Major League Baseball 2K6 (Xbox 360, 2006)

As expected, the Xbox 360 version of Major League Baseball 2K6 flaunts nicer visuals and livelier audio than either of the versions of the game that are available for the PlayStation 2 and the older Xbox. It also benefits from a slightly better variety of play animations and cutaways. That's the good news. The bad news is that the jump to the 360 hasn't done much overall to spice up the game's halfhearted presentation. Many player faces are still inaccurate, the same replays and play animations still recur frequently, and, although the animation is more fluid in this version, the players still look a little jittery while they're running. To further complicate matters, the Xbox 360 game also suffers from a greater frequency of minor bugs and AI quirks than its so-called "last-generation" counterparts do. None of these rough edges are deal breakers on their own, but, taken together, they conspire to severely drag down what is otherwise a deep and feature-rich baseball sim. Without a doubt, the graphics put the high-resolution capabilities of the 360 hardware to good use, at least in the technical sense. The player and stadium models are heavily detailed and everything has a sharp, vibrant look. Scoreboards and signs behind the outfield, which automatically update with line scores and dynamic advertisements, are perfectly legible from behind the plate. Finer details--such as skin tones, facial features, clothing, dirt, and turf--look more textured in the Xbox 360 version, as contrasted with the comparatively muted details found in the versions available for the PS2 and the original Xbox. Player faces look disturbingly human, although, for every face that actually matches a real player's, there's another that's completely wrong. On the one hand, Pedro Martinez and Alex Rodriguez look like the guys you see on TV every couple of days. On the other hand, Manny Ramirez doesn't have his knotty dreds and Ichiro Suzuki looks like he's an Italian-American.

The crowd in the 360 game is especially impressive. Every last spectator, from the fans behind the plate to those in the upper deck, is a complete 3D model, which is quite the improvement over the cardboard cutouts and low-poly people normally found in the seats in most sports video games. Individual spectators stand up, wave, and fidget in their seats. In certain views, you'll notice pizza and beverage vendors walking the concourses. After a home run, the cutaway viewpoint will show the person who caught the ball celebrating their catch. It's also very cute how spectators fight over foul balls that are hit into the stands. When compared side by side with the PS2 and original Xbox versions, the Xbox 360 version looks smoother in motion and has a wider variety of play animations and cutaways. Players still look a little jittery when they run, but individual plays are silky smooth. On the whole, the variety of different plays is good. Routine throws from the infield to first all look the same, but there are plenty of different animations for double plays, outfield catches, and non-routine plays. It really is like the difference between night and day when you see how many different shoestring catches and athletic grabs happen in this version of the game compared to the others. There are also more instant replays, crowd cutaways, and player-reaction shots to see in the Xbox 360 game.

Pros: Graphics sharper and more detailed than other consoles (w/ HDTV), pitching controls, batting controls, depth of features, smooth online play

Cons: game freezes a LOT (supposed patch coming to fix this), fielding and baserunning controls are awful and very buggy, many little animation glitches, just a straight-up port of the regular Xbox version with marginally improved graphics overall

Impressions: 2K Sports needs to learn how to develop games for the 360. They also need to learn how to actually test games before releasing them. There are so many little problems with this game that I'm not even going to try to list them all. Do yourself a favor and go with MLB: The Show on the PS2 if you can. The many positive aspects of this game do not make it worth the frustration if you have an alternative.

Well, let me first start off saying that the game could have been better, but this by no means means that is a bad game. Some people are kind of blowing it out of proportion.

Some have said that this does not look like an Xbox 360 game, I would have to disagree. The stadiums look great. The players also are pretty cool to look at. When I say the players, I mean there body structure. You can tell who is who by the way their body structure looks. This is cool I think. However, you will notice that when you look at there faces, this is where the game falls flat on its face. You wont notice anyone just by looking at there faces. But if you look at there body figure, you will be amazed at how close it is to the real people. Except overweight people, they make them look skinny in this game for some reason, but I guess that is good for them, lol. But overall, body structures are very impressive.

Also, collisions and the shirts rippling in the wind are very cool. Great physics engine.

The base running, and fielding with your outfielders does take some getting use to. So does the swing stick, but it is all pretty fun once you get used to it. I understand why people dont like how the baserunning is in this game, but I dont think it is that bad. It isa the same as ijn 2k5, they could have changed it, but o well. As for the player movements feeling kind of sluggish, I also dont think it is that bad. it is just different. Once you are used to i, you get pretty good at it. It is a trial and error game.

The mind games that you play between and pitcher and a batter matopos are very cool. Very strategic baseball game. It is a lot like 2k5, which I am glad that they did not change at all. I love that kind of game style.

The modes and features on this game are plentiful. I like the online leagues, those are very creative. You can trade players on those, a very nice touch in my opinion.



This being your only MLB baseball choice, until Midway's game, which I doubt will be any good, it would be a solid pickup. If you are an xtreme major league baseball fan, and you need a MLB game, do not be afraid to give this one a shot.

Worst game. Way to complicated, everyone looks like they are blocks, their bodies are all the same. After playing MVP Baseball for the regular xbox last year, i was expecting a lot, (since i thought that was one of the best baseball games every created). To bad they just didnt copy what they did last year here. Most of the rosters are messed up, even with the updated downloads, and the disc keeps skipping or freezing. (And this is on my second copy). And i wont go into, how complicated the swinging controls are. Yes they may make things more 'big league', but when you have to spend 7 innings tring to hit more that 4 pitches, we have serious problems here. Sure you will get the hang of it, after you play a couple of games, but if you have friends that have never played and you wanna have a competive game, forget. Let them play a couple hours then play them...thats if you have the patients. I say (and this is coming from a baseball fan) wait till next year for your baseball game. There are a lot of bad reviews about this game out there, so maybe xbox will take a hint, and come out with a better one next time.

THIS IS THE BEST BASEBALL GAME AVAILABLE. THE GRAPHICS THE OVERALL PLAY IS FANTASITIC. THE ONLINE PLAY MAKES IT WORTH BUYING. LOTS OF NEW REALISTIC FEATURES IN THIS GAME, INCLUDING THE NEW ANALOG SWINGING AND INSIDE EDGE. IT EVEN HAS THE WORLD BASEBALL CLASSIC. NOT REALLY NOTHING BAD TO SAY ABOUT THIS GAME. ITS ONE OF MY FAVORITES...