A Powerful Offering from the Land of the Rising Sun
Post Via amazon in Wii Games ReviewMLB Power Pros
MLB Power Pros is the best baseball game I've played since Ken Griffey for the N64. Here's why:
Not Wii remote exclusive - if I had to play this game with the Wiimote, it would not work at all. Imagine trying to get a pitch to a specific part of the strike zone by swinging your wiimote. You could probably only do what Wii Baseball lets you do, pitch out to the sides or pitch down the middle. Why anyone would want Wii control at the expense of a deep, strategic baseball game is beyond me. MLB Power Pros is a long-going series from the SNES days. It's not a port, it was independently developed for each system it was on, and its stylized look is beyond adequate for the game.
Let's look at the options: I could play a realistic looking Wii game that looks about as good as a slightly improved Gamecube title...or I can play a game with stylized graphics that actually doesn't skimp on anything, if you pay close attention. The throw, hitting, and pitching animations are all true to form, accurate, and impressive to watch, if you can believe it, and the players even look decently like their real-life counterparts.
MLB Power pros also tracks statistics to a depth you wouldn't believe. Look at the back of your baseball card and you'll see a decent array of statistics. Look at a player's statistics in MLB Power Pros and you'll see statistics that you've never even heard of unless you are a diehard MLB fan. As someone who can be best described as a statistics whore, I will attest to the fact that the stats tracked are quite satisfying.
Once you add in the oh-so-quirky J-Sim Success mode, you've got yourself a game that can only be improved in a few ways:
WiiConnect 24 - It is my understanding that the most recent Japanese version has roster updates via WiiConnect 24. I would love to see my rosters updated with end of season players, including the drafted players, free agents and career statistics. Online matches might have been nice too, but it's not a deal breaker for me. Online League mode with friends would be sweet, but I would need to make more baseball-loving friends.
Slight QA issues - Some names are mispronounced, the Brewers are sometimes called the Braves by the announcer, there could be some slightly better explanation of the statistics screen. Also, you should be able to get an explanation for each of the attributes in the player information screens.
MLBPA - Not their fault, but players not in the MLBPA obviously cannot be put into the game without negotiating with the players proper. What we get is Great Gonzalez instead of Barry Bonds and a couple of other Great players because they're not part of the association. They can't even have the same season numbers. It would be nice for the game to have historic records listed as well. Perhaps it does, but I'd like to see that I'm approaching, say, Hank Aaron's HR record or the record for most homeruns in a season.
Maybe this post won't convince you, but my best recommendation to any naysayers out there would be to try MLB Power Pros, at least with a rental, before you write it off. The game is spectacular and definitely worth playing.
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