PlayStation 2
Released in 2002 by EA Sports
Grade: D+
Oh boy, it’s yet another baseball game with a terrible pitching system, sucking away all the fun and strategy. The rest of the game is decent by 2002 standards, if a little dull.
Where it falls in the series
It’s the third PS2 game with the Triple Play name, and EA rebranded to “MVP Baseball” the following year. There are three MLB MVP games, then 2K Sports took the MLB license away and EA went with two NCAA games before calling it quits. The beloved champion of the franchise is MVP Baseball 2005.
Praises and gripes
This game shows you the location of every pitch before you get ready to hit it. A little circular icon moves into place, and then you move your batting cursor over it, so hitting comes down to timing the swing.
This actually gives less accurate pitchers a strategic advantage. Their pitches are less likely to hit the target, forcing you to move the sluggish cursor over it to make solid contact, although I assume the better pitchers are programmed to have better luck in general.
I just don’t get it. What’s the point? The challenge of watching the pitch is kind of important to batting, and it’s completely dumbed down here.
At least the oversized ball is easy to track as it comes to the plate. It seems slightly slower than a real-life pitch, there’s a big difference between pitch speeds, and breaking pitches move realistically.
On the mound, the system is simple: choose a location, and press a face button for your various pitch types, tapping or holding to determine power. No big complaints there. It feels fine.
In the field, the action is okay, but the robotic animations leave a lot to be desired. The game gives you some help in getting a jump on the ball’s flight, but moving your guys doesn’t feel too natural and you’ll be punished for timing your throw just a hair too early. Hits are spread around the field, but the logic is far from sophisticated, and you’ll see familiar patterns the longer you play.
The presentation is pretty good and tasteful for 2002, actually. The game is easy on the eyes, not a lot of pizazz. Marv Albert and Harold Reynolds are typically boring, but overall the sound has a nice feel to it. The options are extremely light. Games move at a steady pace, but it would be nice to speed it up a bit.
Baseball video games still had a ways to go at this point. Big changes to the pitching/batting system came the following year in MVP Baseball 2003. You can safely skip this one, as there’s not much redeeming value.