MLB 2006 from 989 Sports

“The Icarus Project?”

While there might still be snow on the ground for some of us, the annual coming of spring brings forth the warmer weather, pitchers and catchers and the new crop of baseball games for PC and consoles.
Last year, 989 Sports made a surprising “re-entry” into the baseball world. A PS2 only title, “MLB2005" treated many baseball gamers to a new choice for their baseball fix. A surprisingly good one at that. However it was a little short on a few things considered essential for today’s gamer. The development team promised fixes for this years version.Did they deliver?......hence the title of this review. They aimed high.....maybe too high and some say they fell to the sea. It’s alright though, because these guys can swim. This does not mean that MLB2006 is not a great game. It is. But it does have it’s warts...and one of them is UGLY.

Let’s begin at the beginning. The intro movies are loud and exciting and they certainly get you pumped to jump into a game. Maybe too pumped, because if anything, the games themselves are more of a laid back, lazy days of baseball atmosphere. I would have preferred an ASB2004 approach, with some old time players and some baseball scenes from days of old. I believe it would have been a better fit. But it’s just an intro and a good one at that.

On to the Main Menu. Your choice of game modes are Exhibition, Career, Franchise, Season and HomeRun Derby. All but Career are fairly straightforward and you have seen them in many a game before. For each of these modes, there are some bright spots and some dark places. While I will elaborate on each a little further into the review, I must get a serious issue out of the way first. Many people on different sites have had problems with the game locking up on them. I myself have had a few. Three or four in total, and I’ve played about 40 games, in all the different modes. I’ve never gotten “stuck” at a certain point in the game(like not being able to get past a certain date on the schedule) and after resetting, I’ve been able to continue my season/franchise/career with no problems. That being said, there are a few users who report much more serious problems with the lockups. There are rumors around, that “boiling” the disk(ala OXM) fixes the issue are being seriously considered by some, but I have my doubts about that fix.
Before you start a game mode, it’s a good idea to choose your options. First pick a level. Rookie, Veteran or All-Star. This years version also includes some gameplay sliders, and you will need to use them, as right out of the box, outfielder arms are two strong and baserunners are not aggressive enough. These sliders include(and all but baserunning aggression are for both CPU and User, baserunning aggression is just CPU) Pitch Speed, Contact, Power, Arm Strength, Arm Accuracy, Error Frequency and Injuries. Curiously, injuries is either off/halfway/or full with no way of fine tuning. Since I think set at halfway, injuries seem fine, I don’t see a problem with that. Other things that you may choose to change are thankfully, your hitting and pitching views. This year(unlike last years version to the lament of many) you can have different views for each. You can toggle on or off automatic throwing, baserunning, baserunner windows, the guess pitch feature(in all but All-Star...you must use it in this feature) the hot/cold zones, the strike zone, the flyball indicator and catch zone, auto throwing, fast play and batter walkups. For fielding...you get to choose between manual, assist(where you are started on your way to the ball, but you must take over to field and throw the ball) and automatic(where the CPU takes care of ALL aspects of fielding). Auto baserunning is nice, but one drawback is you have no control over steals or tag-ups.

Exhibition. Pick two teams. Pick your lineups. Play a game. Very straightforward.

Season. This is the best of all the game modes, for the simple fact that it has the least amount of problems. Once you start a season, you have the choice to set your lineups, pitching rotation and bench players. While there is no minor leagues with season play, users from last year will be familiar with the “inactive” list where you can keep 15 players(both pitchers and position players) in reserve in case of injury or poor play of a regular player. There is a free agent section where you can also sign players to fill in any vacated spots on your club. There is financials in season play, so you must negotiate with free agents and have the available funds. This years game uses dollar amounts as opposed to points, but the figures in the game are purely fictional and do not reflect real life contracts...either in years or amounts.

Trading in this years version has seen an upgrade as well. One new addition is the “forced trade” option. Basically this is 989's attempt at more league wide roster control. In theory, you could trade for any player and if the trade is rejected by the CPU, you have the ability to override the trade. It does do just that, but I have found instances where the newly traded player will simply fill in the counterparts(in the trade) position. Not good if you are trading a third baseman for a rightfielder. Another new addition is the Rumor Mill, Trading Block and the ability to fine tune your trade preferences. So if you want to put Cliff Floyd on the trading block and prefer a starting pitcher in return...the CPU teams should make you offers of that nature. It works, even though I found very few takers for Cliff. It is also nice to see the rumors in the league and what other teams have for availability. In all, a nice new addition.

In season play, you also have the ability to edit your players. Unfortunately, the names, height, weight and handedness of MLB players cannot be edited. Attributes only. Also, to edit a player, he must be on your active squad. In my opinion, the editor still leaves a lot to be desired. One note about editing players. For some strange reason player edits only work in season mode. In the franchise mode, the edits revert back to original after the day is played out. Perplexing.

When you are ready to dive into the schedule and play your games...you have the choice to play the desired game, sim to date, or sim the season. If you choose to play the game, you have the further choice of actually playing out the game, managing the game(more about manage only later), sportscast managing(ala MVP Baseball) or simming. A word on manage only mode. While I feel this would have been MLB2006's best new feature....it’s a train wreck. First off, the CPU never pulls their starting pitchers. Wether they are being bludgeoned 10-0 in the first, third or seventh, or the game is in it’s 15th inning! How this got through testing, I will never be able to fathom, but it did. Secondly, the CPU oddly enough gets to choose your substitutions. Ironically enough, it WILL substitute YOUR pitcher!..or position players. While it does an adequate job at doing so, I prefer to run my team, thank you very much. That’s the whole point of manage only mode. The Sportscast mode is much like last year, with a text box and little diamond portraying the onfield action. You are limited in your choices...and I avoid this method of play.

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