MLB 06: The Show (Sony PlayStation 2, 2006)

Ever Dream of running your own baseball team?

If you have then this game is something you should try. The depth of control of your baseball club is amazing. You can control the ticket prices, parking prices, jersey prices, concessions, and even batting cages. You have full control of spending for marketing your baseball club including magazine, television, radio, and newspaper spots, and decide what part of your club should be promoted. You can even pick who to allow to advertise on the billboards in your stadium (that is visible in the field in games) and who to give your television contract too (giving you more money and exposure). MLB the Show allows you to employ scouts for all the areas of the world allowing you to decide what kind of prospects you hope to get in future drafts. There are even banks built in to give out loans when your club is struggling (careful though they do charge interest).

Graphics in this game are better than the MLB 2k6, but the motion animations seem robotic and not so natural. The fielding is suspect at times but it gets it done. The pitching is fun but still lacks the depth that the MLB 2k6 had this year. The hitting is fun but can turn into a home run derby if you get lucky with the picks of what pitch is coming. Base running is hard to get used to but can be done. This game feels like the big leagues and has the appearance of being the show but still lacks some of the feel of game play that EA sunk into MVP 2006 NCAA baseball.

The addition of the career mode seems like a good idea but I am not sure who would go threw a whole career as a single player. This allows you to change some things about the game but limits your control of rosters and you can not do all the fun stuff that the management can in the franchise mode. I think it would be long and tedious to play out a whole career as a pro.

Hope this helps some.

MLB The Show is the best baseball game out there to date. There are plenty of ways to have fun in playing the game. There is a brand new career mode which you create a player at any position and take him through the ranks starting at the AA and all the way to the MLB. There is also the traditional franchise mode which you are the GM and manager of a ball club and control the money, players, facilities and other things. You can also play online and there are modes like HR Derby. My only dislikes are that in franchise mode no matter what you do you seem to lose money. Other than that this is a great game.

Overall I rate this game a 4 out of 5. This game has an awesome career mode, they let you create a player, the only bad part is that it takes forever to get to the majors but when you do get there it is worth it. My favorite feature of the game is the franchise mode. This is the first game where you get to use and you can actually play with your minor league teams. You do everything from selling advertisements around the ballpark to how many hot dog vendors you want in your stands. I also like how that at the end of your contract in franchise mode you can still sign with another team instead of having to stay with one franchise for 10 years. I do recommend this game, but I wouldn't pay over $30.00 for it. Hope This helps

This game is just short of perfect.

One or two player franchise mode makes it a good buy if you play solo or with a friend. Allows you to edit prices of all the goods you sell, field upgrades, ticket prices, and more. You also do your own promotions and management hiring and marketing.

Triple A and Double A ball are available. Rivalry mode lets you also play against others. The pitching and hitting is decently easy to learn so you will have the ability to compete after just a couple innings.

On the downside, the baserunning is average at best (ie hitting a slow ground ball with a runner on second or a base hit to center and they stay at second) and on occassion, a player will spin 360 degrees before making a throw. There also seem to be quite a bit more overthrows than in real games.

Worth the buy if youre looking for a game that will have a good amount of replay value.

This game is pretty darn good. I haven’t played much out of Career Mode, but from what I’ve seen, I like.

From the heckling of the fans to the announcers, this game is as close to the real thing as it gets. The animations are great from swinging the bat to pitching and everything else in between. Although I would like to see diffrent animations after hitting a home run.

Some issues I do have with the game are the throwing and base running. This has to do more with the response of the controller buttons than animation. It seems the response time is just too slow (hey, I missed lots of double play opportunities because of this). No matter how hard I pressed the button, it wouldn’t respond. At first I thought it was my controller so I went out and bought a new one. But the new controller reacts the same way. Now I only play with the auto defense.

Overall, this game is great. I give it a 4 just because I have my issues. But otherwise, I’d give it a 5.

Is it a classic? I believe so!