MLB 2006 from 989 Sports

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One excellent feature, to help you speed things up is the Fast Forward feature that lets you pick a point in the game you would like to jump to. Pick an inning..pick top or bottom and the game sims you to that point and let’s you pick up play right there. Great if you are leading by six runs early and want to get into a later inning. You may be surprised by what happens..and there is no go back feature though.

Last year, walks,check swings and foul balls were an issue with this game. I can tell you assuredly, they are not an issue this year. I walk guys and get walked ....regularly. As a matter of fact....I still swing at WAY too many balls and even ball four. It will leave you groaning in your seat when you do it....and just to tick you off a little further...if it’s an obvious ball....Dave Campbell will give you a little “ WHAT WAS THAT?!” While there is not an overabundance of foul balls...they are there in a pretty decent amount. I would consider it a fair trade off between what you would see in a regular game...and what 989 felt would be a good amount for game times....it’s in between. One thing I have noticed is...when you start to use the analog stick for guessing and aiming...you will be able to foul off the tougher pitches(as opposed to just swinging and missing!) That is great.
Fielding in this game can be a little tough at first. I use the assisted fielding..and am trying to slowly get myself to fully field the ball manually. The auto fielding is excellent. There do seem to be too many dives by the SS and 2B...but maybe an edit to their fielding ability will help. It’s not that big of a deal. One thing that does bother me a little is the official scoring of balls that hit off the gloves of players. While errors are in the game..and are recorded....certain balls that look like errors to me...are credited as hits. I guess you chalk it up to the official scorer.

Hitting is another thing that can be tough. I play on veteran...and still have a tough time hitting on some days. I still strike out regularly. I guess in a way, that’s a good thing...because to tame the game easily, would take the fun out of doing well over time. Hitting on the higher levels requires you to guess a zone on the pitch. You can shut of the guess pitch, but that applies to the type of pitch. The hitting in this game feels right to me. It does seem a little like you have to wait longer to swing and make contact....but after a while...it feels right this way. If you guess the right pitch and the right zone...you have a great chance of scorching the ball. It does NOT mean you will automatically hit a homerun.

While I will tell you that the gameplay is excellent....I believe certain edits will further enhance the gameplay. Pitcher stamina and clutch might be good to increase for the other teams in your league...and pitchers contact/power should be lowered, while increasing their bunting ability, as certain pitchers with high contact ratings are not bunting in bunt situations sometimes. I don’t see it often....but as with any game...nothing is perfect. That brings me to my biggest gripe with MLB2006. Manage only mode.

989 saw fit to include a manage only mode in this years version. Unfortunately it is unplayable. While the core of the mode looks and works very good...and the amount of options for the manager to choose is excellent...there are some very big problems with the manage only mode. Namely, the CPU never replaces it’s starting pitcher. ....and there is NO way around it. It’s a bug and it’s a big one. That’s not my only nitpick with MOM either. Ironically, the CPU sees fit to replace YOUR pitcher when it feels necessary as well as pinch hit and defensive substitutions!

It’s almost as if the coding was reversed! I will say this...if fixed, it will be a GREAT feature of this game. You get to manage games either in your season or franchise. But obviously, you won’t likely be doing that in either mode.

To sum it all up, I would say that any fan of baseball would love MLB2006. I would rate it higher than either MVP or MLB2K5, warts and all. If you’re still undecided..I would say to give it a shot. I think you will be pleasantly surprised.

Ratings
Gameplay-9
Graphics-8.5
Sound-9(the commentary is great)
“ Immersion Factor”-9
Overall-9
M.K.
Knight165