Musashi Wins!
FLAWLESS VICTOLY!
I can't help myself. I buy every baseball game I have a platform for. So, picked this up at lunch though I planned only on getting MVP.
First off, how you feel about this game will depend on how you feel about the console title. Because it is an AMAZING adaptation. So far, the biggest difference I've noticed is that it hasn't crashed on me like the PS2 game would every other game--can't help but be happy about that. Basically, the UMD is a paired down version of the console title in nearly every way.
Graphics - I can't believe baseball is finally on a handheld like this. Some of you could give two shits, but having a full 3D version wonderfully rendered like this is one of the best moments I've had with a PSP so far (and I've been pretty damn happy before this). It's remarkable how good this looks compared to an already pretty game on console. The stadiums, sky, ball movement, etc. you won't be dissapointed in comparison. Where the difference does come in is in the number of animations. Not in anything that effects gameplay, but MLB on PS2 was jam packed with small side-animations that added a lot to the game. This version is missing nearly all of those. No catcher toss back to the pitcher, no pictures when showing line-up cards, etc. Basically they cut away the fat but it seems to have been the right decision as the rest runs so smoothly. There are all kinds of camera views still available whether pitching or batting, though nothing that will let you get super close to fielders. That works for gameplay for the most part, though I will say as someone who has played a lot of console baseball, it's a bit of an adjustment doing so on a screen this small.
Sound - Damn, nice job. Full crappy soundtrack, full announcing (and it's good play by play) and crowd noise. Extremely impressive.
Control - Fine. Nub works great for fielding, though is a bit touchy during pitching. D-Pad is useable for almost everything. Has some of the same idosyncracies as the console title (pre-loading, etc.) but very functional. Your control scheme is as complicated or as complex as your difficulty level chooses.
Modes - Quick play, online or season. You can have many different lengths of season and the season mode is FANTASTIC with full roster management, trades, schedules, stats, awards, etc. If only it had the massive career mode or franchise I'd be perfectly happy. This is a nice second best and better than what I expected. It also has the excellent feature of the console title called Fast Forward that allows you control over how much of a particular game you'd like to play. Very important for a handheld though the sleep function pretty much makes it a non-issue unless you can't get back to your game for awhile. I noticed free agents, but not minor leagues.
Customization - A+. All the options and multitude of sliders from the console version. Extremely impressive.
Online - Didn't try it yet. Hopefully tonight.
So...seems great on brief impression. Better than PS2 since it's stable so far, though it's too early to call. I wish it had that fantastic career/franchise mode but the season mode is better than I thought it would be. Wish some of the camera views were more zoomed during play, but there are many options and full replay (!!!) controls. Also, kind of wish in lieu of a franchise mode that they had gone MVP's route and added a few mini-games. But what's here looks great. Nice job, 989.
First off, how you feel about this game will depend on how you feel about the console title. Because it is an AMAZING adaptation. So far, the biggest difference I've noticed is that it hasn't crashed on me like the PS2 game would every other game--can't help but be happy about that. Basically, the UMD is a paired down version of the console title in nearly every way.
Graphics - I can't believe baseball is finally on a handheld like this. Some of you could give two shits, but having a full 3D version wonderfully rendered like this is one of the best moments I've had with a PSP so far (and I've been pretty damn happy before this). It's remarkable how good this looks compared to an already pretty game on console. The stadiums, sky, ball movement, etc. you won't be dissapointed in comparison. Where the difference does come in is in the number of animations. Not in anything that effects gameplay, but MLB on PS2 was jam packed with small side-animations that added a lot to the game. This version is missing nearly all of those. No catcher toss back to the pitcher, no pictures when showing line-up cards, etc. Basically they cut away the fat but it seems to have been the right decision as the rest runs so smoothly. There are all kinds of camera views still available whether pitching or batting, though nothing that will let you get super close to fielders. That works for gameplay for the most part, though I will say as someone who has played a lot of console baseball, it's a bit of an adjustment doing so on a screen this small.
Sound - Damn, nice job. Full crappy soundtrack, full announcing (and it's good play by play) and crowd noise. Extremely impressive.
Control - Fine. Nub works great for fielding, though is a bit touchy during pitching. D-Pad is useable for almost everything. Has some of the same idosyncracies as the console title (pre-loading, etc.) but very functional. Your control scheme is as complicated or as complex as your difficulty level chooses.
Modes - Quick play, online or season. You can have many different lengths of season and the season mode is FANTASTIC with full roster management, trades, schedules, stats, awards, etc. If only it had the massive career mode or franchise I'd be perfectly happy. This is a nice second best and better than what I expected. It also has the excellent feature of the console title called Fast Forward that allows you control over how much of a particular game you'd like to play. Very important for a handheld though the sleep function pretty much makes it a non-issue unless you can't get back to your game for awhile. I noticed free agents, but not minor leagues.
Customization - A+. All the options and multitude of sliders from the console version. Extremely impressive.
Online - Didn't try it yet. Hopefully tonight.
So...seems great on brief impression. Better than PS2 since it's stable so far, though it's too early to call. I wish it had that fantastic career/franchise mode but the season mode is better than I thought it would be. Wish some of the camera views were more zoomed during play, but there are many options and full replay (!!!) controls. Also, kind of wish in lieu of a franchise mode that they had gone MVP's route and added a few mini-games. But what's here looks great. Nice job, 989.
Plus I can put the game into sleep mode if I need to stop in the middle of a game!
