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MLB '09: The Show Review

08:06 PM - March 6, 2009 by RaychelSnr

Let us just get one thing out of the way, MLB 09: The Show is the best next-gen sports game yet. It is a must-own title, and anyone who is even remotely interested in baseball should consider checking it out.

It is also one of the deeper, more complex and realistic sports games I have ever gotten the chance to play. Simply put, games like High Heat and MVP can now be put on the shelf in the Sanner household because The Show has finally surpassed them.

Now, at this point of the review, I must stress that MLB 09: The Show is not perfect. There are several little bugs and interesting happenings that will make you shake your head like catchers sometimes do after a foul ball. But from my experience, these negatives only slightly detract from the overall package.

Read More - MLB '09: The Show Review

MLB '09: The Show screenshot gallery - Click to view

Game: MLB '09: The ShowReader Score: 9/10 - Vote Now
Platform: PS2 / PS3 / PSPVotes for game: 90 - View All

MLB '09: The Show Videos

Member Comments

# 101 allgames @ 03/09/09 02:32 PM

I can't understand how someone can give this game a 9.5 and call it the best sports game ever, while acknowledging so many flaws.
The online is a mess. How about a bat sticking to the players forearm like a syringe. How about the twitchy mess that a check swing provides. How about the players walking and running right through each other many many times per game. What about the fact that if a batter guesses the correct pitch type, the pitcher DOESN'T HAVE TO MAKE THE PITCH. The meter disappears. Why are the developers removing the pitch meter at that point? Why can I see the opponents pitch meter when I am batting. Why are you giving the player 5 minutes to pause the game as many times as he wants? Why can't I make a change on my own when he is paused? Why do the announcers sound like they are talking to kindergarten kids. Why can't we pitch from the mound? Why are you showing me a close up of the hitter when some home runs are hit. Why is there a bullseye target at the wall on some home runs that are not even possible to jump catch? Why can someone dive around the field over and over like a ****** and not get injured or drop the ball? Can you also explain why there is a depth of field option in replay mode that does nothing when it's clicked. Has anyone gotten that to actually create the depth of field effect??
Want to pinch hit for your pitcher in an online game? Forget that and guessing pitches if you're playing someone who fires pitches so fast you're not even able to bring up the pinch hitter menu. It took less than a week for people to figure out how to exploit this and keep you from doing those essential things.
9.5??? Are you serious?

# 102 Yankees_CT @ 03/09/09 03:03 PM

@allgames

Yes he is serious, and he's right......
I never had a sports game where I had to strategize at every pitch and sit and wait for the right pitch to come or a will be hitting a dribbler to the pitcher. When you actually can feel the tension of the ball coming to the plate�.that my friend is impressive. I have never experienced a baseball video game that is so life-like in the pitcher/batter dual. I recently went 4 games in a row without me or the computer hitting a homerun and having to manufacturer every run that I did get�.that is exciting and very realistic compared to the homerun arcade fests of just about every other baseball game ever made. I think a true baseball fan would be willing to acknowledge that and the people here who have played the game of baseball for real can appreciate how they nailed it.

On pure gameplay alone this game deserves a 10, I have played just about every baseball game out there since good ol� Earl and nothing has ever come close to capturing the authenticity of the sport. I haven�t played online nor do I intend to, that�s not what I purchased it for. You can get lost in the Franchise and RTTS to keep you busy for the next couple of years. That aside the gameplay is what keeps most people coming back for more and nobody has ever done it better then this game has. It absolutely deserves every bit of that 9.5.

By the way Chris, great review�.and thanks for the batting tip! You were right, by pushing the slider for pitch speed to it�s max I am already hitting better, the timing feels a lot like it did last year after making the change. Thanks!

# 103 allgames @ 03/09/09 03:19 PM

Another apologist who thinks the review should be for a single player only experience where you have to adjust sliders to get it to behave properly.
The game isn't sold for single player and then they add in online as some kind of freebie that doesn't deserve critique.
That's like buying a car and finding out it won't go over 60 and the trunk only opens some of the time. Just because you drive 55 and don't use the trunk doesn't mean the car deserves a perfect review score from a real critic.
Sorry but you seem to dismiss some things that are part of the software package these developers sold to customers.

# 104 Yankees_CT @ 03/09/09 03:29 PM

Wow...you might as well just return the game then....if you can't appreciate this game for what it is and how well it captures the sport then you should go grab a copy of the arcade game created by 2K...I hear their online home run fest plays very smoothly.

# 105 bfindeisen @ 03/09/09 03:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jamin23


	the commentary is not better than mlb 2k9 I'm not trying to start a war. I haven't played either game but from watching the videos of both games I think 2k9 has the better commentary, but the commentary is still great in this game from what I have heard and from playing 08 on psp

I agree completely, and I'm a Show fan. MLB 2k9 announcers are much better in real life, and in the game.

# 106 allgames @ 03/09/09 03:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Yankees_CT


	Wow...you might as well just return the game then....if you can't appreciate this game for what it is and how well it captures the sport then you should go grab a copy of the arcade game created by 2K...I hear their online home run fest plays very smoothly.

What are you talking about? Why are you telling me to go play 2K? It's not about 2K it's about THIS GAME. You're acting like 4 Major League games without a single home run being hit is realistic. Why did you have to change the slider to get it "realistic".
Your narrow minded opinion of the game is just that, narrow. You obviously don't care about online options and act as though people who do, only want "home run fests". You are entitled to your opinion but disregarding the criticism of features that are SOLD as working, but are not, only shows you to be a narrow minded customer. If the online was perfect but your franchise mode sucked, I think you'd have a different opinion. If you feel good about yourself beating the computer AI instead of a thinking individual then great. I like to challenge real human beings who do things that a computer might not be programmed to do. It's 2009, every sports game has online, there are shooters that support 32+ players at the same time. Baseball is one of the SLOWEST sports on the planet up there with Golf. This is not a trivial element of gameplay for many people who enjoy playing against human beings instead of AI.

To the above poster
<>
Maybe you should re-read it. I didnt say the car was falling apart. I said there were features that didn't work and limited enjoyment of said purchase. You can replace it with a book that costs 60 dollars and some of the chapters have paragraphs so smudged you can't read it. Or maybe there are pages missing or stuck together.
But I guess for you as long as you get the few chapters that have your titillating sex scenes you'd be a happy customer.

And yes, I rented it and will return it. I am done rewarding either one of these studios for releasing games that don't perform as they say in their "previews"

# 107 Pared @ 03/09/09 04:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jim416


	And please stop the $20,000.00 car analogies that fall apart after warranty, lol.

The worst analogy that gets abused here at OS.

# 108 Yankees_CT @ 03/09/09 04:06 PM

Nevermind, please continue your banter, it's quite riveting. You will obviously never see the game the way most do and thats a shame.

# 109 EnigmaNemesis @ 03/09/09 04:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by allgames


	And yes, I rented it and will return it. I am done rewarding either one of these studios for releasing games that don't perform as they say in their "previews"

You will never be happy in the gaming world it appears.

# 110 ehh @ 03/09/09 04:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by allgames


	I can't understand how someone can give this game a 9.5 and call it the best sports game ever

Name a better sports game.

# 111 allgames @ 03/09/09 05:25 PM

By all accounts that would be NHL 09

# 112 mgoblue678 @ 03/09/09 05:28 PM

I think the people saying NHL 09 is very realistic need to watch hockey a little more. It isn't even close to being a true sim like The Show for a number reasons.

1. There is no board play whatsoever in NHL 09 this is a large part of hockey.

2. Every pass is tape to tape unless intercepted, that is not hockey.

3. Faceoffs are extremely simple lack any kind of fighting for the puck.

4. The goalie play in 09 is pretty far from being realistic.

5. I should not be able to make the same kind of dekes with Kirk Maltby as I can with Pavel Datsyuk. Player attributes need to be better at seperating player skills.

6. This is the biggest one. There is absolutely no neutral zone play in NHL 09. You can skate into the zone without any resistance whatsoever most times. Show me the last real hockey game where you saw that. There is a ton of resistance in the NHL when trying to enter the zone. The NHL is primarly played in the neutral zone except on powerplays. In NHL 09 most of the play is in the offensive zones.

7. The puck has an overall magnet behavior to players sticks. Obviously this much different in real life.

NHL 09 is a fun game but I cringe every time I hear somebody call it realistic. The Show 09 by a wide margin is better at replicating the sport of baseball and what we see in MLB.

Not to be overly harsh but I think only casual hockey fans or non hockey fans would consider NHL 09 realistic. The people who know a little bit more about hockey and watch it more on a regular basis can see the important things that are missing.

^^^Bro if you think The Show is a bad game, I say good luck enjoying any sports game. Then again maybe you just don't care for games that are true sims or maybe you don't like baseball. Either way your loss.

# 113 bkrich83 @ 03/09/09 06:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by allgames


	By all accounts that would be NHL 09

By all accounts? Hardly.

# 114 countryboy @ 03/09/09 07:09 PM

I always see people say that the game doesn't deserve a 9.5 due to the online lag. Could it be that the online lag is what prevented it from getting a 10?

And why do people keep using car analogies for video games? Its thousands of dollars vs $60. If spending $60 for you is the equivilent of spending thousands, then maybe you should re-think where you're spending your $60.

# 115 djep @ 03/09/09 07:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by allgames


	Can you also explain why there is a depth of field option in replay mode that does nothing when it's clicked. Has anyone gotten that to actually create the depth of field effect??

I don't know...it works perfectly fine whenever I use it. You don't notice the blur effect on everything except the player you have locked on to with the camera?

# 116 Acedeck @ 03/10/09 01:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mgoblue678


	I think the people saying NHL 09 is very realistic need to watch hockey a little more. It isn't even close to being a true sim like The Show for a number reasons. 1. There is no board play whatsoever in NHL 09 this is a large part of hockey. 2. Every pass is tape to tape unless intercepted, that is not hockey. 3. Faceoffs are extremely simple lack any kind of fighting for the puck. 4. The goalie play in 09 is pretty far from being realistic. 5. I should not be able to make the same kind of dekes with Kirk Maltby as I can with Pavel Datsyuk. Player attributes need to be better at seperating player skills. 6. This is the biggest one. There is absolutely no neutral zone play in NHL 09. You can skate into the zone without any resistance whatsoever most times. Show me the last real hockey game where you saw that. There is a ton of resistance in the NHL when trying to enter the zone. The NHL is primarly played in the neutral zone except on powerplays. In NHL 09 most of the play is in the offensive zones. 7. The puck has an overall magnet behavior to players sticks. Obviously this much different in real life. NHL 09 is a fun game but I cringe every time I hear somebody call it realistic. The Show 09 by a wide margin is better at replicating the sport of baseball and what we see in MLB. Not to be overly harsh but I think only casual hockey fans or non hockey fans would consider NHL 09 realistic. The people who know a little bit more about hockey and watch it more on a regular basis can see the important things that are missing. ^^^Bro if you think The Show is a bad game, I say good luck enjoying any sports game. Then again maybe you just don't care for games that are true sims or maybe you don't like baseball. Either way your loss.

I agree with all of this. This is coming from a hockey fanatic, as well as a person who's played the sport for over 18 years.

I believe MLB 09 is so much more true to the sport of baseball than NHL 09, it's not even worth comparing.

# 117 allgames @ 03/10/09 03:14 AM

Hey if you guys think the developers of this game can only improve it 5 tenths of a percent to make it perfect, then you're in some kind alternative universe. If you're writing a review to compare it to 2K then that's one thing. Reviewing a game on it's own merits is another. 5/10 of a point from perfect is ridiculous when it can't keep players from walking through each other and can't offer a better pitching method than PGA Tour 98.

I will say that when I played today, there was a patch downloaded and it seemed to fix some of the graphical glitches i saw earlier, but still didn't fix the lag or the horrible collision detection.

# 118 EnigmaNemesis @ 03/10/09 03:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by allgames


	Hey if you guys think the developers of this game can only improve it 5 tenths of a percent to make it perfect, then you're in some kind alternative universe. If you're writing a review to compare it to 2K then that's one thing. Reviewing a game on it's own merits is another. 5/10 of a point from perfect is ridiculous when it can't keep players from walking through each other and can't offer a better pitching method than PGA Tour 98. I will say that when I played today, there was a patch downloaded and it seemed to fix some of the graphical glitches i saw earlier, but still didn't fix the lag or the horrible collision detection.

I didn't know you could pitch in PGA Tour 98!?!?!

In all seriousness, I don't think any of us realists are thinking of them improving it a tenth of a point, rather, keep sustaining a 9-9.5 gem EVERY YEAR!

# 119 DavonBrown @ 03/12/09 11:18 AM

Why is this game exclusively on Playstation??? I have a 360 but I want this game sooooo bad.

# 120 countryboy @ 03/12/09 11:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DavonBrown


	Why is this game exclusively on Playstation??? I have a 360 but I want this game sooooo bad.

because its developed by Sony.

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