E-Mail This Article to a Friend Future perfect? An underdog makes good in MLB 2006 BY JIM MURRAY
	MLB 2006 Published by Sony Computer Entertainment America. Developed by 989 Sports. For PlayStation 2. Rated E for Everyone

Well, slap my ass and call me surprised! MLB 2006 from 989 Sports (wait, they still exist?) is easily the frontrunner for 2005’s gaming comeback of the year. I’m not going to lie to you: I thoroughly expected this game to suck. Can you blame me? 989 Sports hasn’t gotten anything right during the PS2 era. Sure, they were the kings back on the PS1 with NFL GameDay, but since then they’ve easily developed some of the ugliest, most unplayable, and downright-awful sports games in the history of console gaming.

Now that I’ve filled in the uninformed about 989 Sports, let’s get to the studio's amazingly good MLB 2006. Right off the bat (oops, sorry, bad pun), the reason I’m a fan of this game is that it’s very sim-heavy, like a good baseball game should be. If you were a fan of the criminally-shelved High Heat series, then MLB 2006 is for you. If you are a diehard baseball fan, you can’t go wrong with this title’s all-new Career Mode. In this mode, you essentially get to play from a real ballplayer’s perspective, and control his destiny from the minor leagues all the way to retirement, based on his on-field performance. In this mode, you also have the ability to interact with your manager and teammates, in turn leading your virtual-ballplayer self to be concerned about playing time, trades, and salary. Hell, you can even provide a tell-all interview to the media.

MLB 2006 also has a revamped Franchise Mode. The guys at 989 have obviously been influenced (to put it mildly) by the always-deep Franchise modes in EA’s games, and they follow suit here by giving you the all-new Player Morale System. This tracks player morale on every level and applies it to the player’s day-to-day performance. All the bells 'n’ whistles that you’ve come to expect from a Franchise Mode are here. If you’d like to run the show from top to bottom, you can do that in MLB 2006.

So, how’s the actual gameplay? Well, much like High Heat, MLB 2006 employs "gameplay sliders," which allow you to customize everything from pitch speed to arm accuracy. Even with this kind of control, I found that MLB 2006 really didn’t need to be tweaked all that much, especially when you compare it to the competition. For instance, in EA’s MVP 2005, the ball is constantly flying out of the park at a juiced-up, Bonds-like pace; however, home runs and doubles are somewhat of a rarity in MLB 2006, much like in real baseball.

On the pitching side of things, my favorite feature of all in MLB 2006 is the game’s "Release Point Pitching" and "Pitcher Confidence" meter. It’s a lot like a golf-swing-like meter, and the meter constantly changes as the game progresses. Look at it this way: the higher your pitcher's confidence, the more easily you’ll retire the side. However, start making mistakes and you’ll quickly find your pitcher turning into Johnny "Way Back" Wasdin. It’s a damn cool feature, and it adds a serious intensity to close games.

Are there problems? Sure; the graphics, while nice, are nowhere near as crisp and clean-looking as those in EA’s MVP 2005 and 2K Games' MLB2K5. That’s not to say they aren’t good, but the game sometimes tends to look blocky and choppy. Other than those minor gripes, I can’t stress enough how surprised I was with this title. At the very least, give it a rent, and put it to the test against the other baseball games out this season. I think you’ll be as surprised as I was.

Score: 8.0 (out of 10)