Major League Baseball 2K9 Wii Review

Major League Baseball 2K9

Wii Review
Developer: 2K Shanghai
Publisher: 2K Games
Released: March 3, 2009

Last year marked a solid release for the MLB 2K franchise on the Nintendo Wii, and needless to say we were very excited to see where they went with it a year later.  Now that a year has passed, and opening day is upon us, we get to look at just how far they have come.

The release of MLB 2K8 last year on the Nintendo Wii built a nice foundation to build on, with hopes of something really special in MLB 2K9.

I am going to admit right off of the bat that the developer clearly attempted to try and bring a true simulation experience to the Nintendo Wii this year.

MLB 2K9 is in every way just as deep as the releases of the franchise on the Xbox 360 as well as the Sony PS3.  This includes the deep franchise mode and all of that good stuff, signing players to huge contracts and everything in-between.

The main focus this year was clearly to try and improve the overall gameplay of the franchise to try and make it more polished and approachable for all types of gamers.

They did succeed in a few areas, but there are still some holes that need to be addressed.  The first is the fact that the pitching is exactly the same as last year, using the WIi remote to aim, and then flicking with the remote to throw a pitch.  This works well for the most part, but the whole way it is done really does not require you to be exact with your pitches, meaning you don’t have to be all that precise to throw a strike.

The fielding is also pretty much the same as last-year, and it does a good job of allowing you to use the Wii remote for a different type of experience.  My preference was to try and use the feature where you flick the Wii remote, and the player throws to the appropriate base.  This worked well, but there were a few times when things were not as fluid as they should have been.

Batting is much harder this year as it will actually matter where you swing the bat rather than when you swing.  You will have to aim the bat to hit certain areas in order to get off a nice contact or power swing.

With that said, the release of MLB 2K9 comes with all of the great features as its Xbox 360 and PS3 counterparts with one exception, the fact that there is no online play.  This is a huge bummer in my opinion as there is no online play at all, no leagues, no nothing.

MLB 2K9 is not quite the step forward that we were hoping for coming out of the release of MLB 2K8, but it is still a progression.  The visuals have seen an improvement, the audio presentation is strong, and there are plenty of game modes to please hardcore baseball fans.  The gameplay still needs a few more tweaks, and online gameplay is going to be needed to make this a true winner next year.

For now though, this is still the best baseball game money can buy on the Nintendo Wii.

Graphics: 7.0 An improvement with an emphasis on trying to be as realistic as possible, decent stuff.

Sound: 8.0 The commentary is very strong throughout, sound effects create a nice baseball atmosphere.

Gameplay: 7.2 The gameplay is getting there, but refinements in the pitching and fielding are still needed.

Replay Value: 8.0 A lack of online play is a bummer.  Beyond that though, this is one deep game.

Final Score: 7.6

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