Setting down The Show, going with MVP NCAA (PS2) - DJ's Blog

DJ's Blog

Setting down The Show, going with MVP NCAA (PS2)

Posted on June 23, 2009 at 10:29 PM.

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Recently, I fired up MVP NCAA Baseball 07 for the PS2 and man, I fell in love with the game all over again. The MVP game engine is really on-point and plays a great game of baseball. I'm not a die-hard college fan, but I follow the sport close enough that I really get a lot of enjoyment out of the game.

The load-and-fire hitting is intuitive but I recently switched back to classic hitting as my reflexes aren't what they once were, lol. The pitching mechanics are also solid, although the location is a little too exact for the user. Fielding is smooth (love the hustle button to get to those gappers) and analog throwing is a breeze.

The description above leads me to the title of this blog:

I picked up The Show 09 the day it hit the stores. While the PS2 version may lack the graphical firepower of the PS3, in terms of on-field play, the game more than holds its own. I've logged over 100 games and overall, am really happy with the game.

But, there are a few things about The Show that really drive me nuts. The unresponsiveness of the fielders. I hate it when a ball is hit down the line and my 1B or 3B just stand there and don't even attempt to make a play on the ball. Or, balls hit to the gap the game on default picks the fielder furthest away from the ball, making it tough to catch or keep from reaching the wall. Balls hit to the gap are always caught by the CPU, while their gappers fall more times than not.

I also don't like how seemingly every time I put together a 3-4 run inning, the CPU answers back with a rally. I've thrown pitches out of the zone and the CPU will smash them for extra-base hits, then the next inning, I'll throw the same pitch and get a weak grounder.

I know it sounds like I'm piling on The Show and that's not my intention. I think it's a very good game, but, and this is the PS2 version, there are some annoyances that take away from the fun factor.

After spending time with both games recently, I have had the better overall experience with MVP NCAA. That will be my game of choice when it comes to baseball.

Comments

# 1 DJ @ Jun 24

I actually went back to the PSP version of 08 and am finding that to me more enjoyable than 09 on the PS2. Not sure what I'm going to do with The Show 09. Probably no sense in trading it in as I won't get anything for it.

# 2 DJ @ Jul 5

Well, I'm back to The Show. I think I just needed a break from the game and the MVP NCAA game was a nice distraction. The Show really does shine on the PS2 and if a few ground balls down the line aren't picked up by my 1B or 3B, really, that's nothing to be too upset about.

All in all The Show is probably one of the best games on the PS2.