, and which players want more playing time. You’ll also track your clubs AAA and AA teams, and can even play through every game in their respective seasons if you like. I’m always a sucker for unlockables, and MVP has a ton (retro jerseys, legendary players, stadiums).
Out of this year’s baseball games, MVP is the complete package.
The Edge
Since online play can only be found in the PS2 version, you’d think that it would trump the other two. That’s not necessarily the case, however. If you are more in the market for a single player game, the Xbox is the way to go. While the gameplay is identical in all three editions, you will notice a subtle framerate hiccup on the PS2 when transitioning between batting and fielding views. Season simulation in the Xbox version is much quicker as well. Seeing that this game absolutely devours memory card space, your standard GC 59 memory card won’t cut it. Given the strengths of the two systems, The Edge is a wash between the PS2 and Xbox versions.